Non-Nurses calling themselves a Nurse

[sarajasmine]

The school district my child goes to has a CNA in the school clinic, who refers to herself as "The school Nurse". I thought she was either an LVN or RN until last week when she had me come pick up my child from school. She had a little nausea but, she said she needed to stay out for two days due to a small rash on her face that she diagnosed as "Wingworm"! She told me to get an over-the-counter anti-fungal and treat for two days when she would be allowed to return to school! (I think that is practicing medicine w/o a license?!) I asked did she mean ringworm-she said no, wingworm...so, I had her write that down on the standard form they use when children are sent hm. Maybe the school board is exempt from following the law?!

Well, I took her to our family Doctor who said, she doesn't have ringworm-it's impetigo and prescribed bactriban.

My beef is that the teachers even refer to her as the school nurse-I wonder if

they even know the difference between an LVN or RN and a CNA? I sent a letter to the Assistant Superintendant for the district but, have not heard a reply. I think I am no different than most of you who have worked hard for your RN or LVN license and earn the respect of being called a "Nurse". I was a CNA before I was an LPN and have now been an RN over 20 yrs. As a CNA, I knew my place and my limits of practice. Any other parent or Nurse concerned about this?

[PJROR]

CNA are often treated like crap. I agree. A good CNA makes my day so much easier. However teh good CNA's I have worked with are proud they are aids and show it. I still think the patient/resident has the right to know when they are consulting a licensed person. CNA's are worth their weight in gold, still patient/resident rights are still in the mix. They have the right to the truth.

[Scrubby]

I haven't read every comment on this thread but has it failed to escape everyones attention that despite this being allNURSES.com we have CNA's, nursing students, techs as members?

By no means am I saying they shouldn't be members it's just the irony of it.

[nurseby07]

I know this is an old post but when I saw the interview with the octo-mom they said that she "worked here

at this mental hospital as a technician. She performed basic nursing duties, giving medications and performing

assessments" That irked me.

[kishinne]

hello,

In my opinion....we really have to be cautious in everything we do...its not right to pretend or trying to be an expert when it comes to diagnose the disease of the person especially if you are not really a nurse by profession...it may harm one's condition,its either worsen or will do good..it depends upon the situation......

[flygirl43]

CNAs should not be handing out medical advice. Period. Don't let it drop. She can harm someone else!

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

My fav. are the ones who went to school, didnt finish, and call themselves nurses (these are usually family members).

Also, there are people who NEVER did bedside care, went into a specialty away from the bedside str8 out of school who call themselves nurses (every hospital has that Case Manager who insists she is a nurse only because she passed boards, could never actually take a pt. load to save her life, but........make sure you dont forget, she is a nurse lol).

Its easy to tell the difference between the "nurse in title" types from the nurses. Nurse by title only types smile and say "I'm a nurse" with that student nurse gleam in their eye, you can tell there is a "I have a calling and have become a nurse" thing going on between their ears.

Now, nurses on the other hand are more like "Yeah, I'm a nurse why? What do you want?". Say it with a sort of........."Dont bother me" tone to it.

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

LOL Eriksoln, I agree you can always tell the "real" nurse by her attitude. But you also can tell she/he's the real deal by thier heart!

[Victoriakem]

That's why it's important to be at the bedside on a regular basis. It's good to take a break from wiping behinds at times, but I"m glad I'm still doing bedside nursing. At least today I am! hahahaha

[jjjoy, LPN]

Also, there are people who NEVER did bedside care, went into a specialty away from the bedside str8 out of school who call themselves nurses... Its easy to tell the difference between the "nurse in title" types from the nurses.

To me this brings up the question of what IS a nurse and what IS nursing? Or to be more precise, what is *professional* nursing? In nursing school, it was emphasized over and over that bedside nursing is only one facet of nursing, as opposed to the bedrock of nursing. And yet in the weeks leading up to graduation, the instructors started changing their message to "you need at least two years of bedside experience."

In my opinion, I think the term "nurse" is way too vague and that leads to added tension within and around the profession about what constitutes a "real nurse." I'd like to see more commonly understood distinction between types of nurses and what skill set that represents. Someone might guess that a public health nurse, a school nurse or a nurse case manager are not practicing traditional bedside nursing skills. Nurses in specialty areas sometimes have fairly clear references "NICU nurse, critical care nurse, cath lab nurse, office nurse (does this really exist anymore?)."

But we don't have a widely understood and commonly used title for the majority of "real nurses" who work in patient care, some would say "staff nurse" or "bedside nurse" but those are vague and suggest too much that it's a default label as opposed to an indication of skills ABOVE AND BEYOND the basics learned in school. I'd like to see a designation like "acute care nurse" that indicates a unique skill in regard to hands-on acute patient care. Perhaps one earns this designation AFTER working for a year or two as a newbie in acute care.

Just thoughts!