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?????
In the state of Virginia, where I have been licensed as an RN for 32+ years, it is a Class I Misdemeanor to call yourself or anyone else a nurse that isn't. I recently had to leave a job that I had had and loved for 10 years. I worked for a pediatrician who was bought up by a corporation and was soon very regretful of his decision. They began hiring just anybody to do my job in their effort to save money. When questioned by me, I was told - "This is the way of the future and the way that the doctors will have more money at the end of the year". It became apparent very quickly that they would do whatever they could to get rid of me and eventually they did. I could see my next evaluation, which to that date had been great, being trashed. Over the course of a few months I was told that I was:
1. Too old
2. Too slow
3. Paid too much for what I was doing
They were reported to the state for these illegal activities. They were issued a "cease and desist" order. They have done neither. On March 1 of this year my granddaughter was born at the hospital affiliated with this corporation. I got a letter on March 8 stating that I and/or any member of my family could no longer see any practitioner associated with the corporation. My granddaughter travels a good distance to see another pediatrician. This is all retaliation for having been reported to the state. Whistle blower retaliation. It gets worse - my father-in-law, now deceased, started the hospital here!! It truly is a nightmare. I am now looking for a lawyer to take this on. Not for me - but for my granddaughter and all the unsuspecting children that are at the mercy of these people wanting to play nurse and those allowing these activities to go on for the sake of $$$$! Anybody have any suggestions or recommendations? Sorry this is so long, but I could go on and on. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
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?????
i am a student at ottawa u (canada) the french class for four yrs. and intend to become a rn (a good one). this summer i was so bad impressed by some rn's from the hospital i worked in during the summer break that i've told to my self i will never be able to be like them or maybe i never be able to get into this kind of rn "systhem" . i am not saying all rn are like these ones. so, i worked as health aid (or in french we say "prepose" ) and it is a fizical and hard work. i worked my ass off like hell and i've done my best but .. the rn's (not all know that i am a student and this is just a summer job for me) treated me like **** (sorry for the word but this is the truth!) . what i want to say is: if we do not respect the people we work with we never will be respected. and if we do not start to work as a team we'll be nothing and in the health care field... the key word is team work and transparence which in theory i saw this words but never in practice! i am so affraid to start working as rn after finish the school .. to go between the "woolfs" @!!! sorry again but this is what i saw all the summer !!!!
All day yesterday, patients kept saying to me, "You're my nurse". I kept repeating "No, I'm your nursing assistant. _______ is your nurse."
I can't really blame them as most are in the middle/late stages of dementia. Then they say "But you're going to school", to which I say yes, but I'm still a student. I'm not a nurse yet, I have 18 more months to go. Some days I wonder if I'm ever going to make it through....
Kylee 45, you will make it!!! I did and just got pinned last Friday!! It's hell, alot of work, study and sacrifice. But if you love it like I did, you will do well. I'm 39 with two kids and a husband whom haven't seen me for over a year because of school. Now I have a good paying job, waiting to take my test, and life is good!!! It's worth it!!
I'm a student now so I haven't run into this on the job, but I know it's happened at my old dr's office and a retirement I worked for. I know a few employers don't mind blurring the lines to save a few bucks on the licensed nurse. But these pseudo-RNs are taking an incredible risk.
If reminding them it's illegal to claim to be a nurse doesn't work, maybe reminding them they can be sued for malpractice would do it.
I have to agree with this thread, I am only a CNA, and yet when I am at family functions people refer to me as the nurse. YES, I will eventually be an RN but I find myself having to clarify that NO I am not a nurse YET. I haven't earned the right to call myself a nurse yet.
Whats even more confusing is at least in my case Im nearly uncomfortable even treading the thin line by calling myself a student nurse. Yes we are 1/2 through LPN school at this point but to me Im not a nurse yet although they call us student nurses. This coming from somebody whos been a CNA for 3 yrs (and 10+yrs as an EMT previously) I know at least in the EMS field you DARE not call yourself something your not because that can get your license/certs yanked quick.
On a side note I and some others experienced a scary observation the other day we were doing clinicals in a facility and this person was working not just as an LPN (no indication she was in fact an LPNA who hadnt passed her boards which she was) but as a charge nurse for a section of the nursing home. and she had just graduated a couple months ago from LPN school. I find this just plain SCARY.
I have a question for you. Do you think that an illegal, who crosses the border in your state of Texas, is he breaking the law? Do you think he should be caught and deported? If someone is misrepresenting themselves and calling themselves a nurse, yes it does hurt me. It hurts me professionally because the person is a liar. And because they may do something that I am not allowed to, and a patient sees that and doesn't understand why I will not.
And by the way, when I was younger, I use to go deer hunting, on my uncle's farm, in upstate New York. And neither I nor my uncle ever hunted out of season and never without a hunting license. Laws are there for a reason. Ignoring a law because you do not believe anyone is hurt is wrong. It is a violation of a law, regardless of intent.
And yes, my uncle was a detective in the NYPD.
Woody:balloons:
1 is the illegal crossing the border in Texas calling himself a nurse, no
those laws are up for debate anyway
2. that person is a liar
are we to start chanting 'Liar Liar pants on fire"
3. And what is that person going to do.
4. Hunting without a license is against the law, has anyone told Dick Cheney that. But then he only shot a lawyer, not an animal..
4A Hunting year round for a while there was the only thing that kept my family fed and off welfare.
5 laws are there for a reason. Generally from what Ive seen laws are there to protect a select few. Not the majority.
6 Laws are not necessarily right. They might be the law but they can still be wrong. I never agreed with revenooers.:balloons:
I feel that you have worked hard and did pass you exams. But there are people who are out there and have been doing the same things as RN's do but they do not get the recognition from anyone not even the DR's That they work for.
I have always respected RN's and will continue, But let's not jump on the ones who work in the Medical Field and work hard.
All day yesterday, patients kept saying to me, "You're my nurse". I kept repeating "No, I'm your nursing assistant. _______ is your nurse." 
Nurse75
7 Posts
In the state of Virginia, where I have been licensed as an RN for 32+ years, it is a Class I Misdemeanor to call yourself or anyone else a nurse that isn't. I recently had to leave a job that I had had and loved for 10 years. I worked for a pediatrician who was bought up by a corporation and was soon very regretful of his decision. They began hiring just anybody to do my job in their effort to save money. When questioned by me, I was told - "This is the way of the future and the way that the doctors will have more money at the end of the year". It became apparent very quickly that they would do whatever they could to get rid of me and eventually they did. I could see my next evaluation, which to that date had been great, being trashed. Over the course of a few months I was told that I was:
1. Too old
2. Too slow
3. Paid too much for what I was doing
They were reported to the state for these illegal activities. They were issued a "cease and desist" order. They have done neither. On March 1 of this year my granddaughter was born at the hospital affiliated with this corporation. I got a letter on March 8 stating that I and/or any member of my family could no longer see any practitioner associated with the corporation. My granddaughter travels a good distance to see another pediatrician. This is all retaliation for having been reported to the state. Whistle blower retaliation. It gets worse - my father-in-law, now deceased, started the hospital here!! It truly is a nightmare. I am now looking for a lawyer to take this on. Not for me - but for my granddaughter and all the unsuspecting children that are at the mercy of these people wanting to play nurse and those allowing these activities to go on for the sake of $$$$! Anybody have any suggestions or recommendations? Sorry this is so long, but I could go on and on. This is just the tip of the iceberg.