Tech saying they are a nurse

[nursebrandie28, BSN, RN]

Hello my fellow nurses,

I work in the ER and the other night, we got an ambulance from a local nursing home. Well, EMS gave us report and it did not quite fit the patient. So, the doctor told me to call the nursing home and get report (since the nursing home did not bother to call report before they sent the patient). Well, I asked can I talk to the nurse taking care of MR. SO-SO, she said she was the nurse. So I asked the needed questions and asked her name and title (for my charting) and she said "Nurse Jessica" Well, I had the transfer sheet that Jessica So-SO, ML1 signed. I asked her if she was Jessica So-So, and she said yes. I told her a ML1 is not a nurse and asked AGAIN if I could talk to the nurse. She said they have no nurses- no LPNs or RNs just ML1. I told her that calling yourself a nurse (when you're not) is against the law and that I would be calling her DON tomorrow morning. She said they are suppose to call themselves nurses because they are part of nursing.

DOES THIS BOTHER ANYBODY ELSE BESIDES ME? We do not even care enough about our older generation to provide with nursing care, only ML1 care (whatever an ML1 is) I think instead of nursing home they should call it a mid level care center, this would be more accurate!!

Brandie

[RochesterRN-BSN, BSN, RN]

I would have hit the roof!! LOL Hell we can't call ourselves the doctor.....why can someone who is not a nurse call themselves such. You are TOTALLY correct and I would do just what you told her you would do......Call the DON. However I might also call the state board of nursing and maybe JAHCO to find out how a LTC facility does not have any nurses at all of any level. Here in NY there are mostly LPNs--licenced!! LOL But also all managers have to be RNs and there has to be at least ONE RN in building at all times. So when the managers are off they have an RN supervisor to cover all the LPNs. Yes they do have Nurses Aids....but...........I also worked in a senior living community which oddly was not licenced the same as a LTC facility...they were allowed to train aides to pass meds--medication aides-- under supervision of the RN that ran the place. I was the RN for a short time-- a temp job-- and I did not like this set up. I had to take off the orders for them and let me tell you I wrote them so a 10 year old could follow them!!! LOL I was not to do CPR on a patient that coded--but expected to do nothing and call 911--the most I could do was take a BP. Yeah well thank god no one ever actually coded in front of me as I would have done CPR--screw the job--I gotta look at myself in the mirror every day! lol -- So they do things weird in some places. Make sure this is actually licensed as a LTC facility and not just a senior living community. I guess they are under different licensing-- but this is here in NY--not sure where you are.

If they are a LTC facility-- this is an issue.

Also regardless of where this girl worked she CAN'T legally call herself a NURSE. This is a licensed position and she would then be liable to the "practicing nursing without a license and impersonation of a licenced professional for which she holds no license" ..... I would totally blow this in to the state......the "nurse" and the DON...... the residents of this facility she was at DESERVE that much. Go get um girl!!!!!! We work hard for our licenses......she will have to as well if she wants to use that title!!!!!! It's our duty to protect all patients...... I would say this falls in that category! Good luck.

[Iam46yearsold]

Maybe in that LTC, they use that as a term of respect as they are the care giver and medication aide. Just easier to be called nurse.

[southernbeegirl, BSN, RN]

my grandmother was in an assisted living facility. when the DON, the only nurse that the company employed, told me that the CNAs give the medicine i was flabergasted! she told me that she set the meds up and the CNAs gave them when she is not there. that includes if a patient needs a prn med like a pain pill or "nerve" pill.

no way in this world could i do that! she just lets them give meds under her license so to speak. nuh uh...not me!

it's illegal to call yourself a nurse when you arent. i say report them to sthe BON. until we stand up for ourselves and start reporting these people...this won't stop!!

[firstyearstudent]

Maybe in that LTC, they use that as a term of respect as they are the care giver and medication aide. Just easier to be called nurse.

I don't have any problem with an aide identifying themselves as a nurse to a person they are giving care to if the person is confused or really doesn't care what the heck their title is. On the other hand, she identified herself as a nurse to an RN who wanted to get report.

[hikernurse]

Maybe in that LTC, they use that as a term of respect as they are the care giver and medication aide. Just easier to be called nurse.

But...they're NOT a nurse. A three week CNA class does not a nurse make. I was a CNA and it was great experience for when I became a nurse, but I couldn't have begun to make the decisions nurses make.

"Nurse Jessica" made a conscious decision to call herself a nurse, whether she was told to or not, this is a big deal.

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

I don't have any problem with an aide identifying themselves as a nurse to a person they are giving care to if the person is confused or really doesn't care what the heck their title is. On the other hand, she identified herself as a nurse to an RN who wanted to get report.

:angthts: In California, it is ILLEGAL to hold yourself out to be a nurse when you do not possess the license to do so, and is punishable in a court of law.

You can go the BON website and see an entire list of people who were prosecuted because they falsely claimed they were a nurse.

[RochesterRN-BSN, BSN, RN]

Maybe in that LTC, they use that as a term of respect as they are the care giver and medication aide. Just easier to be called nurse.

Maybe but ILLEGAL!!!! and NOT okay.

[RochesterRN-BSN, BSN, RN]

The fact the ANYONE would think that calling ones self a nurse to patient just because they don't "know any different" is absolutly INSANE....that is UNETHICAL as well as ILLEGAL!!!!! Regardless of the setting or who it is said to.

Totally unacceptable. A REAL--licensed RN or LPN should NEVER condone this...ever...

[Batman24]

You should report them to the BON and they will investigate. In the end you will be doing this facility a favor because if a patient sues and the lawyers sees they are all misrepresenting themselves that's a big plus in their favor. Anf if they are signing as nurses that makes all the documentation suspect and inaccurate as well. No facility should allow this. Besides being illegal it will be a legal nightmare should they ever be sued. And any nurse who would allow all these people to work out of scope and under their license deserves to lose it.

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

It is illegal in any state and also against the nurse practice act to identify yourself as a "Nurse". I would report this not only to thier DON but to the BON. I worked hard to earn my title as RN. A Nurse is a nurse and a tech/cna is just that a CNA. Heck you dont even have to have a GED to be a CNA in many institutions. Lol do any of you remember the stink about "heart attack grill" calling thier servers nurses? If a CNA can call thierselves a Nurse then I could just as well say I'm the Doc!!!! I wouldnt stand for it.

[soulofme]

Maybe in that LTC, they use that as a term of respect as they are the care giver and medication aide. Just easier to be called nurse.

I DON'T THINK SO...I worked too hard for my RN degree to have a care giver just throw the term around to suit their needs...illegally...!!!!