claiming to be what she isn't

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Has anyone ever had someone claim to be a nurse when they weren't? Last night at my hubby's ballgame one of the other players girlfriend claimed she was a R.N. and when I asked her what school she graduated from she named a local facility. I remembered the name but gave her the benefit of the doubt thinking "diploma program" but had my doubts because I have heard her lie before about trivial stuff and I haven't lived in this area for that long to really know much about the schools. Anyway, so came home looked it up on the internet and it is a Medical Asst. school. That is cool and I get along with everyone regardless of what title, job, or position in life they hold that goes for most nurses. I'm not her friend, enemy, or anything in between so why lie? Anyway, I'm not going to rat her out to her face but just wondered if many people have had the same experience at some time?:uhoh3:

Specializes in Pediatrics.

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.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I think a small part of the problem is the general perception with the public that nurses are simply anyone who 'helps in the medical field.' I am not even excusing lying here, just pondering how this nonsense happens.

For example, recently at my physicians office, my doc said he was sending in his "nurse" to give me a shot. I watched as she signed the chart with the lot number of the shot, etc. She signed her name and clearly signed M.A. after it. Then, I looked on my paperwork and what was I billed for? "NURSE injection" was printed on the form. I asked his office manager, "what is this fee for again?" She said "that's the fee for the nurse visit, it's only $25 for a nurse visit." So then I said "oh you mean the medical assistant fee for the injection, because she's not a nurse of course?" The office manager (smart lady I've known for a while) said "no, that's for a NURSE visit."

:banghead:

Even at my allergist's office they refer to the MA's who give the injections as "nurses." Repeatedly they do.

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I've seen this many times before. I've seen CNA's and MA's pass themselves off as nurses. I've seen this on The People's Court or Judge Judy. The TV program gives the person's occupation as "Certified Nurse's Assistant" but in their testimony they say that they are a nurse. One lady got caught big time. The defendent in the case was having trouble breathing and was looking a little dusky. The husband said, "My wife is a nurse, she'll help." All this lady could do was walk over to the defendent and say, "Um.. are you OK?" Didn't even take a pulse, nothing. She looked a little embarrassed.

In my own doctor's office, there was a very uppity MA who insisted that she was my doctor's nurse. I asked my doctor about it, and she said, "No, that X is an MA." She no longer works at that office. Twice she wrote out prescriptions for medications I wasn't even taking!!

Dumb! And it can lead to serious trouble obviously.

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In my own doctor's office, there was a very uppity MA who insisted that she was my doctor's nurse. I asked my doctor about it, and she said, "No, that X is an MA." She no longer works at that office. Twice she wrote out prescriptions for medications I wasn't even taking!!

Shame on the MA and the doctor for allowing this to happen. The MA for doing this and the MD for not checking.I write prescriptions all day at the office i work at as a MA. I get people all the time asking for stuff they are not on or wrong dosage. I check the pts med sheet first and also the previous office visits dictation from the doctor. We no longer have charts, it is all on computer now. I also check the oncalldata site that we use for electronic scripts to the local pharmacys. I check the whole file. And the MD should have caught this since he is the one who has to sign the script. Also if she is claiming to be a nurse. Then she need's a good talking too. She is making the rest of us MA's look bad. I have more then once corrected people who think i am a nurse. Not in a million year's would i claim to be something i am not. It make's the rest of us look bad. On the subject of "nurse visit". Your right. If it is a MA then it cant be a nurse visit. Our office has what is called a office visit charge. Not a nurse charge. I check the persons blood sugar or PT/INR and our nurse talks to the pt about the levels (after i check the persons BP/Pulse/Weight). If i give a B12 or flu shot or TB then its coded as just that. A charge for what's given. Not a office charge since the nurse didnt do it.

John MA/EMT

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I don't think this is specific to just nurse wannabes. My husband has a friend that lies about everything. The littlest detail that means nothing he will lie about. Nothing drives me more crazy! :uhoh3:

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Specializes in ICU-CVICU.

Id

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Specializes in Internal Medicine Unit.

I've had a couple of older patient's tell me that they were nurses...or in some cases that their spouses tell me this...Sometimes it's true. On occassion, however, I have questioned them and found that the patient started a nursing diploma program without completing it...50-60 years ago.:uhoh21:

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Specializes in ER.

I met a girl the other day at my school (she is not in the nursing program). She starts telling me about how she was 3 weeks from graduating with her BSN and then her mom died so she didn't finish. Funny thing is, she is taking all of the sciences (chem, A&P, and Micro) and when I asked her why she was taking them when she would have already taken them for the BSN 2 years ago, she said that she just wanted to brush up on her skills. Now how much sense does that make?? And she is now trying to get into an ADN program.

T

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

OK, here's a borderline issue that actually doesn't make me angry. I have a 70-ish relative who says she was a nurse. She worked in a nursing home for about 30 years. She never took one nursing class, not even a diploma or hospital-type training. She says it didn't work that way back then? She says she was a practical nurse in Canada. I asked her tactfully and gently once if she was a nurse's aid (I do like and respect her). She said no, that she was a practical nurse. She just says back then 'practical nurses' didn't need any official training, just on the job.

It does have me curious though, were there 'practical nurses' 50 years ago that had zero official training...not even a diploma or hospital-based type training? Or is my sweet relative just confused and she was a nurse's assitant for all those years. Hmm.

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Specializes in Level III cardiac/telemetry.

I started my LPN program 2 weeks ago. The first night we were doing introductions and this girl tells us that she works in her dad's urgent care center as a nurse. It was also nurses week and she said how he took "all of us nurses" out to lunch. So finally I couldn't stand it anymore and said so you're his nurses aid? "No, we don't have those, I'm his nurse." But you're not a nurse, so are you working as a medical assistant or something? "No, I'm a nurse. I do everything but injections, give meds, draw blood and assist w/procedures." What? Finally our instructor heard our conversation and realized what I was getting at. She told her that she needed to read the nurse practice act and that when we got to the legal chapter she would see that it was illegal to call herself a nurse without proper education. She also said "if you were already a nurse you wouldn't need to be in this class." That finally took the girl down a few nothces!

However, I've also been in so many dr's offices that say they are sending in the "nurse" to do something and it's a MA. MA's are great, but it's misrepresentation.

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Well, this conversation brings to mind a math teacher who told us (not verbatim) If you're going to school to be a chemist, start acting like a chemist NOW, TODAY. If you're going to school to be a nurse, start acting like a nurse NOW, etc...So maybe she was just putting her "nurse hat" on even though she's not actually a nurse yet, who knows. I do agree, though, she should think about the code of ethics for nurses (I'm taking prereqs, not in a program yet, so I don't even know what they are) and be more careful about what she says. She sounds like she probably jsut doesn't know any better and doesn't mean any harm.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!"

Tomorrow is not promised to us so live in the moment and fully today ;)

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Specializes in Staff nurse.

...I worked hard for my RN, as all nurses do, and we all have to pass our N-CLEX, whether LPN or RN. So when someone says they are a nurse and are really an aide or MA, I politely say something to the effect of, "If you want the title AND the pay of a nurse, I know of a few good local programs you can look into. But it is unfair to call yourself a nurse, to your patients and to yourself". I've gotten some stares :)

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