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 :)
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
When I worked in the ER as a tech (I had my EMT B and our titles were "Multi-Skilled Technician" or "ER Tech"), there were also a few CNA's. When a patient would call out nurse when we walked by their cubicle, most of us would say "I'm not a nurse, I'm a tech, how can I help you?" Most of the time it was a blanket or a pillow, but pretty much anything else most of us knew to check with the nurse (whether a pt was NPO or could have water, question about tests or medications, etc were all deferred to the nurse as appropriate).
Of course there were others who rapidly and willingly were more than excited to jump out of their scope of practice. Last time I brought my son to the ER when he had a significant laceration that needed sutures, one of the "PCA"/ER Techs tried to administer medication to my son. I asked where they went to nursing school. (They weren't MA's either, MA's were not hired in the hospital though I know some CMA's can administer certain injections). I refused and they huffed off. The one doc chucked, shook his head and reminded the PCA that nursing/medication orders were for NURSES to perform not anyone who reads the chart.
I found out later (I knew this doc personally for a very long time) that he wrote out an incident report on the situation and the dept started retraining staff to remind them what was in their scope of practice (basic aide skills) and what was not (suture removal, foleys, IV's, medications, anything other than basic wound care, discharge instructions, patient education). A former coworker told me she thought it was entertaining to see those who desired to work out of their scope roll their eyes and huff/puff about being reeducated. the nurse educator told them that if they didn't want to do the job they were hired for, they were more than welcome to resign.
Needless to say I will drive 15 minutes out of my way to take my son to another hospital system's ER since I know that nursing care is provided by actual licensed nurses not "wanna be"s.
As a EMT-I, just thought I would let you know that the term "ambulance driver" is as insulting as calling a NA a RN...With all due respect
Jenn
I admit I cringed at reading "ambulance driver" as well. Ugh. The power of words is pretty amazing, isn't it? We have a lot invested in titles, personally and professionally ... and often with good reason.
I've been out of the hospital loop for awhile (work in the school system now), but we have the same issue with parents and kids thinking our health clerks are "the nurse". They don't represent themselves as the nurse, but they are in the health office (we don't even call it the nurses office) daily so make that assumption. I have had more than one parent meet me and say "oh, sure, I have talked to you about my kids attendance issues". Well, that was not me, but it really doesn't upset me. People make assumptions, and all you can do is correct it.
It does really irritate me when I see a headline in the paper - "nurse kills 20 patients" and in the story that "nurse" is really a CNA. But basically there is only so much that can be done when people are misrepresenting themselves. And for me, life is to short to let it bother me.
"What is wrong with saying "I am getting my RN"? ALot of people are going for their RN and its fine to say that. It does not bother me at all when people tell me they are going for their RN.
I don't see why that would bother you."
When you say "I am getting my RN," the operative word is "RN," not "getting." The focus
is on the future, not the present, on the potential and possible, not the reality of the "now."
It seems a lot of us are upset by the confusion in titles. I will always maintain that the safety and well being of the patient is the most important goal whether your an EMT, RN, nursing student, CNA or MD. Being an RN a lot of my friends expect me to diagnose them whenever they are ill. I just have to remind them, that diagnosing is not in my scope of practice. Yes, I can assess and make judgement calls but I can't prescribe medications or refer to a particular specialty.
I should apologize for using the term "Ambulance Driver". What I should have said was "Transport " My facility is part nursing home and part Rehab. We have "patient transport" for those residents who go out for routine drs. visits, dentistry etc.... and these folks are not EMTs. This is what I was referring to and I apologize for the mis-step on my part. We do see plenty of EMTs also and I do realize there is a world of difference.
What is wrong with saying "I am getting my RN"? ALot of people are going for their RN and its fine to say that. It does not bother me at all when people tell me they are going for their RN.
I don't see why that would bother you.
What's bothers me is when you hear a CNA that has been a CNA for more than 20 years, is not in school, does not ever have plans to go to school, tell your patient that they are almost through with their RN.
If you are secure in yourself and your accomplishments, why are you so worried about what others are doing? It seems like some of the Rn's on here want a pat on the back or something for being an Rn. Most patients don't care what your title is and shouldn't care all they are worried about is you making them feel better and that is all you should be caring about instead of being on some ego trip.
If you are secure in yourself and your accomplishments, why are you so worried about what others are doing? It seems like some of the Rn's on here want a pat on the back or something for being an Rn. Most patients don't care what your title is and shouldn't care all they are worried about is you making them feel better and that is all you should be caring about instead of being on some ego trip.
I am still a student. When I get done busting my tail getting my RN, I will have earned the title. I don't want a pat on the back, but to claim the title of RN while not actually having the training to back it up seems very wrong to me, and insulting to the title. Claiming to have a title without training is a lie. Also, isn't it illegal to claim licensure in health professions without having it? If not, heck, call me RN now *kidding*.
This is actually easy. The nurse practice act (which you can get online for your state) is very specific about who can and who cannot call themselves or allow themselves to be taken for a "nurse." In charity, I am sure that CNA Institute or the RT program doesn't go into the nurse practice act, the students there watch too much TV, and they don't know the difference between a real nurse and somebody wearing scrubs. Correct them gently, tell them they can get into real, genuine, serious trouble if someone thinks they are a nurse and they are not, find out who told them otherwise, and drop a line to mention this to your hospital RISK MANAGER, who will be very glad you did, believe me. And then get Sandy Summers' excellent book "Saving Lives: How The Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All At Risk" for more ideas. (no financial interest on my part)
Specializes in Mental Health, Medical Research, Periop.
Im trying to figure out why a Respiratory Therapist call themselves a nurse? Ive seen Resp Therapy assistants call themselves a RT. On the CNAs and MAs, yes I see this a lot. I actually have a post in which my friend had an incident in which the CNA told the pt she was a nurse. No one enforces the law, so it will probably never change. The only time the law probably gets enforced is when the MA or CNA practices outside their scope (physically). We do work hard to become RNs (and LPNs too) for our profession to be treated so lightly. It takes more than technical skills to be a nurse, the knowledge behind it is what makes us great.
JustBeachyNurse, LPN
13,957 Posts
When I worked in the ER as a tech (I had my EMT B and our titles were "Multi-Skilled Technician" or "ER Tech"), there were also a few CNA's. When a patient would call out nurse when we walked by their cubicle, most of us would say "I'm not a nurse, I'm a tech, how can I help you?" Most of the time it was a blanket or a pillow, but pretty much anything else most of us knew to check with the nurse (whether a pt was NPO or could have water, question about tests or medications, etc were all deferred to the nurse as appropriate).
Of course there were others who rapidly and willingly were more than excited to jump out of their scope of practice. Last time I brought my son to the ER when he had a significant laceration that needed sutures, one of the "PCA"/ER Techs tried to administer medication to my son. I asked where they went to nursing school. (They weren't MA's either, MA's were not hired in the hospital though I know some CMA's can administer certain injections). I refused and they huffed off. The one doc chucked, shook his head and reminded the PCA that nursing/medication orders were for NURSES to perform not anyone who reads the chart.
I found out later (I knew this doc personally for a very long time) that he wrote out an incident report on the situation and the dept started retraining staff to remind them what was in their scope of practice (basic aide skills) and what was not (suture removal, foleys, IV's, medications, anything other than basic wound care, discharge instructions, patient education). A former coworker told me she thought it was entertaining to see those who desired to work out of their scope roll their eyes and huff/puff about being reeducated. the nurse educator told them that if they didn't want to do the job they were hired for, they were more than welcome to resign.
Needless to say I will drive 15 minutes out of my way to take my son to another hospital system's ER since I know that nursing care is provided by actual licensed nurses not "wanna be"s.