SHHHHH, dont tell anyone I'm a RN

Nurses Professionalism

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For the past four years I have worked as a CNA putting myself through school and I can officially say I am a RN. However-a few months ago my manager told me that I had to tell him immeadiately after passing my boards because I could not work for my organization as a tech if I'm a license nurse. I checked with my state BON and it says I can but I'm still avoiding him because I need my job. My nurse residency doesnt start for another month (at another location) and I still have bills to pay. Whats worst is that my co workers have been asking me, so I have been honest and tell them that I passed my boards but some of them have gone out of their way to question how do I still have a job as a tech where as the organization usually let techs go once they become nurses who are not staying with the company. I also wanted to stay with the same organization to earn some extra money prn because I'm sure I will not be eliegible for overtime for months at the new Hospital. I'm so confused right now because it's like I have to hide the fact I'm a nurse to justify my needs for survival.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
Barbie8808 said:
I come to a community of "nurses" who instead of giving helpful advice some spew words of discouragement or some type of unworthiness,

No one has called you unworthy, and the helpful advice leans heavily toward being honest with your employer. As with my previous post, guard your reputation, and your work history. Better to use a credit card to live on for a couple of weeks than wreck your hire-ability for years.

You said yourself you were confused, the consensus here is: tell the employer!

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Such a pissy missy now that you're not hearing what you want to hear..the word 'helpful' doesn't mean 'what one wants to hear'. Can't backpeddle after blabbing to the coworkers either...might as well just tell the manager.

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Specializes in med surg.

Best to be honest. Id talk to the supervisor. if not youll look very shady. I dont think youll go completely broke in a month. maybe you can collect unemployment. maybe not what you want to hear but seems to be consensus here.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Barbie8808 said:

For the past four years I have worked as a CNA putting myself through school and I can officially say I am a RN. However-a few months ago my manager told me that I had to tell him immediately after passing my boards because I could not work for my organization as a tech if I'm a license nurse. I checked with my state BON and it says I can but I'm still avoiding him because I need my job. My nurse residency doesnt start for another month (at another location) and I still have bills to pay. Whats worst is that my co workers have been asking me, so I have been honest and tell them that I passed my boards but some of them have gone out of their way to question how do I still have a job as a tech where as the organization usually let techs go once they become nurses who are not staying with the company. I also wanted to stay with the same organization to earn some extra money PRN because I'm sure I will not be eligible for overtime for months at the new Hospital. I'm so confused right now because it's like I have to hide the fact I'm a nurse to justify my needs for survival.

The fact that your co-workers are aware of your dilemma and have taken such an interest in it that they question you about the latest developments I'm going to say that if nobody has blabbed by now it's a near certainty your manager will hear of it before the month is over.

I can sympathize with having bills to pay, but on balance leaving any job should be done under the best terms possible. When you consider your 4 years there, why would you want the last thing they remember about you was your attempt to do a deceptive end run?

So tell him before somebody else does and maybe avoid a negative reputation should you want to work overtime as an RN with that company. Best wishes!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
elkpark said:
You can make light of this all you like, but what Mavrick says is true. You are being intentionally dishonest with your employer, contrary to your supervisor's previous, explicit request; clearly, you can't be trusted if being dishonest will benefit you. If your situation gets found out, it's not going to go well for you. And it doesn't say much, as I said earlier, for your honesty or your ethics. Not a promising way to start a nursing career.

(I see Jednurse beat me to it.)

That's really the underlying concern that stands out to me. If OP is going to be unethical/dishonest about something like this, makes me wonder how they will react if they make a med error or a mistake in some other way.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

This comes down to integrity which as a nurse you MUST possess. If you lie about this (even if its a lie of omission) then you have started down a slippery slope. Where does it stop?

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Specializes in Med Surg.

I think the real problem here is that leadership at your place of employment is a bunch of idiots.

That being said, you should not lie to your idiot employer.

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ArtClassRN said:
I think the real problem here is that leadership at your place of employment is a bunch of idiots.

That being said, you should not lie to your idiot employer.

I can go with that sentiment.

The thing to do would've been to find out the rationale for this policy (such as legal concerns, if any) months ago when it was first mentioned or known. Then there would've been all this time to prepare an appeal for accommodation or, worst case, do some long-term planning for a month with little income.

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Specializes in Private Health Advisor and Writer.

First of all - any RN can, and many have, worked in the CNA role on their floors when staffing needs have called for it. There is no rule in the BON that says you have to work as an RN once you get your license. When I got my RN I was working as a CNA on a heart floor and my orientation as an RN did not begin for 3 more weeks after I passed my boards. So I continued in my CNA role until orientation began. The key here is to stay within the scope of the CNA role while you are working as one. There are other nurses in your department who have been trained and finished their orientations who can perform those duties. Under NO circumstances should you do anything within the RN scope, because while you may have a license you are not a nurse for that particular facility. And I think that is potential legal issue that your facility is grappling with - those who receive their licenses may be tempted to work out side of their assigned roles. Your license is not a pass to perform as nurse everywhere you go. For example - I am now an "office nurse" yes I have a RN license and I work in a clinical setting, but because I no longer provide active care to patients my facility no longer provides me yearly competencies for clinical care. I have been told that I am not allowed to touch patients for any reason, I am not even allowed to get vital signs because I am no longer covered by the facility as a clinical nurse. If I were to step outside of those guidelines, even though I have a license, it would be grounds for dismissal.

You should tell your boss so you do not come off looking like a liar, and tell them that you understand that from a legal standpoint in their facility you are a CNA and that you will only perform those duties. And in retrospect perhaps you should have lined up another source of temporary income for this period between jobs. Its a difficult situation, I'm sorry.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Make sure you have your personal paid up now that you are an RN!

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Right off the bat, to me, you're breaking my #1 rule--being honest. What else will you conceal (or have you concealed) down the line? Medication error? Charting blurb? Treatment protocol? Will you decide to fib to the family? Patient? Doctor? As a coworker who now knows your secret, I would be hesitant to work with you and I'd feel I'd have to double check everything. I couldn't trust you again.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

What the BON allows or doesn't allow has absolutely zero to do with this situation. It's not the BON that has a policy saying you can't work as a tech after you are licensed as a nurse, it's the employer. As much as that policy sucks for your situation it is certainly well within the employers rights to make and enforce it.

You were well aware of this policy before graduating and passing boards. It's not your employer's fault that you didn't plan ahead for a reasonably short period of unemployment before your new job starts.

If you continue to be deceptive to your manager about passing the NCLEX expect that it will come out anyway, and probably sooner rather than later. Since your personal integrity apparently is OK with lying to your manager about it but is not OK with lying to your co-workers about it you can and should fully expect at least one of those co-workers you were honest with to blab to somebody about it, who will then blab to somebody else and since good gossip spreads like wildfire it won't take long for your manager to hear about it if he/she hasn't already. The news about you passing the NCLEX would definitely be spread quickly as breaking rules and seemingly getting away with it definitely makes for the kind of gossip that people just love to share.

You should come clean now while you might have some small chance of at least being allowed to work through your official notice period, if you are lucky they will be OK with you giving a one month notice and let you work the month. Problem solved. If you are not lucky and they expect you to stop work immediately it's still hard for me to feel sorry for you since you had plenty of advance notice about this policy and chose to not plan for it.

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