At my boiling point...you are NOT a Nurse...of ANY kind!!!!

[nursehunnie]

Ok folks, I'm just about ready to lose it and I know it's a little silly..or it may seem petty...but just take my feelings into consideration.

I am SICK to DEATH of SOME Medical Assistants, CNAs, and Respiratory Therapists (etc.) calling themselves NURSES, or allowing themselves to be called nurses...or saying that they are getting their "RN". Are you KIDDING ME?

Before I start, let me begin by saying that I respect ALL health care workers and think you should be proud of what you are doing, going to school for, and what your title is. However, I have LOW tolerance for people who break the law and throw around a professional title/license. It's beyond ignorant and I'm wondering how it can be stopped.

I would NEVER in a million years, call myself a Doctor...or a Nurse Practitioner..because I am NOT one. I did NOT go to school for it. I am a Registered Nurse and PROUD of it. If anyone calls me Doctor, or ANYTHING else, I quickly correct them with a sweet smile on my face.

Examples of what I have heard/seen/witnessed/etc.:

" Can I speak to the nurse?" Medical Assistant" Speaking, How can I help you?"

" So excited for my first day of school, we did injections!" says the medical assisting student..friend asks "OH, nursing program?!"...medical assistant student says "Yep, sure is!".

"Nurse Sarah, when do you finish school?". Sarah says, "In 2 months"...Sarah is in a RESPIRATORY therapy program.

My friend says to me," I went to school to become a nurse and finished, but I decided I prefer Social Work." I ask, "Really, so you're a nurse, where did you go?" Friend replies "Yes, CNA Tech Institute".(fake name) Uhm, that's a well known 6 month CNA school. SERIOUSLY?

"I actually teach the nurses on my unit everything. I know more than them and have more experience.", says the Medical Assistant after I ask them why they are referring to themselves as "Nurse".

I can't even go on to tell you how much more I have witnessed. MANY of this is coming from my friends. I'm going to be REALLY honest with you guys. I am just heated. I worked my BOTTOM off in nursing school. I applied to a program with 600 applicants in line (which is STANDARD) and was accepted into ONE of 20 seats. I killed myself not to be flunked out and passed with an average 3.5 GPA. It was four years of GRUELING work and I feel I have earned the right to refer to myself as a Registered Nurse. I'm very proud of it.

I feel like other health care workers are SERIOUSLY making a JOKE of the nursing field throwing around the title as though we are a dime a dozen. Why can't they be proud of what they do? EACH of those fields is JUST fine..but WHY are you breaking the law and calling yourself a Nurse?

Can you imagine what would happen if I called myself a Doctor? Sorry, but that's ignorant and pathetic. I would NEVER do it. If this thread offends you, then please don't reply. It shouldn't be offensive unless you are one of the few health care workers who live a lie and call yourself a nurse.

How do we address this and stop this? Medical Assistants are the BIGGEST group I have witnessed this by. I have a LOT of respect for them and envy their position. They ENJOY their jobs...but why do SOME (not ALL), throw MY nursing license value around like that by claiming they are a nurse?

What do you do when it's a friend doing this?

What do you do when it's a health care coworker?

I already know what I would do if I was going to a Doctor's office and they did this. That's easy. It's the friend part that is hard. I KNOW it's silly to be upset..but I have never seen so much ignorance. Why did I work hard if someone else can call themselves a nurse and only went to school for 6 months? What did I work for? Other than the obvious paycheck and passion?! ha :)

[OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN]

I am a senior nursing student and have seen this a lot on hospital floors. When I got accepted to nursing school my Aunt, my uncles new wife, says "Oh welcome to nursing, looks like we'll have another nurse in the family" and she's a pca?! I've also had situations where certain skills I was supposed to have my pt.'s RN be with me when they were performed and the pca say oh you can do them with me don't worry about it, which I still did what I was supposed to..

[carrie_c]

A lot of hospitals are changing their dress codes to where the nurses wear one color, and other staff wear a different color. We just changed it at my hospital. The RNs and LPNs are the only ones who can wear royal blue. I hated it at first, but it's actually a good idea.

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

This is another area where nurses have killed our own profession by not organizing on a NATIONAL level.

Try referring to yourself as a medical doctor when you are not and see how much legal trouble you get into.

Try referring to yourself as a nurse when you are not, and good luck getting any court to even care.

Our hospital recently went to color-coded uniforms. This change was implemented after a patient collapsed in the hallway, coded and a housekeeping member that was nearby, who tried to get help, kept trying to get "help" from dietary, clerical, an LPN that brought over a nearby crash cart that couldn't push drugs, etc.

The patient was not on their regular floor. They felt it was a safety issue and anyone needed to be able to look down the hall and quickly be able to pull someone to help.

Patient made it, but it could have turned out differently.

[sauconyrunner]

A lot of hospitals are changing their dress codes to where the nurses wear one color, and other staff wear a different color. We just changed it at my hospital. The RNs and LPNs are the only ones who can wear royal blue. I hated it at first, but it's actually a good idea.

Our hospital does this. It helps me immensely (as I am infection prevention and I am not always sure who is who) but the patients are frankly too sick to remember. So our housekeepers who wear white and navy are constantly called "nurse" Lucky for us they are all like, "OH NO, let me get the Nurse.."

CNA's of course are not nurses. They are super valuable, and I used to be one myself, and I did have a license in NC. I had to renew it with CEU's and all that garbage and when it came in the mail it said license on it. BUT, it was not a Nursing License....just like a License to barber is not a Nursing License.

[Julius Seizure]

Maybe I'm overestimating the difficulty involved in trying to explain such differences to a succession of patients (the majority of them probably elderly).

I have heard this point used a lot, not only in relationship to this topic, but others as well. I think the elderly arent given enough credit. Yes, of course, there are some who suffer from dementia, etc. But in general, its not as though elderly people cannot grasp the concept that there are more healthcare workers than just doctors and nurses. They would understand the words "medical assistant" or "nurse aide". If they ask what the difference is, they would understand the explanation that one has less training and is not licensed as an RN o LPN. Furthermore, they understand that times are a'changing, and that healthcare is not the same as it used to be. I wouldn't worry that their entire world would be rocked by being told that there was such a thing as a medical assistant working in their doctors office. They will manage :)

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

I believe it is a great deal more confusing when an LPN does the job of a MA due to administration deciding that LPN's can't be "real nurses". Or the ADN who is stripped of her charge role due to not being a BSN. Then it becomes "well technically, I am a nurse, just not one here..." or "No, I am no longer in charge".

The way of the business of health care is to dance around scope, usually at the RN or LPN's expense as the license holders. All in the name of saving a buck. Even if you see more than one cellulitis from improper immunization technique, patient's tanking and no one has a clue what to do, or "educating" about medications incorrectly.

Assistants may lose their employment, but the licensed person can and does take the responsibility. Even if they tell you "won't happen". It is all fun and games until you are sitting in a court room attempting to explain why the assistant was allowed to practice _________ and as a licensed nurse, you really had no idea. Or that they told patients in your presence that they are a nurse, and you did not correct that.

I do not want to be pulled into someone else's ego trip. I do not want to be held liable for another unlicensed assistive personnel's errors. And their scope is HUGE....and really what an LPN classically has done in an MD's office, clinic, urgent care.

[FLAlleycat]

Although I am a nurse, I once had the somewhat the opposite occur. RN from another country answered the phone at the L&D desk, then handed it to me. When I asked who was on the phone, she said "Someone who wants to talk to a nurse".

[RNmother65]

One very important step would be to have cna wear large CNA patch on uniform. I even see the janitorial staff wear scrubs! Only RN should wear scrubs. Each classification should wear a certain kind of uniform. A Psych tech i knew would insinuate he was a doctor, his PT friends would cover for him. It is the hospital that needs to correct this problem.

[Red Kryptonite]

Only RN should wear scrubs.

Because CNAs don't need practical, easy-to-move-in garments while cleaning and transferring YOUR patients, now do they?

Housekeeping wearing scrubs is ridiculous. People who actually do patient care, though, should be allowed.

[happyinmyheart]

I know a CNA who honestly believes that CNAs are nurses. She works at a nursing home, and always posts pictures of herself in scrubs with captions like "Long day of nursing" or when she passed her CNA exam, "guess who's a nurse now!?"

[happyinmyheart]

Because CNAs don't need practical, easy-to-move-in garments while cleaning and transferring YOUR patients, now do they?

Housekeeping wearing scrubs is ridiculous. People who actually do patient care, though, should be allowed.

I almost wonder if some places have everyone wear scrubs to make the place look like it has better staffing ratios for patient care....

[RNmother65]

YOUR patients is a common distinction made by CNAs. Pts they care for are never THEIR patients. You have a specific job to do for THE PATIENTS. You are not doing anyone a favor, that is YOUR job for the patient. You are a nurse ASSISTANT, not a nurse. You can wear a comfort nurse assistant uniform that clearly identifies you as a CNA, dont pretend to be a NURSE when U R not.