[dthfytr]

I'm always up front about my license. I usually include it in a comment about how it's easier to be the nurse than the patient, and give them permission to remind me of my role if I try to be too helpful.

Like the proverbial gift, healthcare is better to give than receive.

[NurseEcho]

I don't just come out and announce it unsolicited, but I will work it into the conversation. it usually becomes pretty clear that I have some sort of professional background because of the terminology I use, precise drug names and dosages, medical history, etc. I have (respectfully) requested that tests be ordered because I think there is a problem there. I am usually right. I know my body and am not afraid to advocate for myself.

When I can tell the staff at an office is having a rough day, I recognize and acknowledge it. In no way am I trying to intimidate anyone; I am just trying to send the message that I have more than a passing knowledge of nursing, I empathize, and would like to be spoken to on a peer level. To me, it makes a huge difference in teaching if I know the client's professional background and I would like to afford them the same respect.

If I encounter a specialty that is Greek to me (e.g. my DH had spinal surgery; I am a cardiac nurse; I was lost), I am not afraid to speak up there either and say please explain this to me in the simplest possible terms; it's not my area and I am freaked out to start with.

What I hate is when a patient comes to me full of complicated questions, seemingly wanting me to take hir questions to the cellular level and projecting that "Let's see how smart you really are" attitude. I mean, really, just go ahead and tell me you're a Harvard-educated whatever-ologist and you're worried about your mom. I may not be able to answer your every question, but I still feel compassion for you and your mom and if at all possible I will put you in touch with someone who can meet you on your level and set you at ease, take it to the next level, whatever.

[Wildhorse]

I agree I think we should treat ever pt. as one of our closet family member. We all want the best care for our family member and we should all do the same for all pt. but unfourntally it just does not happen always happen. I wish it did happen all the time.

[LHJ_RN]

I say that I am an RN, I feel I get better treatment and that the staff can speak frankly with me, and I with them. Time is not wasted on "Medicine 101" explanations.
Thank God I am a nurse. Had I been a lay person, I could have lost my baby last Oct.

[Jamesdotter]

I rarely mention that I'm a nurse, but it's on my records (I've been a member of the same HMO for 30 years) and if the staff doesn't notice it, one of my family usually blabs. Like one of the other posters, I claim to "only work with" (in my case) pregnant and post-partum women.