I was at my college getting ready to go into a club room for studying when I saw one of my friends talking to this guy who had several books and papers on one of the tables(Not nursing books). He was in scrubs, and I decided to strike up a conversation with him. He claimed he was in a nursing program, BUT I highly believe he was lying, and I want to see if I called his bluff:
First, I asked him what nursing program he was in and the first time he avoided the question and said something else unrelated, then, the second time I asked he said "oh that's bragging" and then I said "no it's not, I asked". Now, this is not the part where I suspected he was lieing, I decided to test him and see if he knew basic CNA skills.
I then asked him: Have you taken any vitals or changed any bedpans?(I ask because from my knowledge, the CNA program is equivilant to the first class in a nursing program and from what I hear, nurses learn these basic skills within the first weeks) He laughed, shook his head then said "no" and I said "Gee, that's strange, because I am a CNA and that's the equivalent to the first class in nursing school and I know how to change bed pans and take vitals, if your halfway through your nursing program, shouldn't you have done that by now?". He IMMEDIATElY tried to change his story and claim that I jumped to conclusions and that he never said no, and that I "imagined" him saying that because that's what I wanted to hear.
He also appeared to be on drugs, and last time I checked, you can't test positive for drugs and be admitted into a nursing program.
I suspect he is lying for these reasons:1.He can't tell me what nursing program he is in (probably because he isn't in one) 2. He also claimed he was all these other things that I doubt he would have time for in nursing school (He claims he's also a motivational speaker, taking classes at some other college that aren't nursing classes, works a full time job) 3.He has not even done any basic CNA skills half-way through his program.
Did I call this guys bluff or am I wrong and nurses don't do pratice simple skills such as bedpans and vitals by the time they are half-way through the program?
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Perhaps he thought your style unusually intrusive for someone he'd never seen before so his normal protective instincts caused him to hedge his answers a bit. He may have thought to himself "why does she want to know?". -- you're right about one thing- it's wrong to claim any sort of credential you don't actually have. Not sure that's the case with him, though.
Personally, I'm a little weirded out by the fact that the OP decided to interrogate someone because they were in scrubs. Last time I checked, it is not illegal for anyone other than healthcare workers to wear scrubs. Nor is it illegal to refuse to answer someone's questions, especially when the questioner is being intrusive which--with all due respect to the OP--was exactly what they were being.
Was he lying? Don't know--I wasn't there and I don't know him. Was the OP correct? Don't know--I wasn't there and the OP is only telling their perspective on the matter, so that's only one POV we have.
OP: unless this person directly affects your nursing school participation in some way, shape or form, what he does is not your business. Focus on yourself and your own studies.
And another gentle piece of advice to the OP: you may want to tone down your approach. Yes, you may have thought you were sussing out a fake..and maybe you did, or maybe you didn't (again, I wasn't there, I don't know). But you also don't always know the whole story and this approach of yours may end up alienating people.
There are some people who just like wearing scrubs as street clothes, for whatever reason. There was this girl in my chemistry class that would always wear scrubs because she thought they were cute [?]
I have to agree with the majority. No concern of yours. And by the way, my husband has worn my old maternity scrubs just around the house, and he's not in any way in the medical field, he's a professional bull rider! If you are currently in nursing school you have enough to worry about!
So as I read the OP I asked myself, "why do you care?" Then I realized about 10 other people beat me to it.
Besides...to me "changing a bedpan" means either you take someone off a bedpan and immediately put them on another one (not a skill they teach in nursing school) or you remove the bedpan from the closet and replace it with another one...in the closet (not something I remember from my nursing school).
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nguyency77, CNA
527 Posts
Perhaps he's a drunk dental/veterinary assistant who got a little confused when you mentioned nursing school?
Or maybe he's weird and just likes to wear scrubs to pick up chicks. I don't know, and I don't really see why we need to care, haha.