At my boiling point...you are NOT a Nurse...of ANY kind!!!!

Nurses Professionalism

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Ok folks, I'm just about ready to lose it and I know it's a little silly..or it may seem petty...but just take my feelings into consideration.

I am SICK to DEATH of SOME Medical Assistants, CNAs, and Respiratory Therapists (etc.) calling themselves NURSES, or allowing themselves to be called nurses...or saying that they are getting their "RN". Are you KIDDING ME?

Before I start, let me begin by saying that I respect ALL health care workers and think you should be proud of what you are doing, going to school for, and what your title is. However, I have LOW tolerance for people who break the law and throw around a professional title/license. It's beyond ignorant and I'm wondering how it can be stopped.

I would NEVER in a million years, call myself a Doctor...or a Nurse Practitioner..because I am NOT one. I did NOT go to school for it. I am a Registered Nurse and PROUD of it. If anyone calls me Doctor, or ANYTHING else, I quickly correct them with a sweet smile on my face.

Examples of what I have heard/seen/witnessed/etc.:

" Can I speak to the nurse?" Medical Assistant" Speaking, How can I help you?"

" So excited for my first day of school, we did injections!" says the medical assisting student..friend asks "OH, nursing program?!"...medical assistant student says "Yep, sure is!".

"Nurse Sarah, when do you finish school?". Sarah says, "In 2 months"...Sarah is in a RESPIRATORY therapy program.

My friend says to me," I went to school to become a nurse and finished, but I decided I prefer Social Work." I ask, "Really, so you're a nurse, where did you go?" Friend replies "Yes, CNA Tech Institute".(fake name) Uhm, that's a well known 6 month CNA school. SERIOUSLY?

"I actually teach the nurses on my unit everything. I know more than them and have more experience.", says the Medical Assistant after I ask them why they are referring to themselves as "Nurse".

I can't even go on to tell you how much more I have witnessed. MANY of this is coming from my friends. I'm going to be REALLY honest with you guys. I am just heated. I worked my BOTTOM off in nursing school. I applied to a program with 600 applicants in line (which is STANDARD) and was accepted into ONE of 20 seats. I killed myself not to be flunked out and passed with an average 3.5 GPA. It was four years of GRUELING work and I feel I have earned the right to refer to myself as a Registered Nurse. I'm very proud of it.

I feel like other health care workers are SERIOUSLY making a JOKE of the nursing field throwing around the title as though we are a dime a dozen. Why can't they be proud of what they do? EACH of those fields is JUST fine..but WHY are you breaking the law and calling yourself a Nurse?

Can you imagine what would happen if I called myself a Doctor? Sorry, but that's ignorant and pathetic. I would NEVER do it. If this thread offends you, then please don't reply. It shouldn't be offensive unless you are one of the few health care workers who live a lie and call yourself a nurse.

How do we address this and stop this? Medical Assistants are the BIGGEST group I have witnessed this by. I have a LOT of respect for them and envy their position. They ENJOY their jobs...but why do SOME (not ALL), throw MY nursing license value around like that by claiming they are a nurse?

What do you do when it's a friend doing this?

What do you do when it's a health care coworker?

I already know what I would do if I was going to a Doctor's office and they did this. That's easy. It's the friend part that is hard. I KNOW it's silly to be upset..but I have never seen so much ignorance. Why did I work hard if someone else can call themselves a nurse and only went to school for 6 months? What did I work for? Other than the obvious paycheck and passion?! ha :)

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Specializes in LTC, Med-SURG,STICU.

This ticks me off at times too. I would sit my friend down and have a nice heart to heart talk with him/her. I would tell your friend how it makes you feel when someone has not paid his or her dues both educational and financial to themselves a nurse. If this person is a true friend he/she will listen to what you are saying and be respectful enough to try to correct their behavior.

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Specializes in Family Practice, Urgent Care, Cardiac Ca.

One of the problems is that there is no regulatory body for MAs....so nursing can't hold them accountable, nor can medicine, for using false claims. the only people who can legally sue them for fraud is.....drumroll.... the patient. This is why we *HAVE* to keep our patients educated on what to expect and from whom...

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

you do know that falsely presenting oneself as a licensed professional may be a felony? I would report to BON. In my state that means the State Atty General's office gets involved.

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I have seen this as well. It is very frustrating for someone who worked hard for that RN LICENSE. Not to mention it is falsely presenting oneself, as classicdame said. When I was a student I worked on a floor with a CNA who would refer to herself as a RN frequently to patients. Patients would ask for the nurse for something, she would overhear and run in the room and say "I'm here what can I do for you." The RN manager was made aware of it after that...and I believe she was talked to about it.

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you do know that falsely presenting oneself as a licensed professional may be a felony? I would report to BON. In my state that means the State Atty General's office gets involved.

I wish it would become a federal felony.

Then if we heard it, we could report it immediately.

Or give them one "get out of jail free" card, remind them that what they did is in violation of the law, and if they screw up again, nail them.

It would be a great way for the government to raise some money.......

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you do know that falsely presenting oneself as a licensed professional may be a felony?.

State dependent, misdemeanor or felony, but most certainly a criminal act punishable by the sentencing rules of the appropriate statute.

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Specializes in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes.

Glad I'm not the only one frustrated by this.

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Specializes in medical with other stuff chucked in!.

i'm in the UK. we have the same problem with SOME healthcare assistants/ healthcare support workers. i have witnessed them taking handover from paramedics when the registered nurse is standing there waiting for the handover to be given to them. I have called for a doctor because i have been worried about a patient, only to find that the HCA is discussing the patient matter of factly with the doctor in the corridor, without even bothering to tell me the doctor has arrived when i was still tending to the patient. i have with a hca who tried to deal with a severly breathless and cyanosed patient on their own without even alerting me to the fact the patient was unwell - it was another hca that came to get me - not only could i have lost my licence if something went wrong, but they put that persons life in danger because of their over inflated ego. The line between nurses and hca is blurred beyond all recognition now. they are being allowed to do things that are traditionally nursing tasks, but they have no in depth knowledge base to know what to do when something goes wrong.

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This must be getting worse as we are hearing about this more than ever. I personally have never witnessed it but I am wondering if the docs lean on the MAs in their office to identify themselves as nurses.

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I understand your anger. I have been a registered nurse for over 18 years and have heard all of that. My stepdaughter is curently in nursing school (a 2 year program for people who already have their bachelor's to obtain her BSN). She actually tells people that she is going to be a CRNA and tells friends and family, basically whoever will listen, that she will basically be an anesthesiologist. All of this from a girl who had aspirations of med school. She is 25 and has yet to hold a full-time job. She has also made it known that she will have more of an advanced degree than me (I have an ADN). My in-laws who are know-it-alls tell me that I cannot work in an ER or ICU. Some people are just ignorant. Learn to let it roll off you, sometimes that is hard to do.

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Specializes in MED/SURG STROKE UNIT, LTC SUPER., IMU.

I know what you mean. I had a patient's daughter tell me yesterday that she "went to LPN school, but had to drop out so now she's a Home Health Nurse". WWHHAATT??? I ask: so you got your nursing licence after all? "No, but I got my CNA licence." I almost chewed through my own tongue so I wouldn't say something smart. I couldn't open my mouth for a few minutes. :mad:

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