scrub tech= scrub nurse? hmmm....

[OhioCCRN]

Re: the recent hype r/t Minka Kelly,

puzzled.... since when is a scrub technician a scrub nurse?

http://tonicgossip.com/2010/09/30/minka-kelley-used-to-work-as-nurse/

[ItsTheDude]

i doubt it's illegal to simply call yourself any kind of nurse, ha, there'd be millions in jail for it.

what's generally illegal is pretending to be a nurse for employment/practice purposes.

[CCL RN, RN]

i doubt it's illegal to simply call yourself any kind of nurse, ha, there'd be millions in jail for it.

what's generally illegal is pretending to be a nurse for employment/practice purposes.

It's not just illegal, it's a felony.

Class 6 felony in my state I believe...

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

I think the issue is that she refers to herself as a "scrub NURSE" and it is illegal for any non-nurse to refer to self as "nurse". Doesn't matter that she's trying to simplify for the public, it's still wrong.

is this actually the case or is it the case that it's illegal to imply that you hold a Nursing registration ?

a subtle but important difference ...

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

the st's call themselves scrub "nurses" where i work all the time. Most of the docs dont even know the diference. The title nurse IS a protected title, and it is illegal to present yourself as one.

It does bother me when people call themselves nurses when the actually work WITH nurses.

[JenJen82084]

Um yes it's illegal. Felony = crime = against the law = illegal. But of course there's no "false nurse" department of law enforcement that can prosecute such offenders. Such people have to be reported to the California Medical Board and the BON in order to get the punishment which is usually a fine, and their name gets listed on the BON website as someone who is "impersonating a nurse" (i.e. practicing as a nurse without holding a license - which is of course not what this lady was doing). The Nurse Practice Act also states that ONLY RNs and LVNs may label themselves "nurse" to their patients. I believe this carries a fine as well to those who are not RNs or LVNs who call themselves "nurse."

[Jules A, MSN]

Whenever I see these type of threads I always wonder to myself if maybe my nursing schools (LPN, ADN, BSN and now MSN) were just way easier than those attended by the people that always bemoan how hard they had to work to become a nurse and are hypervigilent about who is calling themself a nurse. Do I want someone applying for a RN job that isn't one? Of course not but from my perspective in the case of surgical technicians they actually do way more than the RNs in the OR and only make about 1/3 of what we do so I really can't begrude them anything.

[steelydanfan]

It's actually illegal in the state of California to describe yourself as a nurse when you are neither an RN or an LPN. We worked hard to get our licenses, and it just bugs me when people call themselves nurses when they are not. I'm sure people could figure out what a surgical technician is if they wanted to.

Yes, and I find it so offensive to find our professional title accorded to Na's and caregivers in the salacious articles in the news these days; when some fly by night aide is called a NURSE in the article descibing how she neglected and stole from her employer.

[steelydanfan]

I am an LPN and a CST. I would use both terms, because most lay people don't know what a CST is. I don't really find it offensive that CSTs use the term scrub nurse. Actually, they hold an associates degree whereas LPNs only have a diploma for a year of nursing school! Not to be derrogatory to me or my fellow LPNs! I'm just sayin. I have experienced nurses in the OR treating CSTs as second class. CSTs or LPNs can't even join AORN. It is time to put all that to the side and just stop it and recognize that we all are there to do a job and not to feel threatened by each other.

AORN is an organization for professional Operative Nurses. If you want to join, go out and get your RN.

[KaroSnowQueen, RN]

AORN is an organization for professional Operative Nurses. If you want to join, go out and get your RN.

DANG!!! Grumpy, aren't we? Who peed in your Wheaties this morning????

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I was a scrub tech who became an RN. While I loved my time as a scrub, and have respect for what they do, they aren't nurses. Some,not all, seem to have an inflated sense of their own importance. I still scrub and look at it as a break, because you just have to worry about what's going on at the field. When you're circulating, you have that whole room to worry about.

I think Minka Kelly could just have easily have said scrub technician and people would have known somewhat what she was talking about. I actually saw the episode of Regis&Kelly where they interviewed her, and Regis even said she went to nursing school. She did nothing to correct this statement. In the long scheme of things, I guess it's not that important. But, it does chap my hide when surgical techs, or MAs, pull this crap.

If you want to be called a nurse and thought of as such, go to school and earn it.

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

I am an LPN and a CST. I would use both terms, because most lay people don't know what a CST is. I don't really find it offensive that CSTs use the term scrub nurse. Actually, they hold an associates degree whereas LPNs only have a diploma for a year of nursing school! Not to be derrogatory to me or my fellow LPNs! I'm just sayin. I have experienced nurses in the OR treating CSTs as second class. CSTs or LPNs can't even join AORN. It is time to put all that to the side and just stop it and recognize that we all are there to do a job and not to feel threatened by each other.

Not picking on you, but I wanted to clarify for people who may be confused by your post. You do not need an Associate's Degree to be a CST. You can complete a certificate course, which is 8-9 months usually and then take the exam to certify. Aside from this route, you can be on-the-job trained (OJT) as a surgical technician and not have any formal training at all. In fact, some of the best techs I have ever worked with have been OJT techs with more years of experience than most of the staff in the OR could muster together on a good day. Yes, some CST's do have an Associate's degree in surgical technology, but not all (or even the majority if you look at the stats produced by the AST).

I'm not trying to make any class distinctions here, or even put anyone down, but this board tries to be informative and your post is simply inaccurate and could mislead someone trying to become a surgical tech from pursuing this career.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I have experienced nurses in the OR treating CSTs as second class. CSTs or LPNs can't even join AORN. It is time to put all that to the side and just stop it and recognize that we all are there to do a job and not to feel threatened by each other.

I ADORE a good scrub tech. They have saved my bacon on more than one occasion.