Originally Posted by UTRN2005
The argument of misrepresentation as a basis for lower educational requirements is asinine.
Why would anyone be against CRNAs having higher education? CRNAs are here to administer anesthesia to the public and as such we should want the public to be as well cared for as possible. Anesthesiologists also care for the public and they either believe we can do a good job now (in which additional education is not needed and as such supervision should not be required) or they think we are not educated enough (therefore they should believe in furthering education and in the mean time be for supervision). Logically, there is not a category for pro-supervisioin and anti-education. In my opinion there is no good reason to be against higher education for anyone.
As far as the title goes I understand the concern about not confusing patients and deceiving them to believe that I am a medical doctor. I am not. But PhDs go by the title Dr and they are not medical doctors. Pharmacists are now PharmDs and I have met some of them that go by Dr. What about chiropractors, optomotrists, physical therapists, lawyers (doctorate of jurisprudence). All of them have some form of a doctoral degree and could be correctly identified as Doctor. If you earn the degree, you earn the title.
Perhaps our patients just need to be better educated about our profession and qualifications.
most people with their PhDs do, in fact, go by doctor but they certainly don't do so in a hospital setting. A person with a PhD in organic chemistry would not introduce themselves as Dr. So-and-so for obvious reasons.
I do understand that organic chemistry degrees are rarely seen in the medical setting attached to people that have less than an MD degree, or PhDs for that matter. (I am not saying that they don't exist or that people who do not have an MD are not smart enough to get a PhD......so get all of that rebuttal crap out of your system before responding).
There is a distinct problem with introducing oneself as Dr. SO-and-so when in fact they are not a medical doctor. We can all see the reasons for that.....avoid confusion of the patient and prevent the representation of yourself as a physician.
The other side is.....what is the point of getting a PhD if you can't say doctor? The point is to improve patient care and be the best anesthetist you can. We should police ourselves if we do want to say the Dr. title by adding the fact that you have an advanced nursing degree, the DNP, and you are a CRNA administering the anesthesia.
Since i am a nurse, i know all of the stuff that is going on with someone just by reading their badge, however, not everyone is as well versed in the health care hierarchy as we are....we owe it to all of our patients to prevent misrepresentation and discern between a DNP and an MD with every single introduction....if one chooses to use the Dr. title.
JMHO
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