“What do you do for a living?” or words to that effect are common first-date ice-breakers. By the time you’re 9 months into the relationship, it’s safe to say you should know what profession your partner is in. Unless, of course, they’re with the CIA or something super classified.
His girlfriend didn’t even need to say she was a nurse. There were medical books all over the apartment, she came home wearing scrubs, and he’d fetched her at her place of work (a prestigious hospital) on more than one occasion. Imagine his confusion when his EMT friend raised concerns that the woman may very well have been lying about her profession. The guy has revealed how he was left terrified when the truth finally came out.
He was stunned when it emerged that his ‘nurse’ girlfriend had been lying about her profession all along
Image credits: rawpixel.com / freepik (not the actual photo)
But he was never prepared for just how dark and twisted things would get after he confronted her
Image credits: Powerful_Profession
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
He decided to call the hospital while she was on duty
Many gave him advice on how to fact-check his girlfriend’s story
“Mystery solved”: The man finally figured out the truth after doing some digging
“Needs a psych nurse instead”: People didn’t miss the irony in the woman’s lies
Lying about being a nurse can cost you a lot more than your relationship
Pretending to be something you’re not and lying about your profession is never a wise move. But it has particularly serious consequences in the field of nursing.
Telling tall tales is basically falsification, or “the willful perversion of facts and includes such behavior as lying, distorting and paltering,” explains Nancy J. Brent, MS, JD, RN, a legal expert who specializes in health law.
Brent warns that falsification in the nursing profession can cost you your reputation, job, and even land you in jail. If you’re caught, state boards of nursing can initiate professional disciplinary proceedings against you. “Including in cases when unprofessional conduct is likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public; using false, deceptive or fraudulent statements in any record in connection with a nurse’s practice; practicing beyond the scope of one’s practice; and violating state or federal laws, rules and regulations governing controlled substances,” says Brent.
The legal expert says that in most states, falsification can lead to a reprimand, censure, probation, suspension, or revocation of the nurse’s license. On top of that, you may be slapped with criminal charges on a state or federal level, depending on the gravity of the situation.
“These charges include fraud, falsifying business records, criminal possession of a controlled substance, practicing nursing without a license, and petit larceny,” says Brent.
And here’s a case in point…
Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The consequences of lying about your nursing qualifications are pretty similar outside of America… Just ask Tanya Nasir from the U.K.
She thought she was being clever when she lied about her qualifications to get a job as a senior nurse caring for sick and premature babies. It backfired, and not only was she banned from the profession, but she was also sentenced to five years in jail.
According to the BBC, Nasir claimed to be a highly qualified neonatal nurse and an Army combat medic. The tall tales landed her a job as ward manager of the neonatal unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend in 2019. The disgraced “nurse” was outed four months after starting the position. She was suspended after it emerged the qualification date on her nursing registration did not match up with her application form.
“She had faked her reference for the post using an NHS email account of a nurse she had previously worked with in London,” reports the BBC. “An investigation by the hospital unravelled a deeper web of lies, as Nasir lied about working across the globe doing military and humanitarian work with charities including Oxfam and the Red Cross.”
Nasir, who has two children, also claimed to have experience in intensive care, A&E medicine, and children’s palliative care. She clearly went way too far because she was later found guilty on nine counts of fraud and false representation, and jailed for five years in October 2024.
It wasn’t Nasir’s first time being caught out in a web of lies. In 2010, she was previously convicted of fraudulently claiming welfare benefits.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) committee said that Nasir’s actions could have put vulnerable patients at “a real risk of significant harm, which could have had catastrophic consequences.”
“She broke into my home”: Things took a rather dark turn after he confronted his girlfriend
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Powerful_Profession
He later said he might have made a mistake by calling her family
Many voiced their concern and advised the man to be careful
