Practicing "nursing" w/o a license...?

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Hello all. I am a nursing student here in SC and I love this website. It has been very helpful and even though I have never directly participated on here, I have learned a lot from you all. I have decided to finally make a post, but it is not about my studies....

I know someone who works at my child's doctor's office. She refers to herself as "head nurse" there. She claims to have graduated from the school I am attending. She actually went to HS with me, but was a few years older. I noticed she was not pictured in the nursing building for the year she said she graduated as a RN. (Our school displays the pictures of all the RN & LPN graduates in the halls). I asked her about this and she told me she failed out of the RN program early on (I don't think she ever got into the program but can't be for sure), but anyway, she graduated as a surg. tech. This I have verified. She does not refer to herself as a RN and doesn't sign her name that way, but she does give shots, and everything else a nurse would do in pediatrician's office. I have also heard her mention how she's started caths for patients in the office. Does this sound right to any of you? Can surgical techs do that? She told me the Dr. knows she is a ST.

Is this legal? I don't mean to sound...picky, it just seems strange.

Thanks

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Wow. Well, in many states one may not call herself a nurse if she is not in fact a licensed nurse. As for the other stuff, perhaps you could check your state's regulations for scope of practice. It sounds strange to me, and I would probably look into it, just as you are.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

I agree that calling herself a nurse is neither legal, nor the right thing to do because it is misleading. As for the procedures she is performing, that depends on the state and the facility. There are hospitals in my state that offer tech positions to people who have completed a certain amount of nursing school and can show competency in the skills they require, or have completed the hospitals tech program. They practice under an RN or LPN, and can do foleys, EKG set up, injections (non med, just vax), basic wound care, and various other tasks. So she may well be practicing legaly, but calling her self a nurse is wrong.

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She's the only employee though besides the doc and the receptionist. I live in SC I looked on the state licensing website but didn't see anything relating to what I'm looking for and thought I'd ask for opinions before I called. Also, speaking of referring to herself as a nurse, I called there one day because my child had an emergency and the receptionist also referred to her as a nurse. I also know before this job she was a regular ST in an operating room. No other nursing type duties.

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I hope she's not doing anything illegal. It's not right first off and I also don't want to get anyone in trouble. But it seems weird there being no actual nurse, RN or LPN in the office at all.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Welcome! I believe the answer to your question depends on what the regulations are in your state. In many states "nurse" is a protected title, but many states allow an unlicensed person to give injections or other procedures as long as these are delegated and supervised by the doctor.

In my state, anyone can be called a "medical assistant", with no prior training whatsoever as long as the doc trains and supervises. They are regulated by the medical board, rather than the board of nursing.

Many of us have been surprised at the complexity of some of these things. Both injections and caths are allowed to be done by techs with training here in my state. Hope that helps a little..,:-)

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Why don't you just ask her?

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Im a medical assistant and I give injections in a doctors office and like someone said, it depends on what state it is. Some ppl are grandfathered into the medical assistant position which means they will do injections, draw bood, electrocardiogram, and so forth. Whats your beef with her anyway I was trying to figure it out from reading your post.............

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An MD's office is very different than an acute care situation. An MD can "train" and "supervise" staff members to do whatever it is they would like them to do. Including injections, vital signs, and other invasive and non-invasive procedures. Licensed nurses are responsible for anything they delegate to UAPs. The MD is responsible for anything they delegate to UAP's in an office situation.

I have met some incredible medical assistants in MD offices. However, I get that this is a peds office, and you may be concerned about this because this is about your child (children). Yes, I like offices who have licensed nurses. I further like offices that have the option of seeing an NP. If this is of concern to you, you may want to research and see what peds office in your area has licensed nurses on staff. The norm, at least in my area, is medical assistants.

State Links Carolina

Above is a link on the scope of MA's in your state.

The following is the statue pertaining to the protection of the title "nurse" in your state.

[h=1]South Carolina[/h]Page Content

[h=3]RN Title Protection Law[/h][h=4][/h][h=4]Statute/Regulation:[/h]SC Code 40-33-30

[h=4]Relevant Text:[/h](B) It is unlawful for a person to practice as an advanced practice registered nurse, a registered nurse, or a licensed practical nurse in this State, or to use the abbreviation "APRN", "RN", or "LPN" or any variation or sub designation of these, or use any title, sign, card, or device to indicate that the person is a nurse, or that the person is practicing as a nurse, within the meaning of this chapter, unless the person is actively licensed under the provisions of this chapter.

© A person may not use the word "nurse" as a title, or use an abbreviation to indicate that the person is practicing in this State as a nurse, unless the person is actively licensed as a nurse as provided for in this chapter. If the term "nurse" is part of a longer title, such as "nurse's aide", a person who is entitled to use that title shall use the entire title and may not abbreviate the title to " nurse". This does not prohibit the use of the title "nurse" by persons who hold a temporary permit pending licensure by endorsement from another jurisdiction, and it does not prohibit the use of the title "nurse" by persons enrolled in a board-approved refresher course for the purpose of obtaining an active South Carolina license.

I do find it interesting that in fact, no one ever says "the doctor's assistant" it is always "the nurse".....because heaven forbid we all think that the person in the office is in any way shape or form a PA or intern or such......

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My beef with her as you called it is that someone could be endangering children because she is not trained because she told me she was never trained. She isn't a MA.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

My office has no RNs or LPNs just MAs. They give shots, do EKGs, assist with minor surgical procedures, etc. Patients often call them "nurses" but they know enough not to call themselves that.

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Thank you to those who were helpful and took from my post that I was simply asking a question not trying to be rude or mean or anything close to that. I had a strange feeling and thought that it would be interesting to ask some educated people who work in the field if they had ever heard of that. I was not bashing anyone or starting "beef". I think it's great MAs can do those things, I've had one give me a shot before. Too bad the person I'm asking about is not a medical assistant. I have been in need of a family doctor and the one I found that I'm interested in also sees babies so I believe I'm going to check that Dr. out. Thanks for your help.

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