Can I see some I.D. before you stick that there? March 3, 2009
If it’s illegal to impersonate a police officer then why can just anybody parade around in a nurse’s uniform? Why it’s even illegal to impersonate a nun—in Alabama at least.
How does one tell the difference between a registered nurse and clerk with no training in patient care or any professional standards and accountability?
I recently brought my daughter to a walk-in clinic were a woman in a nurse’s uniform directed the patients into examining rooms and asked for presenting complaints, took urine samples for urine analysis and temperature readings. Taking into consideration the tasks she was performing and the uniform she wore I inferred that she was a health care professional. However, her conduct was deplorable as she quarrelled with patients and spoke condescendingly to me. She demonstrated a considerable lack of compassion for sick people and anxious family members. As a former registered nurse I was appalled at the lack of professionalism displayed by this person.
When I later asked the receptionist for the nurse’s name to issue a complaint to her manager, I was told that she is not a nurse she is merely an office assistant. No wonder she couldn’t care less about the sick people flooding her office, she’s probably has little if any training in dealing with the public and is struggling to get by on a bit more than minimum wage. There is something to be said for the RN’s University education and a salary reflecting their skills.
Though I no longer practice as a registered nurse, (I retired to raise my four children) I do hold the profession in high esteem, and I hate to see that anyone can purchase scrubs at Wal-Mart and demand the respect reserved for the nursing profession, yet not be accountable to act in a respectful manner. These people tarnish the nursing profession’s reputation.
Nurses have come a long way since the day we wore the white dress uniform and cap, but at least in the 50’s people knew who was a nurse and who wasn’t. If I walk down the street today I can tell the difference between a police officer and a security guard, but I cannot tell the difference between a registered nurse and a veterinarian receptionist… and no I don’t want a receptionist checking my urine sample.
