"I am a nurse!"

[Emergent]

Ever have a patient or family member who, the first thing out of their mouth is "I am a nurse!". Then they proceed to brag about their illustrious career, showing off their knowledge, grandstanding and expecting the red carpet treatment. They fiddle around with monitors, turn off pumps and saline lock IVs, crossing boundaries right and left.

Then they announce that they love it here and plan on applying! You go to the BON site, verify their status, then email your supervisor ASAP!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Fortunate here; in 21 years' nursing this has never happened to my patients or myself.

[Crush]

I have also been fortunate that I have not had any issues with family members who are nurses. The ones I have issue with is the ones who use Dr. Google and WebMD and then break out the spiral notebook and pen. Some who do this are ok about it but others not so much.

[Paws2people]

My fav are the ones who are a CNA, home health care aide, or Animal Vet Tech. They say they are "nurses," contradict everything, watch every move staff makes like a hawk, and dictate how things should be done.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I just went to my provider this morning. I have managed to have a provider without them realizing I'm a nurse. However, I think they are on to me.

"Have you been exposed to anything recently?"

"I work in an ER, so probably." Busted

I remember being asked some questions about childbirth from an acquaintance that figured out I was a nurse. My reply "I'm an ER nurse, not maternity. I don't no nothing about birthin no babies Scarlet. But I can run really fast to birthplace."

I know the feeling of being lost when it's an unfamiliar specialty! When a friend of mine was in the hospital having her baby of course she told all the staff her friend was a nurse. The nurses started discussing some of the more technical stuff around me then. I was thoroughly confused and wondered why the heck they gave a crap about passive range of motion in a laboring mom. I didn't have a clue that in L & D PROM meant something entirely different than it does in LTC!

[CoolKidsRN]

To be honest, medically I have had so much happen to me personally that I end up outting myself as a nurse to advocate for myself. I don't do it to be difficult but, being that I'm immunocompromised everything matters. In my experience, I've found that doctors and other nurses have included me and collaborated with me on my plan of care.

[debirn918]

I have learned the hard way not to share unless I have to. Neighbors who find out I am a nurse suddenly feel free to ask me for things that I am not licensed to do, such as a Medical Diagnosis.

Then they decide to call for any ache and pain that they might have and include their kids in the process.

Yep. Learned to keep my mouth shut unless I have to mention it. (grin)

I had a neighbor at one time who would call me to ask if I happened to have any percocet lying around. Uh, no. I'm a nurse, not your local drug dealer!

[Orion81RN]

I never thought I'd be "that" family member either until I had a relative in the hospital having issues 10+ hours away. This family member had had surgery at the hospital 2 months before and had no issues. I got general updates from my family and let everything be. With the second surgery and hospitalization multiple people (nursing and providers) dropped the ball and complications developed. I spent over an hour on the phone with the spouse who was so upset and knew something was wrong but didn't know what and was just ignored. I told them what to do and what requests/demands to make and to whom to make them to. It definitely put the facility on alert and they questioned the family member who eventually told them another family member is a critical care nurse. The hospital actually opened up an internal investigation because of some of the things that happened. I found somebody to swap shifts with in case things didn't turn around and I wanted to fly out last minute to actually be at the hospital. I think I was very rational with the whole situation- I never called the hospital or asked to be added to the updates list. I just empowered my family member and was prepared to make a personal appearance if things didn't turn around.[/quote']

This made me wonder if we all mean something different when we use tbe term "be *that* family member." It sounds like you advocated appropriately for your family member, so based off what you said, I wouldn't classify you as "that" family member.

For example, when I refer to family members who are medical professionals as "that family member " I'm refering to those who immediately state up front that they are a nurse, dr....and throw their weight around making unreasonable demands.

P.s. that sounds like a terrible situation to be in. That must have so hard to be that far away.

[Susie2310]

I think it's important to keep in mind that not every family member whose first words are "I am a nurse" is making an inappropriate or untrue statement.

There are situations where establishing this information right at the beginning of the nurse-patient-family relationship is important, and the family member has the right to make that determination. This wouldn't typically be the first thing I would say, but I can certainly see situations where I would do just this, for example, if I had reason to be concerned about the care my family member was receiving and my concerns had previously been rebuffed or not taken seriously, and I needed to establish that I am asking questions/expressing concern from the knowledge base of a nurse as opposed to a lay person. I think in this situation most nurses would prefer that the family member honestly express that they are a nurse in their attempt to resolve concerns regarding the patient, instead of the family member feeling that they have no choice but to start going up the chain of command to resolve the situation.

Listening is important; when we don't do that the relationship breaks down and we can very quickly lose control of what happens next.

[dec2007]

I had a neighbor at one time who would call me to ask if I happened to have any percocet lying around. Uh, no. I'm a nurse, not your local drug dealer!

People are ridiculous!!!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

You *are* something important.

My thought exactly!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

The last time I had an RN-family member, she was very clear -- "I've worked in home care since I graduated. I promise I'm not judging y'all's work...because I know nothing about ICU!"

[angeloublue22, BSN, RN]

I has patient say that they were a trauma nurse. I asked him if he had any hypertension issues. He stated, "Yeah, I get tense sometimes." They didn't know what propranolol was or what it was even for. Yeah, sure you're a nurse. It's usually not real nurses stating that either they are nurses or their families members, which usually turns out not to be true.