maybe its just me, but i get very bothered when someone says "i'm a nurse," and their not, their a cna, or nurse aid, or have no schooling at all and just worked their way up in a clinic. i work at a local emergency clinic 30 hours a week to gain experience in my field, and i just got accepted in ns, and i'v worked darn hard to get here! and i find it bothersome when one of the girls at work say "i'm the nurse" or something along those lines...i feel that when i graduate and pass my nclex that, only then, will i be able to say "i'm a nurse." the other day my doctor said "jamie, will you get a nurse?" i said "im sorry doc, i dont think we have any of those working here." he actually laughed and said "you know what i mean"......but is this just me?????
This is one of my pet peeves as well. I hate it when the MA at the doctor's office refers to herself as a nurse.
It really gets under my skin.
There is one particular MA who insists on calling herself a nurse. I can't tell you how many times I have argued with her on the phone. She would call in orders, "Ok thank you, RN or LPN"? Um.......um.......I'm the doctor's nurse. "Ok RN or LPN"? Um.....um....MA. "Sorry I can't take an order from you". I finally discussed it with the doctor. He didn't get it. I then took it up with administration. They issued a policy that we cannot take any orders over the phone unless it was a doctor, NP or licensed nurse. Never heard from her again. Justice!!!!
(however, I have no doubt she still refers to herself as a nurse to the patients) :angryfire. Some are actually so ignorant to believe they can do anything a nurse can do. :angryfire
there aren't any nurses working in an er clinic???
who administers the meds, treatments?
as dutchgirl states, it is 100% illegal when personifying oneself as a nurse.
unless they're signing themselves off as a nurse, or identifying themselves as nurses to the pt population, i don't know what else can be done.
of course you can always call them to it, but if tptb are going along with it, there seems to be little support.
i don't know what or if the BON could do anything since there isn't anything overt.
i could be way off base however.
best of luck in this frustrating situation.
leslie
In our clinic, we have a lady who held the title of RN for 20 years, but had gotten addicted to some controlled substances, and is waiting to regain in her title, and in the mean time working for us, shes still getting paid RN salary at our clinic because shes a terrific nurse! and not to mention being sober for around 3 yrs now i believe....and then we have 1 MA, who also says shes a "nurse", one paramedic who claims the nurse status, and a respiratory therapist who claims the status. All the above named administer our meds, theres some weird laws in alabama, as far as I know, i think their following them all.
I have heard a lot of people who are not nurses call themselves nurses, as well as people who think everyone who works in the medical field is a nurse.
I always think to myself no you're not but I don't contradict them because I don't want them to feel embarrassed. I just let it go.
... and then we all find out that the family member is not a nurse, but a CNA, or a lab tech or something stupid like that!!!
WHOA there! Please don't do the name calling. They just don't know our scope of practice, and yes it is wrong that they call themselves nurses, but their work is not stupid... they also went to school or training (even if it was a few hours long) to get that title too.
If we want to be respected we have to start respecting others.
Sorry for hijacking the thread... please continue with the original post.
Effective 7/26/07, here's how NY Education Law, Section 6902 will read:
"Only a person licensed or authorized under this article shall practice nursing and only a person licensed under section sixty-nine hundred five of this article shall use the title "registered professional nurse" and only a person licensed under section sixty-nine hundred six of this article shall use the title "licensed practical nurse". No person shall use the title "nurse" or any other title or abbreviation that would represent to the public that the person is authorized to practice nursing unless the person is licensed or otherwise authorized under this article."
Thanks for showing me that, Eric! Only the first sentence was part of the current law; by adding the second, it eliminates that whole "baby nurse", "office nurse" loophole. Not that it still won't go on anyway.....you aren't doing anything illegal in your medical practice if the patients call your receptionist or MA "the nurse"(and you don't stop them). Argh.
Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
maybe its just me, but i get very bothered when someone says "i'm a nurse," and their not, their a cna, or nurse aid, or have no schooling at all and just worked their way up in a clinic. ..
call em on it:
"oh, you're nurse. great rn, or lpn?
oh.... then your not a nurse."
i was clinical supervisor in a very large office practice.
6 rn, 2 lpn, ~12-15 ma's
constantly correcting people, patients or office staff, who refferred to the ma as "the nurse"
oh, i also had to say, "i'm not a doctor, i'm an rn"...at least 6 times per day. thought of having a huge emblem put on the back of my lab coat that spelled out:
Not a nurse here...but nursing student who began with a CNA position that led to " working my way up in a adult day facility" and very proud of it!!! Specialties...assisting nurses with all that they have to handle in day. Years of experience with patient care...priceless.
I thought everyone on here understood who is who/and who does what? Maybe not.
Can I say staying in "compliancy"?? Not a "stupid" thing.
Not a nurse here...but nursing student who began with a CNA position that led to " working my way up in a adult day facility" and very proud of it!!!
I thought everyone on here understood who is who/and who does what? Maybe not.
Can I say staying in "compliancy"?? Not a "stupid" thing.
The issue is "calling yourself a nurse" i.e. those who impersonate, those who attempt to mislead, those who are potentially dangerous to patients...
No one has a problem with a good CNA. I wouldn't be able to do your job and I know it and don't mind admitting it. You should be proud of yourself! Congrats on furthering your education.
I understand what is being said...i have encountered all of it myself..first hand. I guess the way it was said...the entire post. Personally, I have a problem with the fact that everyone in health care are wearing scrubs these days. You cannot tell the difference. And there is a difference.
I believe that a Registered Nurse should have a distinct uniform or something that sets her/him apart from the rest. Color code or something.
Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
I understand what is being said...i have encountered all of it myself..first hand. I guess the way it was said...the entire post. Personally, I have a problem with the fact that everyone in health care are wearing scrubs these days. You cannot tell the difference. And there is a difference.
I believe that a Registered Nurse should have a distinct uniform or something that sets her/him apart from the rest. Color code or something.
In the past several years I have spent more time in the hospital as a patient then I would like. And a lot of the time, I do not have the slighest idea if the person who is providing my care is an RN, LPN, CNA or housekeeper. The only people I was able to identify were the dietary personnel, because they wore dress white shirts and black pants. And they bought in my food. Everyone wore an id badge but you usually couldn't see it because most had it turned around.
I hate to say this but atleast when we wore white uniforms, we also wore our nursing caps. And no one had a problem with identifying someone. You couldn't wear a black band unless you were an RN. The only time I was certain that an RN was providing my care was the twenty one days I spent in ICU last July. The hospital had a policy of only having RNs in their ICU.
There has to be a better way of identifying people in the hospital.
Maybe I am too accepting. But in the different cases listed before. CNAs and Phlebotomists, vet assistants whatever. If they want to say they are a nurse. It doesnt bother me in the least. I dont feel threatened, or insulted, or put upon in anyway. Just me. with a different outlook sometimes
DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN
3,932 Posts
There is one particular MA who insists on calling herself a nurse. I can't tell you how many times I have argued with her on the phone. She would call in orders, "Ok thank you, RN or LPN"? Um.......um.......I'm the doctor's nurse. "Ok RN or LPN"? Um.....um....MA. "Sorry I can't take an order from you". I finally discussed it with the doctor. He didn't get it. I then took it up with administration. They issued a policy that we cannot take any orders over the phone unless it was a doctor, NP or licensed nurse. Never heard from her again. Justice!!!!
(however, I have no doubt she still refers to herself as a nurse to the patients)
:angryfire. Some are actually so ignorant to believe they can do anything a nurse can do. :angryfire