Navy Corpsmen Caught

[guest52816]

I came across this news item in two different media outlets, and pulled this blurb from the NY Post.

If you go to their Web Site, you can see the offending nurses doing the things mentioned in the story. They apparently aren't smart enough to realize that what you post on social media (with your face showing) can, and will be used against you.

Their behavior is deplorable. I can't imagine how the parents of babies subjected to these two and their outlandish and unethical behavior must feel.

Nurses at a naval hospital in Florida have been booted from their posts after sick photos went viral of them rudely posing with newborn babies and referring to the tots as mini Satans.”

One of the pics posted to Snapchat shows Allyson Thompson, a corpsman at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, flipping the bird to a baby who's wrapped in a blanket, along with the caption, How I currently feel about these mini Satans,” [COLOR=#cc3333]according to Action News Jacksonville[/COLOR].

In another photo, Thompson grins as she holds a baby up by its arms. The pic was shared by a woman who identified the employee as a navy nurse” who made the newborn dance to rap music, [COLOR=#cc3333]First Coast News reported[/COLOR].

Thompson and another nurse, Joanie Barrett, were identified as the culprits in [COLOR=#cc3333]an online post[/COLOR].

[Neats, BSN]

Navy Corpsman training depending on what your Military Occupational Specialty (also known as MOS) is and what you have decided to do in the military, it consist of a variety of training much like a Medical assistant, OR Tech training, PT Assistance training, EMT training, Certified Nursing Assistant... these people are not nurses, once these "trainees" do have experience some can sit for their state board for nursing ether LPN or RN after many years of experience (think Excelsior College). Since they are young and no one can find their names on state licensure then I would safely say they are Military Corps persons or civilian's. They do have some good training at Ft Sam Houston (I attended this military school many years ago). Please note: Military nurses/physicians do not have to be licensed in the state they are assigned, they do need to be licensed somewhere (usually their home of record). This is evaluated annually on their employee review.

Civilian's do need to be licensed in the state they are practicing so if these young people are married to someone in the military they would need to be licensed in the state they are working, their military spouse however does not need to be licensed in the state where the military has sent the military person as long as they are working in their assigned military hospital. If the military person wants to get an part time job to earn money and work off base at say a civilian hospital then that military person would need to be licensed in that state.

Military schools like Ft Sam Houston have a variety of educational classes for military personnel and for civilians who are associated with government work/positions in health care. Some are like vocational schools where you are taught your profession, then you are assigned to a military hospital. Ft Sam Houston can train people with everything from graduate classes to becoming a Physician Assistant-complete with labs with live animals (goat labs), residencies in level I hospitals, Graduate Nursing courses for Masters Degree, Combat Medic training when it comes to being on a Special Forces Team will get you close to Physician Assistant criteria, or even specialty classes for Physicians that include neurology, Oncology, Rheumatology...in fact Ft Sam Houston has one of the toughest continuing education professional courses when it comes to higher level courses and Physicians/Nurses from all over the country will try to get a "fellowship" in a military Hospital training facility. A Corp person will get you close to being a Medical assistant/Certified Nurses Aid. There are also classes in administration like certified coders, and paper pushers-patient care coordinators., Student can be either military or civilian in any of these classes.

Clearly these employees are young, dumb and stupid...the "dumming" of society for a goal of 15 mins of fame at the expense of a helpless infant, and our military. I hope they learn from this, never do it again and work somewhere else other then the military. If I was the mom to that infant I would press charges against these individuals as they more than likely have gone through HR and had training in what to do and what not to do.

[BedsideNurse]

How dangerous to have people with such poor character and judgment looking after the most vulnerable of patients....I would be BEYOND PISSED if someone treated my newborn in such a way. Can you imagine being a new mother and seeing that? The wrath of God might be preferable.

[clemsongal68, RN]

Corpsmen are not nurses! They are enlisted sailors in the Navy. The nurses in the Navy are officers. Corpsmen go to a training program following boot camp. It is very basic and not at all the detail that RN education provides.

[LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM]

It sounds like they were working as the equivalent of CNAs, UAP, whatever you want to call it. Plenty of civilian hospitals use aides in the nursery to help out with baths, feedings, and other tasks that don't require a license, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case in military hospitals too. I agree with all above that it is uber annoying that anyone in scrubs is immediately thought of as a nurse. The general public is undereducated, unfortunately.

With regards to their actions, all I can say is: reason #134792 that I had my baby at home.

[KathyDay]

License or not, these young women are not NURSES. The trust that is given to us as professionals is hard earned and largely well deserved. It is disgusting that these two unprofessional disgusting young women are allowed anywhere near those babies. On top of that, I can't believe that they are handling those babies with half inch fake nails....no way that is safe or sanitary. I will decry these young women every chance I get, because they do not deserve the title of Nurse or the privilege of care giving. They are despicable.

[Steffy44]

I'm irritated that they're being called "nurses". When I look up "Navy corpsman", it appears to be something attainable with a GED and 19 week training program. Does anybody know for sure?

They are NOT nurses. They are enlisted people who are basically CNA like with a few more privileges. Of course the military plays by different rules. The Air Force lets their enlisted techs start IVs. After she blew my vein upon first stick she proceeded to hit the bones in my hand. Hopefully all of these people will be court martialed and booted out and never touch another patient.

[Andreamcm]

One small correction...civilians working in the military hospital system do not need to be licensed in the state they are in. I am a civilian RN working at a military hospital on a military base and I started working here on my out of state license. I work with military and civilian nurses who hold licenses in a variety of different states.:)

[DEVILDOCRN]

No, corpsman are un-licensed.

[Julius Seizure]

I agree completely that what they did was inappropriate and unprofessional on so many levels. Babies are patients that deserve respect and to not be treated like toys or play things. Not to mention breaking patient privacy by posting it on social media. And the disrespectful nature of the snaps, etc.

My question though is that all the disrespect and unprofessionalism aside, did they put the baby at risk at all? I saw a lot of posts about not supporting the head (I agree) but I also saw some people posting about how the baby's spine and neck and shoulders could've suffered lasting damage

Is this true? Even if it's not true it doesn't diminish the disgustingness of it all. I'm just genuinely curious. Any baby/peds nurses or new parents out there?

edit: I feel like the answer is going to be obvious or that this is a stupid question... it's just that I would never consider holding a newborn like that and have never seen or heard of someone holding a newborn like that before so it hasn't crossed my mind in the past as to if it could hurt them or not. It just seems like a bizarre way to hold a little baby.

I had this same question, HermioneG. I haven't been able to find actual video of the girl "making the baby dance to rap music" to be able to tell if she was handling the baby carefully or not. Obviously it wasn't appropriate to be sending out snapchats of patients, but as far as the babies safety was concerned, I don't know of any evidence to confirm that.

As far as calling the baby a mini-satan....best keep those thoughts between you and your best friend, but what parent or peds/infant nurse can say that a crying baby hasn't gotten on their last nerve? In my opinion (and based on the facts that I know - which may not be everything), their real sin was posting this stuff on snapchat instead of keeping it to themselves.

[JKL33]

Even if the acts they posted, in and of themselves, don't represent physical harm, it certainly calls into question what else they may do that could lead to harm.

Harm/safety become a factor the moment you show such shockingly poor judgment, because you can't be trusted to do anything with the proper level of care/concern.

[Calalilynurse]

I don't think they're nurses and the term nurse is being used as click bait to get people to read the article.

[AJJKRN]

Most likely a GED won't be enough, especially for a woman going into the Navy. When I went in I had to have a high school diploma. Not sure how long the training is though. Although these ladies, and I don't like using this term with them, are wrong in what they did, a corpsman in any branch is highly regarded. Their fellow military members know they are the first ones to treat them in the trenches. This behavior is deplorable and a slap in the face to those corpsman that do the right thing. And calling them nurses is wrong. The news really needs to get their facts straight.

Umm...I would just like to point out...

GED = High School Diploma

Lord have mercy...