Nurse Impersonators

[NancyRN]

Am I the only one who resents the "nurse impersonators" who abound in the health care field?

Everyone who works at a doctor's office or in a hospital wears scrubs and seems to pass themselves off as a nurse. Of course, the hospital doesn't mind. Visitors and patients don't realize how few nurses are actually on the unit if the unit clerks, nursing assistants, housekeepers, and technicians are all wearing scrubs.

It seems harmless enough, this generic flowered jacketed scrub outfit, until you think of the harm it does to nurses' reputation as a whole. I just wonder what people think when they see two or three "nurses" ambling around the hallways or sitting at the nurses station while their family member waits for pain medication!

I have to think the doctor's offices are the worst. The doctors will actually refer to the medical assistant as "the nurse". I wonder if a doctor would appreciate an employee passing himself off as a doctor?

Last month I was in a doctor's waiting room with my son when a man came in holding his hand wrapped in a towel. He announced that he'd cut his hand and needed to see the doctor ( ok- dont ask me why he didn't go to the ER!) . The "nurse" told him to have a seat. The waiting room was crowded and it was obvious he was in for a very long wait. I saw the towel becoming saturated, and I couldn't help going over to him and telling him to hold his hand above heart level, apply pressure, try some deep breathing, etc. I told the "nurse" to let him go in and be seen, but she said, "He has to wait his turn, it wouldnt be fair to the patients who had appointments."

Driving home, my son asked, "Why didn't that nurse help that man?" I told him, "Because she's not a nurse!" But I wonder how many people in that waiting room went home with the story of the nurse who wouldnt help a bleeding man.

I know nurses don't want to go back to the days of wearing caps (even though I love my cap), but shouldn't we be more concerned about people in scrubs making us look bad? Shouldn't a nurse on duty be as easily recognizable as an EMT, a Firefighters, or a Police Officer?

[pandora]

Can't help you there Stevie B because I didn't see it, but maybe you can help me. I'm guessing that an MA is a medical assistant. It's a new one on me because I've never heard of this in the UK. What do MAs do? If they have no formal medical qualification how can they justify having a RNs for 'assistants'?

Here's a true story that some of you out there may be able to identify with.

A couple of years ago I was working in a hospital in the south-east of England (not the one I work in now). I went for my coffee break and ended up sitting next to a health care assistantI barely knew from another ward. She was complaining about the number of post-surgical patients she was having to do vital signs on. She said she had hardly seen an RN all morning (I find that hard to believe on a busy surgical ward!) She was clearly stressed out and upset, so I sat and quietly listened. My sympathy kind of ran out when she said that she was as good as the RNs. She added, "I just haven't got the piece of paper to say that I'm a trained nurse", "I do exactly the same job".

I asked her whether she had assessed the patient on admission, prepared the care plan, gave the medications etc., Of course, she hadn't. Not that I think that's all there is to nursing, but we have the knowledge to do these things (and much more), and we take the legal responsibility.

[Huganurse]

...

[stevie b]

Pandora,

As far as I know,the MA's in a Dr. office do things like vitals,weights,lab draws etc. I dont know what would prompt the MD to assign the RN as an aide to an MD. I know I dont think I could do that,but, I dont have any personal office experience except as a patient.

And Susy,I have to say Im not sure if the ANA did get involved or not,because I have to plead ignorance about most of the ANA's dealings.Im not exactly sure what they are all about,but I will(whenI get some extra time) pull up some archive threads and educate myself.

[stevie b]

Typo,

I meant "an aide to the MA' sorry guys,Im still awake after a 12 hr p-a shift.

[Huganurse]

"I get your point about the hats though... from my point of view Being a Male I get mistaken for a MD all the time, even after I have repeatedly introduced myself as an RN, it's kind of funny really...Or I get the old "So when do you plan on going to medical school?" "

I am not a Male nurse, however, I also get mistaken for the Doc. I think it is how I present myself. In a most professional and knowledgable way possible. It happens more often when I don my tailored cut 3/4 length(about to the knee in length) white lab jacket over my scrubs. Even the other nurses raze me about it saying I look like a Doc. I'm not trying to be a Dr, just the nurse that I am, and I have the right to wear that jacket anytime I like. I started wearing it in nursing school, then in home care. I have several and I wear them at the hospital. Maybe that is what we need to do to differentiate ourselves from non nursing staff (The 3/4 length white jacket). If people get us nurses confused with Drs that is better than kitchen staff getting mistaken for nurses! These type jackets just look professional to me. What do you all think?? Care to join in?

[pandora]

Thanks Stevie B. Have yourself a good, long sleep now. You deserve it.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

I wonder if they would all like to impersonate the mandatory overtime, impossible pt loads, stringent guidelines.........etc,etc.

I'm not yet a nurse, but once I am you can bet your a** they won't be pulling that crap around me for too long.

I've experienced the same opportunity because of a shirt and tie or a 3/4 length labcoat as a respiratory therapist(I was really CRTT).

I was called nurse, DR, PT....you name it.

Nurses are just as guilty!

It is routine.........YOU ALL DO IT.........to call all respiratory personell RT(as in therapist) or call all personell respiratory tech(as in CRTT).

One is a technician, CRTT. One is a therapist, RT. The credentials for RT are much more difficult to obtain(at least ten years ago when I was on the floors) and this makes them feel disrespected.

Check it out. Listen a few times when respiratory is addressed. you'll be amazed to find out thier true identities!

[mattcastens]

This is quite the interesting thread! It seams that a lot of us feel the same way. While returning to caps is totally impractical (and for us guys, a little wierd), someone mentioned in a previous post about badges and emblems for EMTs, Police, etc.

What if only nurses were allowed to wear such an emblem? I'm thinking of like a white warm-up scrub jacket with a cadeuseus and a big RN or LPN on the arm. I kind of like the idea, in fact ... I just might see if I could make one for myself.

I do think that maybe part of the problem is the leeway that nurses have gotten in terms of scrubs. While I realize everyone likes their "individuality", perhaps a return to "uniform" is in order. The police, fire and EMTs do it and (again) they are always recognized.

I also realize that this is dangerously close to past threads where I have promoted the idea of uniform uniforms and have gotten my naughty-bits chewed off, so have at it......

[Huganurse]

I just can't seem to stay off this thread. I just found this on a thread and thought I'd share it with you.

"Gee wiz. I logged on to ask how anyone copes with night shift, when I found this thread. I have been working nights for 3 months now. Fortunately we have a great group of professionals, CNA and Nurses."

Are CNA's professionals??? I had never considered them as such but when nurses see them as professionals then why wouldn't they be classified as nurses, if they are professionals.

This is an area of our nursing profession that we must addressand solve. We need to put a stop to non professionals and non nurses passing themselves off as nurses. But, first we must start at the ground level. Nurses need to dress the part, walk the walk and talk the talk. (I cringe when I see a RN walk onto the unit with hair in a mess, wrinkled cloths and reaking of perfume or worse yet, using profanity in general conversations). We need to report all occurances of impersonating nature to our state board. We need to be proactive as we can be to get the respect we deserve in our nursing profession.

I still think the 3/4 white jacket is a good idea.:)

[Q.]

I like the fun scrubs, but like I said, I would definitely give them up in order to properly identify us.

How about also making it a point to call your state board when you witness impersonation. I believe impersonating a licensed nurse is a felony...is it not? Perhaps if the ramifications of impersonating a nurse were more severe and not so rewarded, people would be less inclined to do it.

[babynurselsa, RN]

I just had this very discussion with a pediatrician who moonlights in our NICU. She is part of the same group practice that my childrens pediatician belongs to. I told her how offended i was as a nurse and as a patient to be called by the "Triage Nurse" and when I got to the office to find out that this person was a MA.

We discussed this at great length. Maybe as far oss the office situation goes this is where we can start. Have a heart to heart with your Doc and let him know how you feel about staff being misrepresented. To take this a step further maybe we should encourage our state nursing boards to address this issue.

[Q.]

Babynursechelsea:

You raised some good points but there are many other underlying issues with this I think.

For starters, at my clinic it seems that the physicians who are the most outspoken are the ones who actually respect the MAs more than the nurses. And I think this comes with ignorance about what makes a nurse a nurse. The committee who wants to pair us with an MA as her assistant values the pyschomotor skills of a nurse more than what actually constitutes a nurse, such as the teaching, the evaluation, the whole nursing process and diagnosis. To most people, the dummy monkey skills that a nurse does is more important than the nurse's REAL skills, which are usually unmeasurable and difficult to describe. So naturally the physicians value the MA more because they are doing vitals, rooming patients, etc. Most of the MAs don't even do vitals!!

I think once nursing as a profession is understood it will make it easier for non-nurses to understand what the true skills of a good nurse are. And let me tell ya, they ain't injections!

To the poster who questions why a CNA can't be called a nurse - THEY ARE NOT A NURSE. Plain and simple.