I am very curious if any of you ever dropped the "Nurse" word to get you out of trouble?
Myself and a couple of buddies are new recently hired nurses and we call each other on our way home after orientation. One day in particular my friend was busted talking on his cellphone and was pulled over. Being upset because I was the one who called him first, I felt as if it was my fault for the trouble he was about to be in.. About 3-4 minutes goes by and he calls back saying he told the cop he was driving home from work and hes a nurse at blah blah hospital and the officer let him go with only a warning!
What was the craziest thing you got (or got out of) after dropping "I am a nurse"?!?! Hoping for some funny stories!
Very possible this is due to my age and the era I grew up in but the title of this thread is offensive to me. Any chance it could be changed? Because it is a great topic. I have thrown out the "nurse card" many times although the older and less cute I've gotten the less effective anything seems at getting me out of a jam.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Very possible this is due to my age and the era I grew up in but the title of this thread is offensive to me. Any chance it could be changed? Because it is a great topic. I have thrown out the "nurse card" many times although the older and less cute I've gotten the less effective anything seems at getting me out of a jam.
I haven't been pulled over for a very long time because even though the rest of me is heavier, my foot has gotten a bit lighter over the years. And my eyeballs now keep tighter tabs on the speedometer.
A friend had the opposite happen to him. Stopped for speeding and told the police that he had just finished a 12 hour shift in ED as an ENP and just wanted to get home (Doing 80 in a 70 area). Female cop told him that they could no longer do favours for other services. So after they were finished he told her that if that was the way it was then any time a cop brought a prisoner into ED they would be put in the waiting room and wait their turn instead of being fastracked.
After that every cop who appeared was told to wait and told why. Didn't change anything but revenge can be good.
A friend had the opposite happen to him. Stopped for speeding and told the police that he had just finished a 12 hour shift in ED as an ENP and just wanted to get home (Doing 80 in a 70 area). Female cop told him that they could no longer do favours for other services. So after they were finished he told her that if that was the way it was then any time a cop brought a prisoner into ED they would be put in the waiting room and wait their turn instead of being fastracked.
After that every cop who appeared was told to wait and told why. Didn't change anything but revenge can be good.
I got out of a ticket with a local city cop who was a former patient of mine. On the other hand I got a nice speeding ticket from a trooper one day on my way home from work (had scrubs and badge still on).
Former NYPD cop here, current nursing student.
Firstly, nurses will almost always get out of tickets with cops. Why? Because most importantly, as a cop you never know when you may end up in an emergency room somewhere shot or stabbed and you want to make sure the people responsible for putting you back together like you. Kind of like the old Army adage of never pissing off the cooks or supply guys (take care of those who take care of you). The second biggest reason, is because when you show up at the ER with some crack or meth head prisoner you've been assigned to babysit who needs their methadone shot administered, the nurses can make you top of the priority chain or the very bottom. If you're at the bottom, you will be sitting there in that ER for HOURS AND HOURS waiting for that prisoner to get their methadone. Basically living hell. So you want to keep the nurses happy so you can get your prisoner treated, returned to a holding cell, and back out on patrol to do your job.
Secondly, you will almost always still get tickets from troopers. Troopers dont give a crap. They ticket even other cops. Famous case. Following Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans the NYPD put together a convoy of cops and support vehicles to send down to New Orleans to help the city.
As they were traveling in convoy through Virginia, the Virginia State police (their troopers) pulled over the entire convoy and attempted to ticket every single vehicle since because as NYPD city cops, they were outside their jurisdiction, and not allowed to be using their emergency lights while traveling on the highway.
It took a call from the NYPD Commissioner to the head of the Virginia State Police to get the trooper to back down and let the convoy pass unmolested.
I do on call hospice, one night I got pulled over by a state trooper for speeding, explained I had a patient that died and I was going to their home. His resoonse, "Well, there not going anywhere are they? Slow down." I had to pay the ticket.
Firstly, nurses will almost always get out of tickets with cops. Why? Because most importantly, as a cop you never know when you may end up in an emergency room somewhere shot or stabbed and you want to make sure the people responsible for putting you back together like you. Kind of like the old Army adage of never pissing off the cooks or supply guys (take care of those who take care of you). The second biggest reason, is because when you show up at the ER with some crack or meth head prisoner you've been assigned to babysit who needs their methadone shot administered, the nurses can make you top of the priority chain or the very bottom. If you're at the bottom, you will be sitting there in that ER for HOURS AND HOURS waiting for that prisoner to get their methadone. Basically living hell. So you want to keep the nurses happy so you can get your prisoner treated, returned to a holding cell, and back out on patrol to do your job.
Secondly, you will almost always still get tickets from troopers. Troopers dont give a crap. They ticket even other cops. Famous case. Following Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans the NYPD put together a convoy of cops and support vehicles to send down to New Orleans to help the city.
As they were traveling in convoy through Virginia, the Virginia State police (their troopers) pulled over the entire convoy and attempted to ticket every single vehicle since because as NYPD city cops, they were outside their jurisdiction, and not allowed to be using their emergency lights while traveling on the highway.
It took a call from the NYPD Commissioner to the head of the Virginia State Police to get the trooper to back down and let the convoy pass unmolested.
VA is a stickler and not a place to be pulled over. My sibling was really nailed there- had a $1000 fine. I've gotten a ticket while on vacation (doing like 10 over on a highway) and the cop was a real jerk. Thankfully my state only adds points to your license if you are ticketed in-state, so I just had to pay the $175 fine. There are areas in VA where the speed limit is 70 or 75mph, but if you are going above 80 anywhere in the state it is automatically a reckless driving charge with a mandatory court appearance. It's insane to me that going 5mph over the speed limit is reckless driving.
I've been pulled over on my way to work by a state trooper and let off. It was a section where people speed like crazy and I was just moving with the flow not realizing how fast I had crept up to. I was in my scrubs with my badge on and he let me go. I've had a coworker pulled over recently on their way to work- they were ticketed, but it was dismissed in court. I had another coworker pulled over within a block or two of the hospital in uniform, they were still ticketed, and it wasn't dismissed in court. Just luck of the draw I guess.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I haven't been pulled over for a very long time because even though the rest of me is heavier, my foot has gotten a bit lighter over the years. And my eyeballs now keep tighter tabs on the speedometer.
Yeah, me too. I don't like paying fines...you might as well flush money right down the toilet.
I have to admit though, I was pulled over several times when I worked as a nurse and never got a ticket. I was either wearing my scrubs or had my stethoscope hanging from the rearview mirror. One time it was in the middle of the night after I'd lost my first patient; I was on my way home bawling my eyes out when the red-and-blue lights came on behind me. Apparently I was driving erratically and he thought at first that I'd been drinking, but once he saw I'd been crying and noted the work clothes and name badge, he asked me what was wrong, and I told him. He let me go. So did the officer who caught me speeding on my way to work at the hospital after a lecture about "you've seen accident victims in the ER, you don't want to be a statistic".
In fact, I haven't had a ticket in over 15 years, and before that it was over 20 years. I had a horrible driving record when I was young---was cited for speeding three times in the first year I had a driver's license and even had that license put on probation of a sort for six months. I'd have lost it if I'd gotten one more ticket in that time. Stupid girl. Haha!
Funny ? Not...It was your buddy who answered the phone. Cop should be disciplined for unequal treatment under law. Not at all amusing RNjay...RN is not a pass for being unsafe and breaking any law.
Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.
Speaking of the VIRGINIA STATE POLICE, who are known for zero tolerance - I was pulled over, for speeding in excess of 75 in a 55 (was near dark on a very isolated stretch of Interstate and I had been trying to get some distance from a particularly aggressive Big Yellow Hummer with 2 men -- that would slow down -- even as low as 50 -- , get on my bumper, then cut to swerve to get in front of me, I was heading for an exit. It was scary to the point that I had retrieved my gun from it's happy place and it was now in the passenger seat.
Oh-s***!
I am being pulled over by VIRGINIA STATE POLICE with a GUN in the passenger seat, I am SPEEDING, my DRIVER'S LICENSE is EXPIRED, the TAGS that are ACTUALLY on my vehicle are EXPIRED (tho they are VALID IN THE COMPUTER!!!).
I AM GOING TO JAIL!!!
So, I pulled over, turned on interior lights, kept my hands up where the officer could see them.
I tell him, officer before, we go any further, I am keeping my hands on this steering wheel. Not reaching for my license/registration. I have a gun in the passenger seat and it should be secured. Do you want to do that? I can step out, or keep holding the wheel, you can cuff me. Just whatever feels safe for you.
Then I explain about the men in the Hummer and how aggressively they were driving. He admits, he saw both of us and I radared fasted.
I told him, I wish he had been 30 miles back. It had been a rough trip. At least I won't need the gun now. He laughed at me.
I was clear about the fact I had --
- an expired DL, (by just a few days)
- expired plates on my vehicle (tho it linked to updated plates in the computer, my hubby had renewed them, I just had not made it home to put them on my vehicle)
So, my "registration receipt" is technically invalid, but the address in the "computer link verification" matches the old out-of-date one I have on me.
He finally says what are you doing in VIRGINIA besides breaking our laws?
I then explained I was an EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE on a critical need contract and had been trying to get "home" (an 8 hour drive) for the last 5 weeks, but there has been such a staff shortage, it has been bad. So, no way to renew the DL and had hubby, renew my tags.
Other than that, it is what it is. I also mentioned I was a paramedic and former firefighter.
Turns out he was a paramedic and was interested in Excelsior and getting his nursing. He asked if I had time to talk. Sure. I followed him to the exit and he had coffee, he bought me an iced tea and we discussed the Excelsior program for an hour or so (he remarked he had never actually met a medic that did that program). I gave him my email and was on my way.
Jules A, MSN
8,864 Posts
Very possible this is due to my age and the era I grew up in but the title of this thread is offensive to me. Any chance it could be changed? Because it is a great topic. I have thrown out the "nurse card" many times although the older and less cute I've gotten the less effective anything seems at getting me out of a jam.