claiming to be what she isn't

I've never come across that, but I met up with a friend I hadn't seen for a year or so and she lied and told me she was a CNA. I talked to her a little about it and I realized that she hadn't done the training or anything, she was just a nurses aid somewhere without certification. I know she knows there is a difference, but maybe it just didn't make a difference to her. I don't think there was much harm in it, we were just catching up and she has always been a chronic liar. In just passing small talk, I don't think that it's a problem, I just hope that she would never try to pull that on an employer somewhere.

Some people can do/say anything with no conscience. It can be a

sociopathic personality.......and they get away with it......they can

be very charming.....and they can be at any level of society.

I don't understand why someone would want to lie about their title. Be proud of whatever it is you accomplished in life. There is no shame in saying you are a MA, or CNA or NA or whatever. All require some kind of training beyond highschool.

On my wedding night one of my bridesmaids (who desperately seeks attention) had a bit too much to drink. Now I know her decision thinking was a bit impaired, but I've had too much to drink before and I don't start in with complete and total lies.

Anyway, she was going around telling my parents friends that she was going to a University School in Wisconsin for a Psychology degree. She was going to be a psychologist. What the crap???? She dropped out of school her freshman year and was going to a dental assisting program. (not that there's anything wrong with that), so why did she have to lie. She was telling this to my dad's boss of all people.

Anyway, I don't know why people feel they have to lie. I think if you love what you do then you should be proud to show it. IMO

It was really embarrassing to say the least.

I feel pretty much the same way you do, but you really don't know how many people this girl has believing that she's an RN.

So suppose they're going to her for advice. She's now privy to all kinds of very privileged health information, and who knows what advice she's giving them?

She needs to know that posing as an RN is illegal. At least in my state it is. Also, you should be able to check out her licensure on your state BON website.

I would have a little private chat with her. If she is an MA, she should certainly be aware that what she's doing is ethically wrong, at the very least, and could cause her to lose her MA cert.

My SIL is a Surgical Tech and constantly tells people she is a Surgical Asst/nurse. People are always asking her for advice, as I sit there shaking my head, not even beliving the nonsense coming out of her mouth.

Once in a while I can't stand it and tell them what she said is absolutly WRONG, but for the most part I just roll my eyes and walk away, as saying anything to her will start WW3 with my family.

My SIL is a Surgical Tech and constantly tells people she is a Surgical Asst/nurse. People are always asking her for advice, as I sit there shaking my head, not even beliving the nonsense coming out of her mouth.

Once in a while I can't stand it and tell them what she said is absolutly WRONG, but for the most part I just roll my eyes and walk away, as saying anything to her will start WW3 with my family.

I know a person who does the same thing, kind of. I work with her in the OR, she has said many times, "where I worked before, I was a private scrub NURSE for Dr so and so." She is a surgical technician, and knows the difference because she is actually going to school part time to become an RN!!!! Sometimes I think people dont see a difference, because they use the term "nurse" loosely, and quite generically.....

Then there are other people, who will actually argue with you, (cna's, for example) that they are "nurses" because they take care of people in a medical facility, and the little fact that they arent Registered, or Practical nurses,(or any kind of nurse!!!) really isnt important, because "they are still a nurse"....... That a whole 'nother thread......

(I would like to add that this has been my experience, with SOME not ALL, ancillary personell)

Yup in Texas - even using the word NURSE when you are not is illegal - let alone the term REGISTERED nurse.

Under section 301.251(d)(1) of the (Texas) Nurse Practice Act...

(d) Unless the person holds a license under this chapter, a person may not use, in connection with the person's name:

(1) the title "nurse"; or

(2) any other designation tending to imply that the person is licensed to provide nursing care.

It is on page 23 at this link:

ftp://www.bne.state.tx.us/npa2005.pdf

"Nurse" is a protected occupational title in Texas.

And "RN" is too.

---------

Had an MA tell me once that she was an RN. What she didn't realize was that I used to go to the doctor whose office she (did) work at. Yup. Set her straight - and the doctor. Funny - but now all his MA's are called "medical assistants" not nurses, and she wasn't working there the next time I went...go figure.

---------

She could find herself in a bit of trouble is she wanted to press the issue.

It is pitiful that someone needs to pose as a nurse to boost their self-esteem. Maybe if they actually walked in a real nurse's shoes for a day they would see how dumped on we are by patients, patients' families, doctors, CNA's, lab techs, administration, nurse managers, blah, blah, blah, the list could go on all day!

I've never had known of anyone posing as a nurse, but a friend of an Occupational Therapy student was telling people the student was a graduated Occupational Therapist. The friend is a nurse at my hospital and her student friend is doing her mentoring with one of my daughter's Occupational Therapist!

There is a girl from my Church, and I took my son to her child's b-day party. I was talking with her and we were talking about school, she said that she is a RN and she just graduated. I asked her what school she went to and she named the school that I am attending, I hadn't told her what school I was going to and what I was studying. She went on to tell me that she became an RN in less than a year. I talked to her grandmother turns out she went to a trade school and is a MA.