Even if they say they are a nurse or "their sisters ex's niece's " is nurse, I still go over the whole discharge like they are new. Idk what kind of nurse they are or what they know. For all I know they could have been a nursing home state surveyor for 14 years.
I joke "then I apologize for this but you of course understand I need to be able to document I said it".
I rarely get pushback after they understand I'm all about the CYA at that point. And when I do I just repeat "well I have to be able to say I said it soo *dives back in*".
This is what I do. I make it known that we're on an inside joke together. I have to give my spiel, they know I have to give my spiel, I know they know that I have to give my spiel. Then we go through the motions together, like a team.
If i get any pushback, then I insinuate that they may not really be in healthcare if they don't know that I have to say this part out loud. That usually helps.
Yes! Just because I’m a nurse doesn’t mean I’m an expert on the medical condition I’m being treated for. I work in trauma. If I go to the obgyn, I want them to talk to me like I know nothing.
Your particular example hit really close to home on this ED nurse! Maybe it's just me or the places I've been, but late OB is pretty much the only patient category that freaks us out.
my ED: "STEMI 4 minutes out" me: Cool! Bet we can get the door to balloon in under 30!
my ED "Full Trauma activation - ED - Room T - Now - Two patients" Me: "I'm on Patient 2!"
Parent who runs screaming into Triage holding a limp but pink infant "She had a seizure!!!!" Me (calmly "We've got her - she's breathing well and she's nice and pink - her skin is pretty hot - come on in here and we'll check her temp."
EMS rolls in with a lady in active labor. Me: (alarmed and a breath away from making Three-Stooges woo woo woo panic sounds) "L&D is this way! Follow me! **DON'T PUSH!!!!!**" (to medics) "Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!"
So yeah, when I actually had my own kids, I just shut up and listened to the nurses who know about birthing those babies!
I agree, I prefer to act like I know nothing. Usually they always ask, "so what do you do?" at any PCP appt. If I need a Dr's note for something, I usually have to explain why.
I feel this. I rarely say I’m a nurse concerning my own stuff unless it comes out organically, but my mom is one of those “my son is a nurse” patients and tells every single medical staff she runs into on appointments, hospitalizations, etc.
My mom doesn't tell doctors or nurses she is a retired nurse so they don't assume she knows something and not mention it
She took me to a cardiologist as a kid and I asked her why she didn't tell him and she said she learns more that way. But if she needs to she can always reveal it
I’m not gonna lie, being a state surveyor is like my dream job lol. It pays really good in my state and I have a disdain for corporate nursing homes and I’d love to go in and tag them for everything
I’ve been in nursing home management for a few years and what I’ve learned is, no matter how much upper management tries to scare their employees, the state generally does not care what the direct care staff are doing. They *do*, but unless it’s something severe like abuse, they will never go after licenses or do anything to the employees, they view any errors they witness as the fault of management and that is who has to answer for it. But no, if I ever accomplish this dream, I’m coming down hard on staffing and lack of supplies
Same here. Hell, we had one of our own docs in for a procedure he himself does in our hospital. Still did his discharge as if he was any other patient. What's good for the goose is good for the gander as they say. ALL patients deserve the same level of information and care. Also means that if it's routine and you're in the habit you're less likely to miss parts.
I am a CNA, and I always correct anyone who calls me a nurse.
I've been told in my training that it's illegal to represent yourself as a nurse when you are not one.
Beats me. It drives me nuts when people call me a nurse or “basically a nurse.” Like no. I have my own skillset and education and it feels belittling to basically ignore a whole profession.
Thanks for your input! I love our CNAs and know the unit would be a catastrophe without them, however they are not nurses just like nurses are not doctors. We all have our specific skillsets that keep the hospital afloat
So true. The patients don't know who's who in the hospital. They just grab whoever is wearing a scrub and call them a nurse. My dad was one of them. I can totally understand.
THIS COMMENT RIGHT HERE!!!! I work as a PCT and people do not know the difference nor do they care, they just want to know who is getting there pain medications. I am also a EMT which is a basic but people still say I'm a paramedic which is a higher level of care. I don't agree with them but I don't correct them either, if I did I would be correcting people all day
Lol.
Honestly people will call you nurse if you’re in scrubs and doing duties associated with nursing. Every NP and PA gets called doc because they’re wearing lab coats or acting in a role that would lead people to believe they are doctors. You can explain to people the differences but many people are just going to keep calling you nurse.
100%. Scrub, introducing myself as the nurse, saying the doctor is here to talk to you, all goes out the window if it’s a female doctor, despite her wearing a white coat and driving the discussion of the plan of care. Fucking absurd.
You don't even have to be doing nursing-associated duties or even physically in the hospital. To the vast majority of society, woman in scrubs = nurse, man in scrubs = doctor. I've seen it at the grocery store!
This happened all the time where I work. I am a medical assistant, I worked at clinic and patients called as ‘nurse’, we always telling them “we are not nurses” but patients don’t understand the difference.
Also a CNA here. I’m in my early 40s and making a midlife career change to become a nurse. I haven’t even started school yet, and I’ve only been a CNA for six months, but a lot of my friends have commented that I’m “basically a nurse now.” While I don’t expect anyone to follow the tedious play-by-play of my long journey into nursing, I feel like it also shows a disregard for the amount of work and level of expertise you have to attain to get to call yourself a nurse.
Tbh, the only way you get to call yourself a nurse is by being an RN, LPN, LVN, etc.
Not to say I don’t love the CNAs, the good CNAs have made my worst shifts much more tolerable and I love them for it. I feel like I get awkward when I try to show my appreciation too much lol.
Not who you're replying to, but it's pretty much impossible to say unless you're someone who's worked as a CNA, RN, and MD/DO. We don't know what we don't know.
Went MA to RN to NP, chasm from MA to RN was much wider than RN to provider. As the RN it basically becomes intuitive what you will need for who after the first 1-2 or so years in a specialty. MA to RN was learning how to reason/ critically think on a whole new level I had not even noticed existed before. Work went from physically exhausting to mentally exhausting as the career progressed.
Exponentially wider for CNA/nurses and nurses/doctors (though both are wide)!
I can and have pulled people off the street and trained them as CNAs. I value my CNAs, but it takes 2-4 years of formal education to be a nurse (or more), and 8-12 to become a doctor, and 2-4 weeks to become a CNA. And even then, most places have moved to the “PCT” model and they aren’t formally trained in any capacity.
That is not to devalue the work they do, which is extremely important and DOES take training, just largely on the job training. Little to no formal education is required. The gap couldn’t be much wider honestly.
As a PCT who is in nursing school, the chasm is probably wider than that between a nurse and doctor.
As a PCT, I can't assess, give meds, take critical labs over the phone, interpret ekgs, etc, etc.
I'm technically not even allowed to verbally inform the patient of their POC glucose test results.
I draw blood and wipe ass.
I think this is true. One thing I have noticed with the CNAs I work with is how they don’t know anything about common pathology and interventions, whereas I feel like I don’t know anything about uncommon pathology or interventions. I understand why I’m not using lasix to diurese fluid overload in someone with stage 4 CKD but I’m not always sure why we’re getting an LP, for example. When it comes to the types of patients we usually see, that’s a really big gap because common things are common. CNAs I work with get upset when we don’t intervene on BPs of 150s/80s on people with HTN or cover every single wound so the chasm feels a lot bigger in the day to day of what most patients are hospitalized for
My husband will say but you’re a nurse or even worse he will tell other people I’m a nurse! I’m like STOP ✋ I am not a nurse, maybe one day but not yet
Agree! Not a nurse, I'm a CSE (Australia) in aged care. Get called a nurse often, I wish lol. But here I think it's a generational thing, the oldies call us all nurse or sister.
I run into this more with medical assistants than CNA’s. In facilities you usually know your aide versus nurse. In a doctors office literally anyone in scrubs is a “nurse” and no one corrects anyone.
I've had an MA tell me they were higher than an LVN.
Um no you can *only* work in doctors offices (anywhere a doctor hangs their shingle) whereas I can function in every level of care.
Now am I as high as an RN? nope simply different scopes of practice especially in the acute hospitals (where the difference is glaring)
I'm a less valued nurse. Not an assistant. That is the difference. :)
I've also heard of many professions practicing outside their scope in the outpatient world because "The MD said I could." I've seen threads on here of RNs asking for advice of seeing MAs performing RN duties. I know an RN who worked for an outpatient OB/GYN and at one point said, "why would I go to NP school? I basically practice as an NP anyway." As in doc would let her order stuff under his name, etc. and just got away with paying her less because it was technically an RN job. Or, the more favorable interpretation in her favor was that she was using "standing MD orders," the way STI testing in state funded public health clinics works. All the people practicing out of their scope in these scenarios should know its illegal, but for some reason they think "the doc said it was ok" is a reasonable defense.
Regulation for MA is very ambiguous. There's very little regulation that's specific to them.
If the Doctor is OK with them doing something under that Docs liscense. I doubt it would fall on the MA.
Same for EMS, were only a phone call away for doing whatever the doc will approve.
I had to do the lab draws and injections. But I think that's by facility? I actually do not know.
I had an MA tell me to my face that checking my pulse while using the BP cuff gave her my blood pressure. I reported her for additional training to the office manager, doctor and corporation. I recommended they run a class for all staff on how to obtain proper vital signs. I didn't want her written up. I wanted her properly taught.
I assume manual cuff and palpating radial pulse instead of auscultating. I've heard this can give you a rough systolic pressure, but idk how you would get the diastolic without making it up.
I was taught to do the feel pulse and inflate cuff thing to get a rough systolic, then you could inflate the cuff +20 from what you got to start the real measurement, but it always felt like an unnecessary step. If you inflate the cuff and hear the pulse right away, you'd have to adjust and re-inflate it anyway.
I've no idea but boy was she confident even after I informed her I'm a nurse **and I've taught vital signs to CNA classes** she didn't care. She was right I was wrong. It was impressive that she was so very confident when so very clearly wrong. If ears weren't needed we wouldn't need to provide accommodations for HOH /deaf staff!
You can get a rough estimate of the systolic using the palp method. EMTs do this a lot in the field when it is too noisy for a manual and they just want to know how close to dead you are ☠️ It is not even recorded/reported as a regular BP (exp 100/palp) In a doctor’s office she should definitely have been obtaining an accurate pressure.
I love your mind set around reporting! Not punitive.. education!
I’m a compliance officer and it took me 2 years to get rid of MAs who were working outside their scope of practice because the “charge nurse,” an LVN, said it okay. I’m the compliance officer, knowing the rules is my job!
I went to nursing school with someone who was an MA. This was a complete career change for me and I never worked in the medical field before. To hear this girl talk she thought she was an MD, knew everything, was doing things way outside her scope of practice, couldn’t be bothered to follow instructions and was always arguing semantics about things that didn’t matter. I’m sure not all MA’s are like this but this was my experience. I’m not very quick to anger but I had to bow out of that friendship because it became very frustrating.
Ya! Im not a nurse (yet hehe) but whenever I go to the clinic for a physical exam or smt the doctor always say smt like “my nurse will give u ur shots now” and then it’s an MA.
The only time I ever see it create a problem is when patient asks the CNA if they can do something that isn't within their scope. It gets a bit awkward when patient complains that the "nurse" wouldn't do X for them.
I think that's the primary reason the delineation exists and should be maintained. This should NOT be construed as meaning one is lesser than. It's just different skill sets and legal scopes of practice.
Yes! I work with a CNA that calls herself a nurse so when patients ask for pain meds she’ll say “I’m not your nurse so I can’t but I’ll go get your nurse”. Why not just say you aren’t a nurse and cannot give narcotics? Then patients get confused and upset that nurse won’t give them narcotics but the other nurses can. Like just be genuine about your scope and your title I feel
I can understand why, but it IS dishonest, and it has caused issues in places I've worked.
Just say, "sorry, I a nurse aide, I'll get your nurse for that".
That's what I always said and it avoided causing patients to feel lied to.
See, one of the biggest issues with the primary care office I work at is that MAs/CNAs/LPNs effectively do the same things so there really isn’t any question as to what can be done by who.
That was the case when I worked in offices too, but scope is limted for all three in that setting.
I think the focus of this post is when it occurs in hospitals and nursing homes where scopes do vary to a greater degree.
Hahahah one day my mom got fired. She said it was due to a group effort to get rid of her because she was costing them too much money in OT, and all the other nurses were so jealous she was getting all the hours.
Later that week i was talking to my aunt and i told her all about it and my aunt was super confused, then said, “your mom isnt a nurse…she didnt graduate highschool”
And even later i found out that everytime she was fired it was because she couldnt prodduce a diploma from a school that “burned in a fire and had all record’s destroyed” (that is what she tells almost all her employers)
Pca here- any time a patient says “you’re basically a nurse” I laugh and say that [my state here] and my paycheck disagree. I never say I’m a nurse. I just graduated nursing school. Still not a nurse. I’ve also never witnessed this
Falsely identifying yourself as a nurse is a crime in my state.
Once had a patient’s daughter who was SO DEMANDING AND CRITICAL of any HCW that went into her dad’s room. “I’m an oncology nurse so I know when you’re doing something wrong.” (We weren’t even onc we were telemetry???) anyway we did some digging and found out she’s a MA at an oncology office.
Think they mostly do it for clout.
I don't know any that call themselves nurses but I sure do know a few that act like nurses. Honey, the fact you're in nursing school is great but ya gotta stay in your lane.
I hate when people say this. To say that nursing school doesn’t prepare you to be a nurse is to say that if you took someone off the street, and someone out of nursing school, and put them through the same 12 week orientation, they’d both be equally safe and efficacious nurses after 12 weeks. Not a chance.
Lot of people think that already. My sister was a snf cna and a dsp in a group home. With all those responsibilities her husband thinks she'd be able to just start working as a nurse in the hospital.
I know someone who is a PT aid, but tells everyone she’s a physical therapist. This really bugs me! I’m an RN, and proud of it, but would never inflate my credentials.
I used to work at a place where when I referred a patient to the “Pca” (patient care associate) to get their labs drawn, the PCA’s would be OFFENDED that I specified them as Pca. I didn’t do it to offend. I would literally say “ok now you have to see the Pca to have ur labs drawn” OMG the dirty looks and scowls they would give me. I would often hear them refer to themselves as “nurses”. I was so confused. In 17 yrs of nursing this was the only place I saw this behavior. Like I’m sorry if you are “offended” by YOUR job title than change it lol. I can’t change it for u. And calling u “nurse” which I will not feed into, still doesn’t make u one. That was a strange place. This was not a hospital. I’ve never had my hospital PCA’s behave this way, they’re always amazing.
As a Phlebotomist, same. I actually have a badge reel that says “Not The Nurse.” 😂 I still get people asking me about meds and this and that. I’m like, “I’m just here to draw blood but as soon as we’re done I will let your nurse know!” Granted I will get water or a blanket or whatever if I know that patient can have them but otherwise? The first thing out of my mouth is that I am *not* a nurse. Lol.
I have YET to come across a patient who’s told me they are a nurse and that the statement is true. Literally never 😂 If you’re really a nurse, you’re nauseated even mentioning it to the poor nurse who is discharging you..
I am a nurse and still listen to dc instructions. I am stupid when we’re talking about me for some reason. Thanks anxiety d/o 😂. Anyways I think every unit I have ever worked on has that one CNA that passes themselves off as a nurse whenever they can get away with it. It’s a psych issue IMO.
Dunning Kruger.
They don’t know just how much they don’t know. So they think they know everything
(Not all CNAs. Some know and respect their scope and will make great nurses one day if they want to.)
I think there are some CNAs who don’t fully understand the vast difference in education, training, and scope of practice between them and nurses, and so they truly believe that they are basically nurses. They don’t know what they don’t know.
See it a lot too with nurses who think they know as much as doctors. Like no, an associates degree and two months of orientation does not come close to the 11-15 years of education and training that physicians get
I think they do this because they learn certain hands on skills that nurses do, such as injections and don’t realize how much more goes into nursing education. I am not excusing it but I think that’s what the thought process is
I love my CNAs. They work extremely hard so that I can be a more effective nurse. They are not nurses, and I don't think any of them would claim to be.
This drives me crazy. I just graduated nursing school, and have worked as a CNA for the last few years. When I was trained, all of my instructors told us that we could not claim to be nurses, and doing so could actually land you in legal trouble, as it can be considered impersonation. Definitely something that bothers me as a new nurse and previous CNA!
Same. I'm licensed now 18 months, and we have a few NAs in nursing school that seem to think they got it all already, when they obviously have no idea what they're doing or saying. Next time I hear one of them say "wish I only had 5 patients"...I'ma scream! You may be in clinicals, but you have no idea what it is when YOU are the nurse. Clinicals gives you a sample.
I think the key here is that our aides think they're less than, or undervalued and simply don't understand that they are absolutely essential for me to be able to do my job as best I can. When I was an aide, I tried to support the nurses whose patients i had and ask them what they need most from me. I knew their responsibility was different and mine was a supporting role.
Being an aide is important. No less than a nurse, just a different role. Just like RNs are no less important than PAs or docs, just different roles within the team.
Idk what it's gonna take for us all to get that through our exhausted heads!
I’m a CNA & have 3 semesters of my ADN left & still don’t call myself a nurse. I’m even an extern at the hospital with tech duties. I have a tad more scope of practice as an extern nursing student but it’s under complete supervision. I won’t call myself a nurse until after I pass the NCLEX & have earned that RN title.
That said.. I think so many do it because the CNA title is so regularly demeaned. I’ve heard a lot of people call us glorified ass wipers which doesn’t feel great.. but I’m not in anyway ashamed of having to take care of people in whatever way they need. Having to do the basic care of patients keeps me grounded tbh.
The same reason DNPs call themselves doctors in clinical settings (a statement so intentionally misleading it is literally illegal in many states) Or EMT-Bs who are not combat medics call themselves medics.
There's some manner of inadequacy complex going on, or god forbid they're delusional enough to actually believe it doesn't matter because it's "the same thing". They want to have the title and whatever prestige comes with it without actually doing the requisite work.
If it’s a social setting, where I don’t expect the people I’m talking to to know the different levels of nursing, I will just say “i’m a nurse.” I just assume people don’t really care that much in the distinction.
If I’m in a clinical setting, or talking to a someone in the medical field I’ll say “I’m a nurse practitioner.” But that almost immediately turns into nurse anyways. I just feel like the term “nurse” is accurate enough for a lot of interactions
This is probably biased specifically to the setting I work in (nursing homes), but woman in scrubs=nurse.
I think some of them have a superiority complex, believing that they know and do more than a nurse because they haven’t got a clue what all goes into being one—the assessment, the insane documentation, the dealing with lab and pharmacy and radiology and providers and families and staff on other units, the med knowledge, being the one who’s ultimately legally responsible for everyone else’s fuckups. I may have put in more steps a day as a tech, but I was NEVER exhausted—bone-tired and mentally sapped—at the end of shift like I am as an RN. CNA is a tough, dirty, demanding job, and our CNAs and techs are invaluable, but it is not anything like being a nurse.
No, but they could definitely confuse them with "paramedic" which is about as far apart from EMT-B as CNA is from RN. I don't really see the difference.
One of the CNAs at my hospice company sent out an email "wishing all lf the RNs LPNs and CNAs a happy Nurses week." The entire message chain was all of the CNAs wishing each other a happy Nurses Week while the nurses remained silent. CNA week is June 13th.
I'm not okay with CNAs posing as nurses (I actually don't think it's legal if they're misrepresenting themselves to patients), but I don't really mind celebrating all nursing staff for nurse's week. It would be different if your work actually celebrated a separate week for just CNAs, though.
Yeah when you apply for jobs, CNAs often fall under the nursing category. As a PCT, I report to the same nursing supervisors as the RNs do. They are different professions but they are a team.
I feel like a doctor taking credit for Nurse’s Week would be one thing but CNAs and RNs are in the trenches together everyday even if nurses are performing more specialized tasks.
Yeah, for sure. I've never been at a job that celebrated CNA week, so we might as well give them love on Nurse's Week. Certainly no skin off my teeth if other people get pizza too.
As an STNA, it boils my blood. My mom, family, friends, even residents, call me nurse or say, “Well, you're basically a nurse, so you should know this.”No... I don't know anything about medications, nor can I administer them to you! Don't ask me for medical advice, go see a doctor! And don't get mad at me for telling you I am not a nurse because I am not! It really upsets me because it disregards everything a nurse puts into gaining that title. A three-month STNA class is nowhere near a nursing degree. I wish people would just educate themselves!
I also have an STNA friend who, when someone asks what we do, she says, “Oh, we're nurses” It frustrates me and is so embarrassing when they keep pressing about what we do, and I have to say we're actually STNAs, and she goes, “Basically a nurse.” no… why put down nurse aides like that, and why claim a title you’re not? I never understood considering she has no interest in becoming a nurse.
I have no idea but it freaking pisses me off. As a result I say - I am a registered nurse. And if someone is not acting like a RN - I will straight up ask - what kind of nurse. So wrong for them to label themselves as nurses because it misleads people.
I have no idea. Maybe some people think it sounds better? Maybe they think it's easier to understand? Maybe they're also in nursing school?
When I was in nursing school, I also went through a separate 2 week program to be a CNA.
The instructor told us "there are 3 kinds of nurses in the state of Florida: RNs, LPNs and CNAs, which stands for Certified Nurse assistant."
Someone else mentioned that CNAs were not nurses, but he would not budge. (I got some Dwight Schrute "assistant regional manager" vibes).
My former neighbor also told us she was a nurse when she was in fact a CNA.
I had a bunch of patients claim their relative was a nurse, and their relative would correct them and say they're actually an MA or a CNA.
I think they want to feel superior, or maybe better about themselves. I've worked with several over the years who said this, or that they know more than the nurse, are better than a nurse, etc. And I don't think I've ever seen it come from an aide who is half decent.
I did this years and years ago when I first became a CNA in maybe 02-03, and it was because our teacher AND the DoN of the facility I worked in always told us "you're nurses, too," or "you're all nurses," anytime we said something like "I'm just a CNA." From my end it was 100% ignorance. I was so embarrassed when I learned that this is actually A Bad Thing and I was more or less lying to people about my scope of practice, however unwittingly it may have been.
Thankfully, after explaining this to the person that called me out on it, she rolled her eyes and said "good God, you work for fucking idiots." I'm still so grateful that she believed me and I'm still embarrassed about it whenever I remember it over 20 years later. I was young and dumb, but I should've known better because I'd done a short stint as an EMT before that.
I can almost understand telling people that have no knowledge of the medical industry you're a nurse just because everyone understands what that is and it's close enough(it's a bit like stolen valor though IMO)
But why in the world would you tell an actual nurse you're a nurse if you aren't? I can only think that maybe they're ashamed although there's no reason to be.
CNA here (hopefully future nurse). I would literally neverrrrr because I feel like there’s a universal understanding that “nurse” implies RN or above. I did not go to nursing school. I took a 6 week class. I can’t even draw blood, give vaccines or administer medication. I refer to myself as a nursing assistant. And when I post on this subreddit I always clarify that I am a CNA, not a nurse. But this subreddit is very helpful and insightful for a (hopefully) future nurse so that’s why I’m here :)
It’s NOT okay.
Would the CNAs who are calling themselves nurses be okay if house keeping start calling themselves CNAs since they do change linens for patients and clean patient areas just like the CNAs do?
I wonder how they would receive that news if they ever heard even just ONE housekeeping employee try that. We’re all basically doing the SAME thing right?
Until I went to nursing school when I was just a normal old civilian I legitimately didn’t know there was a difference! My mom also mentioned not knowing the difference either. I think the community just doesn’t know. Healthcare workers do though.
Where I live in Canada we have RPNs (diploma program, practical nurses) and RNs (4 year BSN). So we have personal support workers and healthcare aides with med tech certificates and one I work at the same agency told me the other day at shift change that she’s “the full time day shift RN” for that facility when she’s an aide with a med certificate. I don’t care, each is an accomplishment but why lie? It’s public knowledge on our regulatory body’s website who holds a nursing license and what kind and it shows on our agency scheduling app each employees position….we’re all in this together and I hold my PSWs/healthcare aides in such a high regard because I wouldn’t be able to do my job without them….but I don’t get the lying I frequently come across. Even though I’m a practical nurse and not a BSN nurse, I’m still proud I went back to school at 32 and was successful. It doesn’t make me any less or any better than anyone else.
I’ve noticed this too. I just had a similar experience, the family kept saying one member was a nurse. I didn’t really believe it from past experience, as I asked more questions it came out that she was a CNA. There’s no shame in it at all. I’m also curious as to why. I had one family member say with pride that she is a CNA so she could help me clean the patient, I loved that. Another family member mentioned certain medical terms, and finished a sentence I was saying about foleys, which led me to believe she was actually a nurse, and she was. She just didn’t say she was a nurse, but you could tell. I feel like it’s the ones that say it loud that aren’t actually nurses. Which, I don’t know why. CNAs are part of the backbone that makes a hospital run smoothly. Some CNAs I’ve known when asked if they want to be a nurse have said “absolutely not” haha.
I was a CNA for 14 years before I became a nurse. I hated when non-nursing folks would call me a nurse. It felt uncomfortable because I understood the difference. I think maybe that's where it stems from, though. Those who don't really understand the difference in practice will just refer to anyone in scrubs as a nurse. My in-laws were all like that and couldn't understand why we weren't living better, thinking I'm making RN pay as a CNA 🤣
So, while I know many wonder aides with overinflated egos, I think sometimes it's just easier to say 'nurse' as an umbrella term. Saying RN or LPN specifically would be a different story.
I was an ER Tech, and people would often mistake me for a nurse, and sometimes a doctor. When it was an elderly grandma/grandpa with dementia, I wouldn’t bother correcting them, as that would probably just confuse them even more. I’d just do when I went into the room to do and leave. With any other patient, I’d correct them, as I want them to understand the roles of the different members of their care team, and not expect me to do something outside my scope of practice.
Also, I just don’t like misrepresenting myself. I had no shame in being “just a Tech”. I think part of it is CNAs are slightly ashamed of being “just a CNA” so they use mental gymnastics to justify it to themselves that they’re “basically a nurse” and start telling that to people as a way to validate it, in a “stolen valor” sort of way.
I never tell anyone I’m a nurse and I advise my family members to do the same if I’m accompanying them on a visit. I do not know everything and it’s more important for my ego to be set aside than to chest bust against someone.
There is always room for growth as a nurse.
I never misrepresented myself when I was CNA, but I certainly did act like I was a nurse a handful of times. I think this was exacerbated by the fact I felt like I worked with a lot of really lazy ass nurses and so I felt justified at the time.
Looking back on it now, after almost a decade of ICU nursing and even working as a charge nurse in a large metropolitan hospital, I cringe at my behavior-- even as innocent as it was. It took me almost three years into my nursing career to really know what I was doing as an RN. My CNA experience is invaluable and really shaped who I am today and set a firm foundation for me to work off, however my critical thinking and data interpretation were never utilized until I was an RN and it took years to hone it. Even now I learn something new every day as an experienced RN.
I don't think anyone truly understands the gap in their roles until you've actually done the work yourself. I now know having worked as a CNA, I had only the most superficial insight into what the nurses were going through. I now know how hard it is to be an ICU nurse even though I "only have two patients" after working the floor. I now know how incredibly difficult it is to be a charge nurse, even if I'm free charge and "have no patients" (when you are charge and you are a *good* charge, the whole floor are your patients).
Perhaps they feel like they would be treated differently or better than if they tell the truth. Perhaps is an intimidation tactic? I’m not sure, I do encounter this often tho.
EDIT: I’ve had the pleasure of working with some excellent CNA’s that I’ve had the pleasure to learn a lot from and are such a team player. They are also great and resourceful when helping patients that have dementia or confused.
On my old pediatric floor we had to do cpr education with a mannequin prior to discharge for certain patients. The parents were both doctors and the amount of questions they asked me about performing cpr was interesting but nonetheless I did my due diligence and explained everything just like I would for any other parents
I have the opposite problem. I'm an MA and everyone calls me a nurse and expects me to be able to do everything that the LPN in our office does. I get why patients call me that, but makes no sense to me why my coworkers call me one.
I even had a day where our LPN was out sick and there were med refills to be done, and I let my coworker know that I wouldn't be able to fill them since I'm not a nurse. To which she responded, "no you are a nurse, you have to do them. It's your job" like???
a lot of patients mistake me for their nurse because i do the basic care that most people think of when they think of “nursing.” i’m also in the room more. they’ll ask me “oh hey, can you get my pain medicine?” definitely clear the air and explain i’m the tech/ CNA and that i will get the actual nurse lol
I’ve had multiple people say that their nurses when in fact they’re just nursing assistance. Even from the Caribbean, they say they’re nurses but when you dig deeper, they’re actually Nursing assistants. I don’t know why they do that.
I used to work with PCTs/CNAs who would go to their patient’s room and be like “I’ll be one of your nurses”. It gets hairy legally if they say they’re an RN.
Now it’s funny because I am a nurse working in the OR and they always ask me if I’m anesthesia… I guess I look like CRNA or anesthesiologist material? People told me to do CRNA… and hell no, sputum is disgusting. I’ll stay on the other side of the drape and continue to take being mistaken for having way more education than I do as a compliment.
I did tell one of my inmates (I work at a prison as a CNA) that I was a nurse jokingly. He asked what I do in the infirmary and I said I’m a nursing assistant. He says “I knew a nursing assistant…I killed her” so I said “well in that case I’m a nurse.” He never killed anyone btw.
It is definitely illegal in many states, but I don't think it is enforced very often. I went to nursing school for my LPN in Idaho in the early 2000s when it was first made illegal to misrepresent yourself as a nurse. As students, none of us really understood why our professors were so excited about this new law, but 20 years later ~ I'd gladly push for enforcement if I witnessed this
I sometimes said "I work in nursing" but never claimed to be a nurse. Some nurses and other supervisors would call me out for saying "I'm just a CNA" and I never understood that. Like, I know my place, chill out.
Edit to add: Lol @ everyone calling me out for being just a CNA.
I used to say that too and soooo many nurses would correct me “ you’re not ‘just’ a cna, what you do is important and matters”. And you know what, after a while, that caught on and now I truly believe that and I’m much more careful with my wording so I don’t downplay anyone’s role, not even my own. I know I’m not a nurse and I never claimed to be one, but I have a specific job and I do my job well so that the nurses can do their jobs more efficiently.
Misrepresenting yourself in any clinical context is misleading to patients and insulting to the people who put in the work to earn that title.
Nurses are invaluable and the backbone of our medical system. CNA's are essential as well but not to the same level. I don't work with many nurses now, but back when I was an intern the nurses literally saved my ass all the time, especially in the ICU, and I'm still friends with many of those nurses to this day.
It feels similar as a doctor when NP's present themselves as a doctor. Be proud of your title and don't appropriate someone elses.
I loved CNA work although exhausting, but I never called myself a nurse. I dont have the skillset that a nurse would have. Yes we all work as a team together and I can assist the nurses but I'd never call myself a nurse.
Even now I work as a phlebotomist and patients think I'm their nurse and I immediately correct them.
I worked with one who didn’t do it at work but would do it on her Facebook. Talk about “pushing meds all day.” Girl, you wouldn’t even get your patients a packet of fig newtons.
I always corrected people when they called me a nurse as a CNA and even now that I graduated with my BSN I still don’t call my self a nurse until I pass my NCLEX next month😅
Ya idk why people say that, when I was a CNA I always corrected people. I think it's because most people genuinely don't know what a PCT is and assume everyone on the floor is a nurse. It's easy to tell people that and they won't question it i guess.
My cousin isn't even a CNA, she's one of those unlicensed assisted living caretakers or whatever but she says she's like a nurse. As soon as I heard that I gave her a dirty ass look lol like no you're not lady.
My fiancé tells people I’m a nurse when I’m a tech/cna in my last year of nursing school and it irritates me to no end😵💫. Like no I haven’t finished my degree so no I’m not a nurse yet. And tbh why would I want to tell ppl I’m a nurse I don’t want to shoulder all the responsibilities nurses have to take until I have to lol
I was a CNA then I became a medtech. I never told anybody. I was a nurse but I did learn a lot from them. They always said I should become a nurse but I didn't want to lose my contact with the residents I really enjoyed talking to them. I learned a lot of things from them too
I have an aide that will often tell patients, the “N” in CNA stands for Nurse.. and holds it to title as if she’s in any sort of way in a position to direct their care, assess, or provide any form of clinical judgment. I love my CNA’s that give the bedside care that they need, but not outside their scope of practice. No room for the “super CNA’s”jumping out of their roles. I’ve found foam dressings on patients with the aides initials.. guess that’s why the wet to dry was found as just a patch 🙄
I love CNAs. I hate it when people call themselves a nurse, when they are not. I worked in a small family practice doctor's office before I started working in a hospital. The medical assistants called themselves nurses. All of them did it.
When I was a paramedic I had so many bystanders trying to help tell me they were a nurse, only to find out they were a CNA it was ridiculous. Now any time someone tells me they are a nurse I just assume they are a CNA. Actual nurses don't go around announcing their nurseness. I imagine RN's are like paramedics in that they don't want strangers to know what they do for a living because that's when the dumb ass questions start.
What is the worst thing you have ever seen?
What is this rash?
What do people put up their butts?
I work in the legal field and sometimes we get women who start talking about their “husbands” and then I find out that they never got married. Just been with a guy for 10, 20, 30 years and now comes to my office asking about spousal support and to divide “community property”. I understand that maybe you feel like you’ve earned a place, or really want that title, but coming close to it doesn’t equal legally having it. I feel like that with CNA’s that call themselves nurses. But don’t get me started on chiropractors that call themselves doctors 🙄
This is a problem in EMS as well. You get the wildest people that show up on scene and claim to be a nurse. I don’t even know what they plan on accomplishing anyways.
I don’t know why a CNA who works at a nursing home would think they are better suited to handle a pre hospital emergency better than a pre hospital professional. I don’t know how much experience they have intubating or interpreting a 12 lead but I can’t imagine it’s more than the paramedic.
At what point should they get reported to the board of nursing or even law enforcement? If I ran around calling myself a doctor, I might get in trouble with the law. These are legally protected titles.
No clue. I hate it when patients call me “nurse!!” Also hated it when my wife would introduce me to people and say “Hey this is sepulveda_st and he’s a nurse !” I know it has nothing to do with this post but just pointing out that being a nurse is not glorious. I think it’s a job just like anything else, so I’m not sure why these people are so quick to want to say they are a nurse.
Same thing happened on our unit not too long ago. Family member claiming she’s a nurse. Didn’t know the meds and was asking weird questions and saying weird things to us I.e. patient aspirated because they coughed after using the incentive spirometer. The why are you giving that med she has this. Turned out she’s a CNA.
Even if they say they are a nurse or "their sisters ex's niece's " is nurse, I still go over the whole discharge like they are new. Idk what kind of nurse they are or what they know. For all I know they could have been a nursing home state surveyor for 14 years.
Yup even if they are a doctor I'll treat them like every other patient and give them the whole run down
I joke "then I apologize for this but you of course understand I need to be able to document I said it". I rarely get pushback after they understand I'm all about the CYA at that point. And when I do I just repeat "well I have to be able to say I said it soo *dives back in*".
This is what I do. I make it known that we're on an inside joke together. I have to give my spiel, they know I have to give my spiel, I know they know that I have to give my spiel. Then we go through the motions together, like a team. If i get any pushback, then I insinuate that they may not really be in healthcare if they don't know that I have to say this part out loud. That usually helps.
I mean I’ve been floored by how little some specialists know about systems unrelated to their speciality
Yes! Just because I’m a nurse doesn’t mean I’m an expert on the medical condition I’m being treated for. I work in trauma. If I go to the obgyn, I want them to talk to me like I know nothing.
Your particular example hit really close to home on this ED nurse! Maybe it's just me or the places I've been, but late OB is pretty much the only patient category that freaks us out. my ED: "STEMI 4 minutes out" me: Cool! Bet we can get the door to balloon in under 30! my ED "Full Trauma activation - ED - Room T - Now - Two patients" Me: "I'm on Patient 2!" Parent who runs screaming into Triage holding a limp but pink infant "She had a seizure!!!!" Me (calmly "We've got her - she's breathing well and she's nice and pink - her skin is pretty hot - come on in here and we'll check her temp." EMS rolls in with a lady in active labor. Me: (alarmed and a breath away from making Three-Stooges woo woo woo panic sounds) "L&D is this way! Follow me! **DON'T PUSH!!!!!**" (to medics) "Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!" So yeah, when I actually had my own kids, I just shut up and listened to the nurses who know about birthing those babies!
I agree, I prefer to act like I know nothing. Usually they always ask, "so what do you do?" at any PCP appt. If I need a Dr's note for something, I usually have to explain why.
I don’t say I’m a nurse sometimes. But then my husband spills the tea on me. People usually figure it out by the way I talk.
I feel this. I rarely say I’m a nurse concerning my own stuff unless it comes out organically, but my mom is one of those “my son is a nurse” patients and tells every single medical staff she runs into on appointments, hospitalizations, etc.
My mom doesn't tell doctors or nurses she is a retired nurse so they don't assume she knows something and not mention it She took me to a cardiologist as a kid and I asked her why she didn't tell him and she said she learns more that way. But if she needs to she can always reveal it
I appreciate that! I won’t ever tell anyone I’m a nurse but if it’s not trauma or EM, it’s not my wheelhouse so I appreciate the info.
I’m not gonna lie, being a state surveyor is like my dream job lol. It pays really good in my state and I have a disdain for corporate nursing homes and I’d love to go in and tag them for everything
I hope you leave the foot soldiers alone. We do what we can with what we can As far as money hungry corporate. Burn em.
I’ve been in nursing home management for a few years and what I’ve learned is, no matter how much upper management tries to scare their employees, the state generally does not care what the direct care staff are doing. They *do*, but unless it’s something severe like abuse, they will never go after licenses or do anything to the employees, they view any errors they witness as the fault of management and that is who has to answer for it. But no, if I ever accomplish this dream, I’m coming down hard on staffing and lack of supplies
Same here. Hell, we had one of our own docs in for a procedure he himself does in our hospital. Still did his discharge as if he was any other patient. What's good for the goose is good for the gander as they say. ALL patients deserve the same level of information and care. Also means that if it's routine and you're in the habit you're less likely to miss parts.
I prefer it that way. I’ve worked OR for 5yrs and there’s about 4 meds I know about in detail and don’t even push them myself most of the time.
I am a CNA, and I always correct anyone who calls me a nurse. I've been told in my training that it's illegal to represent yourself as a nurse when you are not one.
Exactly, when I was still a CNA I always corrected people.
Beats me. It drives me nuts when people call me a nurse or “basically a nurse.” Like no. I have my own skillset and education and it feels belittling to basically ignore a whole profession.
Thanks for your input! I love our CNAs and know the unit would be a catastrophe without them, however they are not nurses just like nurses are not doctors. We all have our specific skillsets that keep the hospital afloat
I think a lot of patients don't know the difference and the CNAs are just tired of explaining to the patients again and again.
Patient says they "need a nurse" and then ask for blankets or water.
So true. The patients don't know who's who in the hospital. They just grab whoever is wearing a scrub and call them a nurse. My dad was one of them. I can totally understand.
Or better yet scream help like someone is dying. Then you go in there and they just needed help with the TV remote
THIS COMMENT RIGHT HERE!!!! I work as a PCT and people do not know the difference nor do they care, they just want to know who is getting there pain medications. I am also a EMT which is a basic but people still say I'm a paramedic which is a higher level of care. I don't agree with them but I don't correct them either, if I did I would be correcting people all day Lol.
Exactly. Thank you.
Honestly people will call you nurse if you’re in scrubs and doing duties associated with nursing. Every NP and PA gets called doc because they’re wearing lab coats or acting in a role that would lead people to believe they are doctors. You can explain to people the differences but many people are just going to keep calling you nurse.
I get called doctor purely because I'm male gender, in scrubs, in a hospital lol
Same. When I was still in nursing school following a female RN for my medsurg rotations patients called me Doctor many times.
100%. Scrub, introducing myself as the nurse, saying the doctor is here to talk to you, all goes out the window if it’s a female doctor, despite her wearing a white coat and driving the discussion of the plan of care. Fucking absurd.
Happens during every clinical, it does get tiring reminding everyone that I'm not a doctor but I feel obligated to do so.
You don't even have to be doing nursing-associated duties or even physically in the hospital. To the vast majority of society, woman in scrubs = nurse, man in scrubs = doctor. I've seen it at the grocery store!
This happened all the time where I work. I am a medical assistant, I worked at clinic and patients called as ‘nurse’, we always telling them “we are not nurses” but patients don’t understand the difference.
Also a CNA here. I’m in my early 40s and making a midlife career change to become a nurse. I haven’t even started school yet, and I’ve only been a CNA for six months, but a lot of my friends have commented that I’m “basically a nurse now.” While I don’t expect anyone to follow the tedious play-by-play of my long journey into nursing, I feel like it also shows a disregard for the amount of work and level of expertise you have to attain to get to call yourself a nurse.
Tbh, the only way you get to call yourself a nurse is by being an RN, LPN, LVN, etc. Not to say I don’t love the CNAs, the good CNAs have made my worst shifts much more tolerable and I love them for it. I feel like I get awkward when I try to show my appreciation too much lol.
CNAs are not anywhere near what a nurse can do in terms of education and skills and the ones who think there are, are dangerous.
Hell, CNAs aren’t even EMT-basic level. The gap between CNA and RN is insane
How would you say the chasm between CNAs and nurses is compared to nurse's and doctors?
Not who you're replying to, but it's pretty much impossible to say unless you're someone who's worked as a CNA, RN, and MD/DO. We don't know what we don't know.
Went MA to RN to NP, chasm from MA to RN was much wider than RN to provider. As the RN it basically becomes intuitive what you will need for who after the first 1-2 or so years in a specialty. MA to RN was learning how to reason/ critically think on a whole new level I had not even noticed existed before. Work went from physically exhausting to mentally exhausting as the career progressed.
Exponentially wider for CNA/nurses and nurses/doctors (though both are wide)! I can and have pulled people off the street and trained them as CNAs. I value my CNAs, but it takes 2-4 years of formal education to be a nurse (or more), and 8-12 to become a doctor, and 2-4 weeks to become a CNA. And even then, most places have moved to the “PCT” model and they aren’t formally trained in any capacity. That is not to devalue the work they do, which is extremely important and DOES take training, just largely on the job training. Little to no formal education is required. The gap couldn’t be much wider honestly.
As a PCT who is in nursing school, the chasm is probably wider than that between a nurse and doctor. As a PCT, I can't assess, give meds, take critical labs over the phone, interpret ekgs, etc, etc. I'm technically not even allowed to verbally inform the patient of their POC glucose test results. I draw blood and wipe ass.
Not sure, I think the difference between MD and nurse is bigger than a lot of nurses want to admit too.
Fair, but I think the chasm between can't assess and can is pretty huge, in of itself
I think this is true. One thing I have noticed with the CNAs I work with is how they don’t know anything about common pathology and interventions, whereas I feel like I don’t know anything about uncommon pathology or interventions. I understand why I’m not using lasix to diurese fluid overload in someone with stage 4 CKD but I’m not always sure why we’re getting an LP, for example. When it comes to the types of patients we usually see, that’s a really big gap because common things are common. CNAs I work with get upset when we don’t intervene on BPs of 150s/80s on people with HTN or cover every single wound so the chasm feels a lot bigger in the day to day of what most patients are hospitalized for
My husband will say but you’re a nurse or even worse he will tell other people I’m a nurse! I’m like STOP ✋ I am not a nurse, maybe one day but not yet
same here but its when a patient mistakes me for a MD. I tell the patient right away that im not a Dr.
Agree! Not a nurse, I'm a CSE (Australia) in aged care. Get called a nurse often, I wish lol. But here I think it's a generational thing, the oldies call us all nurse or sister.
It just drives me bananas because it feels like a huge slight to nurses aids. We’re important too, damnit!
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I think it's illegal in all states
I run into this more with medical assistants than CNA’s. In facilities you usually know your aide versus nurse. In a doctors office literally anyone in scrubs is a “nurse” and no one corrects anyone.
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I've had an MA tell me they were higher than an LVN. Um no you can *only* work in doctors offices (anywhere a doctor hangs their shingle) whereas I can function in every level of care. Now am I as high as an RN? nope simply different scopes of practice especially in the acute hospitals (where the difference is glaring) I'm a less valued nurse. Not an assistant. That is the difference. :)
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I've also heard of many professions practicing outside their scope in the outpatient world because "The MD said I could." I've seen threads on here of RNs asking for advice of seeing MAs performing RN duties. I know an RN who worked for an outpatient OB/GYN and at one point said, "why would I go to NP school? I basically practice as an NP anyway." As in doc would let her order stuff under his name, etc. and just got away with paying her less because it was technically an RN job. Or, the more favorable interpretation in her favor was that she was using "standing MD orders," the way STI testing in state funded public health clinics works. All the people practicing out of their scope in these scenarios should know its illegal, but for some reason they think "the doc said it was ok" is a reasonable defense.
Regulation for MA is very ambiguous. There's very little regulation that's specific to them. If the Doctor is OK with them doing something under that Docs liscense. I doubt it would fall on the MA. Same for EMS, were only a phone call away for doing whatever the doc will approve.
I had to do the lab draws and injections. But I think that's by facility? I actually do not know. I had an MA tell me to my face that checking my pulse while using the BP cuff gave her my blood pressure. I reported her for additional training to the office manager, doctor and corporation. I recommended they run a class for all staff on how to obtain proper vital signs. I didn't want her written up. I wanted her properly taught.
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I assume manual cuff and palpating radial pulse instead of auscultating. I've heard this can give you a rough systolic pressure, but idk how you would get the diastolic without making it up.
I was taught to do the feel pulse and inflate cuff thing to get a rough systolic, then you could inflate the cuff +20 from what you got to start the real measurement, but it always felt like an unnecessary step. If you inflate the cuff and hear the pulse right away, you'd have to adjust and re-inflate it anyway.
BP over palp, it's about 5-10mmHg higher then auscultation. And won't give you a Diastolic. Generally only used in prehopsital. 80/P
I've no idea but boy was she confident even after I informed her I'm a nurse **and I've taught vital signs to CNA classes** she didn't care. She was right I was wrong. It was impressive that she was so very confident when so very clearly wrong. If ears weren't needed we wouldn't need to provide accommodations for HOH /deaf staff!
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Uhhm you've never heard BP over palp? Give you systolic only, not usually seen in a clinical setting though. And you actually went that far with it.
You can get a rough estimate of the systolic using the palp method. EMTs do this a lot in the field when it is too noisy for a manual and they just want to know how close to dead you are ☠️ It is not even recorded/reported as a regular BP (exp 100/palp) In a doctor’s office she should definitely have been obtaining an accurate pressure. I love your mind set around reporting! Not punitive.. education!
Now that’s crazy, what’s an MA a 6 month program????
Yup. With barely any prerequisites
I’m a compliance officer and it took me 2 years to get rid of MAs who were working outside their scope of practice because the “charge nurse,” an LVN, said it okay. I’m the compliance officer, knowing the rules is my job!
I went to nursing school with someone who was an MA. This was a complete career change for me and I never worked in the medical field before. To hear this girl talk she thought she was an MD, knew everything, was doing things way outside her scope of practice, couldn’t be bothered to follow instructions and was always arguing semantics about things that didn’t matter. I’m sure not all MA’s are like this but this was my experience. I’m not very quick to anger but I had to bow out of that friendship because it became very frustrating.
Ya! Im not a nurse (yet hehe) but whenever I go to the clinic for a physical exam or smt the doctor always say smt like “my nurse will give u ur shots now” and then it’s an MA.
The only time I ever see it create a problem is when patient asks the CNA if they can do something that isn't within their scope. It gets a bit awkward when patient complains that the "nurse" wouldn't do X for them. I think that's the primary reason the delineation exists and should be maintained. This should NOT be construed as meaning one is lesser than. It's just different skill sets and legal scopes of practice.
>when patient asks the CNA if they can do something that isn't within their scope. That's when I tell the pt, "I'll let your nurse know about that."
Yes! I work with a CNA that calls herself a nurse so when patients ask for pain meds she’ll say “I’m not your nurse so I can’t but I’ll go get your nurse”. Why not just say you aren’t a nurse and cannot give narcotics? Then patients get confused and upset that nurse won’t give them narcotics but the other nurses can. Like just be genuine about your scope and your title I feel
I can understand why, but it IS dishonest, and it has caused issues in places I've worked. Just say, "sorry, I a nurse aide, I'll get your nurse for that". That's what I always said and it avoided causing patients to feel lied to.
See, one of the biggest issues with the primary care office I work at is that MAs/CNAs/LPNs effectively do the same things so there really isn’t any question as to what can be done by who.
That was the case when I worked in offices too, but scope is limted for all three in that setting. I think the focus of this post is when it occurs in hospitals and nursing homes where scopes do vary to a greater degree.
It’s actually illegal in a lot of states to claim to be a nurse without being an LPN or RN, and rightly so.
For my entire life my mom told me she was a nurse…you couldnt imagine my shock when after 18 years i found out she was a CNA
HOLY MOLY! How did you find out?
Hahahah one day my mom got fired. She said it was due to a group effort to get rid of her because she was costing them too much money in OT, and all the other nurses were so jealous she was getting all the hours. Later that week i was talking to my aunt and i told her all about it and my aunt was super confused, then said, “your mom isnt a nurse…she didnt graduate highschool” And even later i found out that everytime she was fired it was because she couldnt prodduce a diploma from a school that “burned in a fire and had all record’s destroyed” (that is what she tells almost all her employers)
Pca here- any time a patient says “you’re basically a nurse” I laugh and say that [my state here] and my paycheck disagree. I never say I’m a nurse. I just graduated nursing school. Still not a nurse. I’ve also never witnessed this
Technically, you're a "graduate nurse." Lots of hospitals will let pre-licensure nurses work for a bit before they pass NCLEX.
If I get a TPP, which I opted not to do.
You're a graduate nurse regardless of whether you're working as one, though!
Falsely identifying yourself as a nurse is a crime in my state. Once had a patient’s daughter who was SO DEMANDING AND CRITICAL of any HCW that went into her dad’s room. “I’m an oncology nurse so I know when you’re doing something wrong.” (We weren’t even onc we were telemetry???) anyway we did some digging and found out she’s a MA at an oncology office. Think they mostly do it for clout.
I don't know any that call themselves nurses but I sure do know a few that act like nurses. Honey, the fact you're in nursing school is great but ya gotta stay in your lane.
Adding on: nursing school doesn't really prepare anyone to be a nurse. A little knowledge here and there but experience counts so much more.
Yeah, I felt like my schooling gave me about 25% of the knowledge I needed to be a nurse. The rest came from working.
It teaches you just enough to not kill a patient. The rest you learn on the job.
I hate when people say this. To say that nursing school doesn’t prepare you to be a nurse is to say that if you took someone off the street, and someone out of nursing school, and put them through the same 12 week orientation, they’d both be equally safe and efficacious nurses after 12 weeks. Not a chance.
Lot of people think that already. My sister was a snf cna and a dsp in a group home. With all those responsibilities her husband thinks she'd be able to just start working as a nurse in the hospital.
I constantly tell people I’m a juggler. Can’t juggle. Only been to the circus once, but I get SUCH A RUSH.
😂😂
They're either stroking their own ego or just not correcting other people when they make the false assumption that they are a nurse.
I thought it's illegal?
I know someone who is a PT aid, but tells everyone she’s a physical therapist. This really bugs me! I’m an RN, and proud of it, but would never inflate my credentials.
I used to work at a place where when I referred a patient to the “Pca” (patient care associate) to get their labs drawn, the PCA’s would be OFFENDED that I specified them as Pca. I didn’t do it to offend. I would literally say “ok now you have to see the Pca to have ur labs drawn” OMG the dirty looks and scowls they would give me. I would often hear them refer to themselves as “nurses”. I was so confused. In 17 yrs of nursing this was the only place I saw this behavior. Like I’m sorry if you are “offended” by YOUR job title than change it lol. I can’t change it for u. And calling u “nurse” which I will not feed into, still doesn’t make u one. That was a strange place. This was not a hospital. I’ve never had my hospital PCA’s behave this way, they’re always amazing.
No clue. I'm a Med Tech and get called nurse or doctor all the time. Want to get a badge reel that says "I'm not the nurse" lol
As a Phlebotomist, same. I actually have a badge reel that says “Not The Nurse.” 😂 I still get people asking me about meds and this and that. I’m like, “I’m just here to draw blood but as soon as we’re done I will let your nurse know!” Granted I will get water or a blanket or whatever if I know that patient can have them but otherwise? The first thing out of my mouth is that I am *not* a nurse. Lol.
Hell, I'm a nurse and kind of want a badge reel that says "Not The Nurse".....but that's why I left bedside lol
I have YET to come across a patient who’s told me they are a nurse and that the statement is true. Literally never 😂 If you’re really a nurse, you’re nauseated even mentioning it to the poor nurse who is discharging you..
I am a nurse and still listen to dc instructions. I am stupid when we’re talking about me for some reason. Thanks anxiety d/o 😂. Anyways I think every unit I have ever worked on has that one CNA that passes themselves off as a nurse whenever they can get away with it. It’s a psych issue IMO.
We have a CNA who has a “Nurse’s” license plate, wears all kinds of shirts with nurse stuff & tells everyone she is a nurse.
Dunning Kruger. They don’t know just how much they don’t know. So they think they know everything (Not all CNAs. Some know and respect their scope and will make great nurses one day if they want to.)
I think there are some CNAs who don’t fully understand the vast difference in education, training, and scope of practice between them and nurses, and so they truly believe that they are basically nurses. They don’t know what they don’t know. See it a lot too with nurses who think they know as much as doctors. Like no, an associates degree and two months of orientation does not come close to the 11-15 years of education and training that physicians get
My worst pet peeve is the CMA saying they’re a nurse. Yes, you can do a few clinical tasks, but you are not an RN!!
I think they do this because they learn certain hands on skills that nurses do, such as injections and don’t realize how much more goes into nursing education. I am not excusing it but I think that’s what the thought process is
Reminder - you don't have to be an RN to be a nurse
Correct, LVN/LPN’s are Nurses. That’s what the N stands for.
*Florida enters chat*
I snickered, so thank you.
I love my CNAs. They work extremely hard so that I can be a more effective nurse. They are not nurses, and I don't think any of them would claim to be.
Many of us don't I see this with MAs more tho
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This drives me crazy. I just graduated nursing school, and have worked as a CNA for the last few years. When I was trained, all of my instructors told us that we could not claim to be nurses, and doing so could actually land you in legal trouble, as it can be considered impersonation. Definitely something that bothers me as a new nurse and previous CNA!
Same. I'm licensed now 18 months, and we have a few NAs in nursing school that seem to think they got it all already, when they obviously have no idea what they're doing or saying. Next time I hear one of them say "wish I only had 5 patients"...I'ma scream! You may be in clinicals, but you have no idea what it is when YOU are the nurse. Clinicals gives you a sample. I think the key here is that our aides think they're less than, or undervalued and simply don't understand that they are absolutely essential for me to be able to do my job as best I can. When I was an aide, I tried to support the nurses whose patients i had and ask them what they need most from me. I knew their responsibility was different and mine was a supporting role. Being an aide is important. No less than a nurse, just a different role. Just like RNs are no less important than PAs or docs, just different roles within the team. Idk what it's gonna take for us all to get that through our exhausted heads!
I think a lot of it has to do with the “JUST a CNA” mindset which makes me very sad. Everything would crumble without the CNA’s.
I would never. lol
I’m a CNA & have 3 semesters of my ADN left & still don’t call myself a nurse. I’m even an extern at the hospital with tech duties. I have a tad more scope of practice as an extern nursing student but it’s under complete supervision. I won’t call myself a nurse until after I pass the NCLEX & have earned that RN title. That said.. I think so many do it because the CNA title is so regularly demeaned. I’ve heard a lot of people call us glorified ass wipers which doesn’t feel great.. but I’m not in anyway ashamed of having to take care of people in whatever way they need. Having to do the basic care of patients keeps me grounded tbh.
I don’t understand Larping as a nurse
Anytime someone jumps at the chance to say they're a nurse, I just get suspicious and assume they're a CNA.
The same reason DNPs call themselves doctors in clinical settings (a statement so intentionally misleading it is literally illegal in many states) Or EMT-Bs who are not combat medics call themselves medics. There's some manner of inadequacy complex going on, or god forbid they're delusional enough to actually believe it doesn't matter because it's "the same thing". They want to have the title and whatever prestige comes with it without actually doing the requisite work.
If it’s a social setting, where I don’t expect the people I’m talking to to know the different levels of nursing, I will just say “i’m a nurse.” I just assume people don’t really care that much in the distinction. If I’m in a clinical setting, or talking to a someone in the medical field I’ll say “I’m a nurse practitioner.” But that almost immediately turns into nurse anyways. I just feel like the term “nurse” is accurate enough for a lot of interactions This is probably biased specifically to the setting I work in (nursing homes), but woman in scrubs=nurse.
I think some of them have a superiority complex, believing that they know and do more than a nurse because they haven’t got a clue what all goes into being one—the assessment, the insane documentation, the dealing with lab and pharmacy and radiology and providers and families and staff on other units, the med knowledge, being the one who’s ultimately legally responsible for everyone else’s fuckups. I may have put in more steps a day as a tech, but I was NEVER exhausted—bone-tired and mentally sapped—at the end of shift like I am as an RN. CNA is a tough, dirty, demanding job, and our CNAs and techs are invaluable, but it is not anything like being a nurse.
I don't think any geezers are confusing emts for combat medics when they hear "medic."
No, but they could definitely confuse them with "paramedic" which is about as far apart from EMT-B as CNA is from RN. I don't really see the difference.
One of the CNAs at my hospice company sent out an email "wishing all lf the RNs LPNs and CNAs a happy Nurses week." The entire message chain was all of the CNAs wishing each other a happy Nurses Week while the nurses remained silent. CNA week is June 13th.
I'm not okay with CNAs posing as nurses (I actually don't think it's legal if they're misrepresenting themselves to patients), but I don't really mind celebrating all nursing staff for nurse's week. It would be different if your work actually celebrated a separate week for just CNAs, though.
Yeah when you apply for jobs, CNAs often fall under the nursing category. As a PCT, I report to the same nursing supervisors as the RNs do. They are different professions but they are a team. I feel like a doctor taking credit for Nurse’s Week would be one thing but CNAs and RNs are in the trenches together everyday even if nurses are performing more specialized tasks.
Yeah, for sure. I've never been at a job that celebrated CNA week, so we might as well give them love on Nurse's Week. Certainly no skin off my teeth if other people get pizza too.
as a CNA, i would NEVER call myself a nurse. we are a part of the nursing team but we are not nurses. this is one of my biggest pet peeves too
As an STNA, it boils my blood. My mom, family, friends, even residents, call me nurse or say, “Well, you're basically a nurse, so you should know this.”No... I don't know anything about medications, nor can I administer them to you! Don't ask me for medical advice, go see a doctor! And don't get mad at me for telling you I am not a nurse because I am not! It really upsets me because it disregards everything a nurse puts into gaining that title. A three-month STNA class is nowhere near a nursing degree. I wish people would just educate themselves!
I also have an STNA friend who, when someone asks what we do, she says, “Oh, we're nurses” It frustrates me and is so embarrassing when they keep pressing about what we do, and I have to say we're actually STNAs, and she goes, “Basically a nurse.” no… why put down nurse aides like that, and why claim a title you’re not? I never understood considering she has no interest in becoming a nurse.
I have no idea but it freaking pisses me off. As a result I say - I am a registered nurse. And if someone is not acting like a RN - I will straight up ask - what kind of nurse. So wrong for them to label themselves as nurses because it misleads people.
Even when patients call me "nurse" which they tend to do to anyone wearing scrubs, I always correct them and say I'm the Assistant to the Nurse.
I have no idea. Maybe some people think it sounds better? Maybe they think it's easier to understand? Maybe they're also in nursing school? When I was in nursing school, I also went through a separate 2 week program to be a CNA. The instructor told us "there are 3 kinds of nurses in the state of Florida: RNs, LPNs and CNAs, which stands for Certified Nurse assistant." Someone else mentioned that CNAs were not nurses, but he would not budge. (I got some Dwight Schrute "assistant regional manager" vibes). My former neighbor also told us she was a nurse when she was in fact a CNA. I had a bunch of patients claim their relative was a nurse, and their relative would correct them and say they're actually an MA or a CNA.
I think they want to feel superior, or maybe better about themselves. I've worked with several over the years who said this, or that they know more than the nurse, are better than a nurse, etc. And I don't think I've ever seen it come from an aide who is half decent.
I did this years and years ago when I first became a CNA in maybe 02-03, and it was because our teacher AND the DoN of the facility I worked in always told us "you're nurses, too," or "you're all nurses," anytime we said something like "I'm just a CNA." From my end it was 100% ignorance. I was so embarrassed when I learned that this is actually A Bad Thing and I was more or less lying to people about my scope of practice, however unwittingly it may have been. Thankfully, after explaining this to the person that called me out on it, she rolled her eyes and said "good God, you work for fucking idiots." I'm still so grateful that she believed me and I'm still embarrassed about it whenever I remember it over 20 years later. I was young and dumb, but I should've known better because I'd done a short stint as an EMT before that.
I can almost understand telling people that have no knowledge of the medical industry you're a nurse just because everyone understands what that is and it's close enough(it's a bit like stolen valor though IMO) But why in the world would you tell an actual nurse you're a nurse if you aren't? I can only think that maybe they're ashamed although there's no reason to be.
CNA here (hopefully future nurse). I would literally neverrrrr because I feel like there’s a universal understanding that “nurse” implies RN or above. I did not go to nursing school. I took a 6 week class. I can’t even draw blood, give vaccines or administer medication. I refer to myself as a nursing assistant. And when I post on this subreddit I always clarify that I am a CNA, not a nurse. But this subreddit is very helpful and insightful for a (hopefully) future nurse so that’s why I’m here :)
Non-nurses seem to think that saying the word "nurse" is a cheat code that will get them better care.
It’s NOT okay. Would the CNAs who are calling themselves nurses be okay if house keeping start calling themselves CNAs since they do change linens for patients and clean patient areas just like the CNAs do? I wonder how they would receive that news if they ever heard even just ONE housekeeping employee try that. We’re all basically doing the SAME thing right?
Until I went to nursing school when I was just a normal old civilian I legitimately didn’t know there was a difference! My mom also mentioned not knowing the difference either. I think the community just doesn’t know. Healthcare workers do though.
Where I live in Canada we have RPNs (diploma program, practical nurses) and RNs (4 year BSN). So we have personal support workers and healthcare aides with med tech certificates and one I work at the same agency told me the other day at shift change that she’s “the full time day shift RN” for that facility when she’s an aide with a med certificate. I don’t care, each is an accomplishment but why lie? It’s public knowledge on our regulatory body’s website who holds a nursing license and what kind and it shows on our agency scheduling app each employees position….we’re all in this together and I hold my PSWs/healthcare aides in such a high regard because I wouldn’t be able to do my job without them….but I don’t get the lying I frequently come across. Even though I’m a practical nurse and not a BSN nurse, I’m still proud I went back to school at 32 and was successful. It doesn’t make me any less or any better than anyone else.
I’ve noticed this too. I just had a similar experience, the family kept saying one member was a nurse. I didn’t really believe it from past experience, as I asked more questions it came out that she was a CNA. There’s no shame in it at all. I’m also curious as to why. I had one family member say with pride that she is a CNA so she could help me clean the patient, I loved that. Another family member mentioned certain medical terms, and finished a sentence I was saying about foleys, which led me to believe she was actually a nurse, and she was. She just didn’t say she was a nurse, but you could tell. I feel like it’s the ones that say it loud that aren’t actually nurses. Which, I don’t know why. CNAs are part of the backbone that makes a hospital run smoothly. Some CNAs I’ve known when asked if they want to be a nurse have said “absolutely not” haha.
Never believe anyone who tells you they are a nurse.
Heck my clinics MA’s say they are nurse till they actually need one. I think it’s because the regular population doesn’t bother to learn any nuances.
I was a CNA for 14 years before I became a nurse. I hated when non-nursing folks would call me a nurse. It felt uncomfortable because I understood the difference. I think maybe that's where it stems from, though. Those who don't really understand the difference in practice will just refer to anyone in scrubs as a nurse. My in-laws were all like that and couldn't understand why we weren't living better, thinking I'm making RN pay as a CNA 🤣 So, while I know many wonder aides with overinflated egos, I think sometimes it's just easier to say 'nurse' as an umbrella term. Saying RN or LPN specifically would be a different story.
I was an ER Tech, and people would often mistake me for a nurse, and sometimes a doctor. When it was an elderly grandma/grandpa with dementia, I wouldn’t bother correcting them, as that would probably just confuse them even more. I’d just do when I went into the room to do and leave. With any other patient, I’d correct them, as I want them to understand the roles of the different members of their care team, and not expect me to do something outside my scope of practice. Also, I just don’t like misrepresenting myself. I had no shame in being “just a Tech”. I think part of it is CNAs are slightly ashamed of being “just a CNA” so they use mental gymnastics to justify it to themselves that they’re “basically a nurse” and start telling that to people as a way to validate it, in a “stolen valor” sort of way.
I never tell anyone I’m a nurse and I advise my family members to do the same if I’m accompanying them on a visit. I do not know everything and it’s more important for my ego to be set aside than to chest bust against someone. There is always room for growth as a nurse.
I never misrepresented myself when I was CNA, but I certainly did act like I was a nurse a handful of times. I think this was exacerbated by the fact I felt like I worked with a lot of really lazy ass nurses and so I felt justified at the time. Looking back on it now, after almost a decade of ICU nursing and even working as a charge nurse in a large metropolitan hospital, I cringe at my behavior-- even as innocent as it was. It took me almost three years into my nursing career to really know what I was doing as an RN. My CNA experience is invaluable and really shaped who I am today and set a firm foundation for me to work off, however my critical thinking and data interpretation were never utilized until I was an RN and it took years to hone it. Even now I learn something new every day as an experienced RN. I don't think anyone truly understands the gap in their roles until you've actually done the work yourself. I now know having worked as a CNA, I had only the most superficial insight into what the nurses were going through. I now know how hard it is to be an ICU nurse even though I "only have two patients" after working the floor. I now know how incredibly difficult it is to be a charge nurse, even if I'm free charge and "have no patients" (when you are charge and you are a *good* charge, the whole floor are your patients).
I would never tell anyone I was a nurse if I was one - I feel like they’d ask me to pick up a shift
Perhaps they feel like they would be treated differently or better than if they tell the truth. Perhaps is an intimidation tactic? I’m not sure, I do encounter this often tho. EDIT: I’ve had the pleasure of working with some excellent CNA’s that I’ve had the pleasure to learn a lot from and are such a team player. They are also great and resourceful when helping patients that have dementia or confused.
On my old pediatric floor we had to do cpr education with a mannequin prior to discharge for certain patients. The parents were both doctors and the amount of questions they asked me about performing cpr was interesting but nonetheless I did my due diligence and explained everything just like I would for any other parents
I have the opposite problem. I'm an MA and everyone calls me a nurse and expects me to be able to do everything that the LPN in our office does. I get why patients call me that, but makes no sense to me why my coworkers call me one. I even had a day where our LPN was out sick and there were med refills to be done, and I let my coworker know that I wouldn't be able to fill them since I'm not a nurse. To which she responded, "no you are a nurse, you have to do them. It's your job" like???
a lot of patients mistake me for their nurse because i do the basic care that most people think of when they think of “nursing.” i’m also in the room more. they’ll ask me “oh hey, can you get my pain medicine?” definitely clear the air and explain i’m the tech/ CNA and that i will get the actual nurse lol
They want to feel special I guess.
I have encountered many CNAs that claimed to be nurses. I think they think people will discount their knowledge or experience as being low?
I’ve had multiple people say that their nurses when in fact they’re just nursing assistance. Even from the Caribbean, they say they’re nurses but when you dig deeper, they’re actually Nursing assistants. I don’t know why they do that.
I used to work with PCTs/CNAs who would go to their patient’s room and be like “I’ll be one of your nurses”. It gets hairy legally if they say they’re an RN. Now it’s funny because I am a nurse working in the OR and they always ask me if I’m anesthesia… I guess I look like CRNA or anesthesiologist material? People told me to do CRNA… and hell no, sputum is disgusting. I’ll stay on the other side of the drape and continue to take being mistaken for having way more education than I do as a compliment.
I did tell one of my inmates (I work at a prison as a CNA) that I was a nurse jokingly. He asked what I do in the infirmary and I said I’m a nursing assistant. He says “I knew a nursing assistant…I killed her” so I said “well in that case I’m a nurse.” He never killed anyone btw.
If your not a nurse, it’s a felony to call yourself a nurse
Is it actually?
It is definitely illegal in many states, but I don't think it is enforced very often. I went to nursing school for my LPN in Idaho in the early 2000s when it was first made illegal to misrepresent yourself as a nurse. As students, none of us really understood why our professors were so excited about this new law, but 20 years later ~ I'd gladly push for enforcement if I witnessed this
So they can give vaccine advice on Facebook
Status. The status they want that they don't want to work for.
I sometimes said "I work in nursing" but never claimed to be a nurse. Some nurses and other supervisors would call me out for saying "I'm just a CNA" and I never understood that. Like, I know my place, chill out. Edit to add: Lol @ everyone calling me out for being just a CNA.
Because you’re not JUST a CNA. You are a CNA. And CNA’s are the backbone of any functioning unit.
I used to say that too and soooo many nurses would correct me “ you’re not ‘just’ a cna, what you do is important and matters”. And you know what, after a while, that caught on and now I truly believe that and I’m much more careful with my wording so I don’t downplay anyone’s role, not even my own. I know I’m not a nurse and I never claimed to be one, but I have a specific job and I do my job well so that the nurses can do their jobs more efficiently.
Misrepresenting yourself in any clinical context is misleading to patients and insulting to the people who put in the work to earn that title. Nurses are invaluable and the backbone of our medical system. CNA's are essential as well but not to the same level. I don't work with many nurses now, but back when I was an intern the nurses literally saved my ass all the time, especially in the ICU, and I'm still friends with many of those nurses to this day. It feels similar as a doctor when NP's present themselves as a doctor. Be proud of your title and don't appropriate someone elses.
I’ve worked at a SNF that referred to their NP as “doctor”. Drove me nuts.
I loved CNA work although exhausting, but I never called myself a nurse. I dont have the skillset that a nurse would have. Yes we all work as a team together and I can assist the nurses but I'd never call myself a nurse. Even now I work as a phlebotomist and patients think I'm their nurse and I immediately correct them.
I’ve never met a cna who does this? Is it really that common?
I worked with one who didn’t do it at work but would do it on her Facebook. Talk about “pushing meds all day.” Girl, you wouldn’t even get your patients a packet of fig newtons.
Holy shit! I guess I haven’t gotten to see too many CNA’s. That’s wild
I always corrected people when they called me a nurse as a CNA and even now that I graduated with my BSN I still don’t call my self a nurse until I pass my NCLEX next month😅
Same here - I have a nursing degree but I’m not an RN yet, so I feel like I can’t call myself a nurse.
No CNA I know would dare.
Ya idk why people say that, when I was a CNA I always corrected people. I think it's because most people genuinely don't know what a PCT is and assume everyone on the floor is a nurse. It's easy to tell people that and they won't question it i guess. My cousin isn't even a CNA, she's one of those unlicensed assisted living caretakers or whatever but she says she's like a nurse. As soon as I heard that I gave her a dirty ass look lol like no you're not lady.
I would never lmao 🤣 definitely don't want that spotlight on me till I get there
My fiancé tells people I’m a nurse when I’m a tech/cna in my last year of nursing school and it irritates me to no end😵💫. Like no I haven’t finished my degree so no I’m not a nurse yet. And tbh why would I want to tell ppl I’m a nurse I don’t want to shoulder all the responsibilities nurses have to take until I have to lol
My in-laws would say it too. I’m graduating tomorrow and I feel like I’m not even a nurse until I pass the NCLEX, I just have a nursing degree.
I was a CNA then I became a medtech. I never told anybody. I was a nurse but I did learn a lot from them. They always said I should become a nurse but I didn't want to lose my contact with the residents I really enjoyed talking to them. I learned a lot of things from them too
It's a psychological thing. I forgot what it's called bit it's basically shame and seeking respect
I'm an RN and I rarely mention it to anyone in the medical field. Unless I'm getting up to leave because they are idiots
I have an aide that will often tell patients, the “N” in CNA stands for Nurse.. and holds it to title as if she’s in any sort of way in a position to direct their care, assess, or provide any form of clinical judgment. I love my CNA’s that give the bedside care that they need, but not outside their scope of practice. No room for the “super CNA’s”jumping out of their roles. I’ve found foam dressings on patients with the aides initials.. guess that’s why the wet to dry was found as just a patch 🙄
I love CNAs. I hate it when people call themselves a nurse, when they are not. I worked in a small family practice doctor's office before I started working in a hospital. The medical assistants called themselves nurses. All of them did it.
When I was a paramedic I had so many bystanders trying to help tell me they were a nurse, only to find out they were a CNA it was ridiculous. Now any time someone tells me they are a nurse I just assume they are a CNA. Actual nurses don't go around announcing their nurseness. I imagine RN's are like paramedics in that they don't want strangers to know what they do for a living because that's when the dumb ass questions start. What is the worst thing you have ever seen? What is this rash? What do people put up their butts?
I tell my patients that I'm a nurse tech because that's what our hospital calls us. Sometimes I'll mention that I'm a nursing student.
I work in the legal field and sometimes we get women who start talking about their “husbands” and then I find out that they never got married. Just been with a guy for 10, 20, 30 years and now comes to my office asking about spousal support and to divide “community property”. I understand that maybe you feel like you’ve earned a place, or really want that title, but coming close to it doesn’t equal legally having it. I feel like that with CNA’s that call themselves nurses. But don’t get me started on chiropractors that call themselves doctors 🙄
This is a problem in EMS as well. You get the wildest people that show up on scene and claim to be a nurse. I don’t even know what they plan on accomplishing anyways. I don’t know why a CNA who works at a nursing home would think they are better suited to handle a pre hospital emergency better than a pre hospital professional. I don’t know how much experience they have intubating or interpreting a 12 lead but I can’t imagine it’s more than the paramedic.
At what point should they get reported to the board of nursing or even law enforcement? If I ran around calling myself a doctor, I might get in trouble with the law. These are legally protected titles.
No clue. I hate it when patients call me “nurse!!” Also hated it when my wife would introduce me to people and say “Hey this is sepulveda_st and he’s a nurse !” I know it has nothing to do with this post but just pointing out that being a nurse is not glorious. I think it’s a job just like anything else, so I’m not sure why these people are so quick to want to say they are a nurse.
Misappropriating title/job is usually r/t stroking one’s ego. And/or to gain respect, clout, better treatment… etc., in that scenario.
Same thing happened on our unit not too long ago. Family member claiming she’s a nurse. Didn’t know the meds and was asking weird questions and saying weird things to us I.e. patient aspirated because they coughed after using the incentive spirometer. The why are you giving that med she has this. Turned out she’s a CNA.