Faking it doesn’t always make it: Man pretends to be nurse, even answers emergency

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A Pittsburgh man who assumed the identity of a nurse and responded to emergencies as part of a hospital’s crisis team has been arrested after he could not produce an ID, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

Kyle Jones may have been living out his dream career but it didn’t have the credentials to back him up, according to a criminal complaint. The 23-year-old accused pretender was responding to emergencies within UPMC Presbyterian Hospital along with the hospital’s Rapid Response Team.

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But team members could not identify Jones so they called police. Jones was taking a break in the hosptital cafeteria when police approached him and asked for his identity. But Jones stuck with his story that he was indeed a nurse and said that he worked a company called Visiting Angels.

He was dressed in light blue scrubs, just as other registered nurses at the hospital do, but when he failed to give police identification, and a subsequent call to Visiting Angels determined that Jones was impersonating a nurse, he was arrested.

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UPMC said in a statement:

“While responding to a patient with urgent needs, hospital staff spotted a person attempting to assist who was not wearing a hospital ID and who was wearing scrubs that do not match our uniform. We reported this to police, had him arrested, and police are now handling the matter.”

Visiting Angels is a privately held company with about 600 franchises nationwide that provide home care services for the elderly, local franchise owner Les DeFelice told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. None of the franchises place registered nurses at hospitals, and Jones was never employed by DeFelice.

Jones was charged with impersonating a holder of a professional/occupational license, criminal trespass, falsely impersonating persons privately employed and disorderly conduct.

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