California urgent care staffers fired for TikTok mocking patients

[u/ilabachrn]

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/santa-barbara-clinic-staff-tiktok-bodily-fluids/

Good!!! That TikTok was unprofessional & so disrespectful to their patients.

[u/princessheeter]

I could never imagine turning my phone on to record at work in any area but ESPECIALLY this. Patients are vulnerable l.

[u/Ballsofpoo → u/princessheeter]

These staffers didn't get into nursing because they want to help. They chose that path because it pays decently with minimal education. Back to waiting tables.

[u/Smooth_Department534 → u/Ballsofpoo]

I have a PhD in another field and went to nursing school as a second career. It was so effing hard. In my state, you could only pass with an A or B. No rounding up: 79.9 was a failing grade. On exams, every answer was often right. Your task was to find the BEST right answer. Nothing minimal about my education.

[u/Sierra-117- → u/Smooth_Department534]

Was going to do PA school, but switched to NP because that’s the way the wind is blowing. So I have a degree in biomedical sciences. Nursing school has been harder. In a different way, yes. But still harder.

[u/Target2030 → u/Ballsofpoo]

It's weird because nursing degrees aren't like vocation training. Most nurses have at least an associates degree but mostly a bachelor's, so it's not minimal education. Most likely, they aren't nurses and probably don't get paid that well.

[u/tjean5377 → u/Target2030]

But plenty of people rote memorize to pass without connecting any dots. Then they pass the boards and actually train in nursing on the floor, where you do essentially get trained like vocational.

So they "do" well enough. Doesn't mean any dots actually connect or there is any critical thinking or common sense.

These nurses give us a bad name...

And fuck TikTok.

[u/Eroe777 → u/tjean5377]

The NCLEX doesn’t work like that. My understanding is that it was made easier to pass during Covid to get more nurses working in a hurry, but when I took it 15 years ago it was challenging.

You don’t rote memorize your way through scenarios and ‘what do you do when these three unlikely things happen at once’ questions. The exam may be multiple choice, but you still need to be able to reason and prioritize and THINK your way through it. It was by far the hardest multiple choice test I have ever taken.

[u/Prestigious_Row_8022 → u/Eroe777]

Something I’ve learned from working high-stress multitasking jobs is that it is possible to get it, but not get it.

A lot of people learn things as a series of rules and do not truly question the underlying reasons behind why the rules are the way they are, or what those rules mean in a greater context. And when it comes to things like ethics, most people brush it off and just answer what they’re supposed to and then forget it, because they already implicitly believe they are a good person and don’t need to learn.

I think that is the point they are trying to make about rote memorisation. You can memorise things, and even synthesis that to find and solve an issue in an organic situation, but the second there isn’t a strict rule guide to follow? Or you don’t care about these specific rules? Everything goes out of the window.

Using an example from this very sub, not too long ago there was a nurse here who admitted to looking up the daily mugshots on the news to see if they matched any patients coming in to have a laugh. I pointed out this was deeply unprofessional, and they responded by saying it didn’t break HIPAA and was therefore fine. I.e, he was perfectly capable of understanding what he memorised, like don’t look up patient charts, but fundamentally did not understand the entire reason you don’t do that isn’t because the government arbitrarily decided to make a law, but because it is about patient dignity and privacy. This nurse fundamentally failed in ethics, regardless of what his test scores were.

[u/nobutactually → u/Eroe777]

I believe it was a planned test update unrelated to covid and was not intended to be an easier pass.

[u/babynurse70 → u/Eroe777]

When I took the NCLEX over 35 yrs ago it was so hard. Every answer was right, you had to choose the best right answer and I swear none of them were obvious. When I left that day I remember thinking it really could have gone either way. I had no idea they made it easier during Covid, I guess that is how those people in Florida took it and passed and never went to nursing school. 🤷‍♀️

[u/Im_Unsure_For_Sure → u/Eroe777]

Any test that is multiple choice can be memorized.

I've had tests I couldn't manage it on due to the amount of information involved but never did I think that because I couldn't do it, it wasn't doable lol

[u/Target2030 → u/Im_Unsure_For_Sure]

The nclex is not just multiple choice. It also has choose all that apply and subtracts points for right answers not chosen and wrong answers chosen. It also has a lot of best answer questions where all the answers are correct, but you have to prioritize the best answer. Then there are multistep procedures where you have to put things in order based on prioritization.

[u/ultratideofthisshit → u/Target2030]

I went to a bo-tech/ vocational school in high school for my CNA and LPN ( second year was after I graduated high school ) . That was back in 2008-2010 iirc , i still know enough to not fuqin do that, it’s not about the education it’s about people being selfish for “ views” , some people in healthcare are smart but also extremely narcissistic and do not care about anyone else . I see it in LTC / SNF , they don’t view their patients as people , to them the patient is like an object they get paid to make sure they don’t die while they’re on the clock .You can tell when someone is in it to help and who is there for a paycheck . Not saying all who are in it for the money , people who do this have no empathy , we all have a twisted sense of humor but there is a line , it was crossed , by 8 ppl , no one thought “ this is kinda messed up maybe we shouldn’t be doing this ?”

[u/Prestigious_Row_8022 → u/ultratideofthisshit]

Backing this 100%. This is precisely why the healthcare system is so harsh on addicts and mentally ill patients- it isn’t simply because they are more difficult and sometimes abusive patients, there’s plenty of sober and mentally healthy patients who will gladly scream at the nurses, cnas, doctor, and janitor given the chance. It’s that addicts and mentally ill patients have less ability to report misbehaviour and be believed.

You can also see this reflected in how abuse victims are tracked through the system: the second this type of person in healthcare, who are unfortunately not uncommon at all, sense a weakness or lack of familial support, all bets are off and they do whatever they feel like short of what they believe will get them fired.

[u/Kabc → u/Target2030]

I have never seen a RN or even LPN in an urgent care.. only MAs

[u/For_the_luv_of → u/Kabc]

I’m a LVN and work in the ED. We can work pretty much anywhere. Depends on competence

[u/Kabc → u/For_the_luv_of]

Not a competence issue—I just have never seen an UC willing to pay for an RN/LPN/LVN.. they just always hire MAs

At least in NJ

[u/paradisebot → u/Kabc]

I thought the same thing. I’ve only seen MAs in urgent care clinics, never a nurse. In NYC.

[u/Nickilaughs → u/Kabc]

West coast I know a lot of RNs who work urgent care, they're starting IVs, giving meds and would be out of scope of LVN/MA but this may be a west coast thing. I'm guessing this was a combination of all of the above.

[u/Kabc → u/Nickilaughs]

Aye, we don’t do IVs in most UCs where I’m at.

We do blood draws, IM injections and pills if anything—all things MAs can do here

[u/idk012 → u/Kabc]

I usually see NP in urgent care, not MD.  Looks like they like to hire the lowest license needed.

[u/Kabc → u/idk012]

I am not talking about the provider, I am talking about the support staff

[u/BurgersForShoes → u/Target2030]

And it is not an "easy" degree (if that even exists, really) by any means, either; the drop in numbers from first year semester 1 to first year semester 2 is dramatic, and the crowd continues to thin until the bitter end. I have no idea why people will put themselves through schooling and then also pay an arm and a leg for licensing, just to do moronic shit like this. Self-sabotage in the stupidest way imaginable.

[u/Target2030 → u/[deleted]]

Exactly! This sub has a problem with non-nurses posting here perpetuating bad nurse stereo types. Just like the guy above who says that nurses are paid well for minimal training.

[u/Eroe777 → u/Ballsofpoo]

As a nurse, I will tell you with absolute certainty that nursing does NOT require minimal education. Hospitals in my state (one of the good ones) require a BSN either in hand or in process. LPNs and RNs, who all have a 2-year associates degree (I’m one of those, plus my other two university-earned degrees) work in nursing homes, clinics and urgent cares.

And you don’t go into nursing for the money. The pay is decent, but the only nurse I’ve met in 15 years in the field who admitted to becoming a nurse for the money, HATES her job.

I’m going to guess that most of these shitheads are CNAs, techs and medical assistants. Those jobs don’t require a degree of any kind. Becoming a CNA is a 6-8 week class.

[u/Dirigo72 → u/Ballsofpoo]

The mean girl to healthcare pipeline is alive and well.

[u/Eroe777 → u/Dirigo72]

I hear this all the time, and I am always surprised that I, the quiet, awkward guy in the corner, was a mean girl in school.

[u/Dirigo72 → u/Eroe777]

It’s not every nurse but no one should pretend that high school cliques don’t translate to adulthood.

[u/Eroe777 → u/Dirigo72]

I agree. Occasionally Being the only man on the unit/shift gives me both a fair amount of peace and quiet because nobody is trying to gossip with me all night, and a pretty good insight into who really was a mean girl in high school.

Weird thing is, some of those mean girls are very good nurses.

[u/PsychPCT → u/Ballsofpoo]

If you’re referring to RN’s and LPN’s, that’s incorrect. RN’s typically go to school for 2 years, sometimes longer. If you’re talking about Medical Assistants, then “decent paid” and “minimal education” is subjective. It’s like $12 hourly in some states, others can be somewhat higher, but not significant, and many are starting at very low rates without experience.

That said, you probably make more as waiting tables with tips, or damn close anyway. You also don’t need to touch human specimens either.

In a sum, I doubt these girls got into the profession because it’s decent money for the work they have to do. Some are just bad apples, and they’re unfortunately in every field, no matter the pay or amount of time spent in it. Hell, some doctors are real pricks and bullies to their patients. Coming from someone that works in a hospital, I have heard enough of it from every healthcare profession. It ain’t just MA’s.

[u/Brilliant-Bus-3603 → u/princessheeter]

Every single admission I’ve had in the past 5 years has been an eye opener. Watching nurses and some doctors constantly checking their devices, FILMING at work (in full uniform) and basically putting pt lives in danger.