Call Us Nurse or Call Us ???What???

Nurses General Nursing

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If you could pick what professional title "nurses" could be called instead of the title "nurse", what title would you want to be called......professionally speaking? :nurse:

Hey!! I worked damn hard for my RN-whatever degree you want to put behind it-and you know that thermometers have degrees too-and we all know where they are put!!

Old saying-no one cares how much you know till they know how much you care!

for where i work a PCC is an aide! and way too many MD ofc receptionists,MA and general flunkies are calling them selves nurses-that is BS and makes my blood boil. Theire license is not on the line with everything they do-but mine is-for their actions-

like i said- I worked damn hard for my RN (and this goes for LPNS too) and frankly I want to be called a NURSE!!!

You wouldn't call an MD or PHD anything but Doctor would you

(well at least not in public professional setting-what we say behind closed lounge doors is something else-and hopefully HIPPA doesn't hear!!)

Off my soapbox now!

Well I am new here (been lurking for weeks) but I will chime in a bit from MY male pt. of view.....Now I said MY so don't anyone start thinking I am making general statements :)

I come from a number of male dominated fields, law enforcement, tobacconist and pro poker player....all titles that bring a certain mental pic to mind.

Nurse due to history & useage isn't gender neutral, at least not to the mind of the public, this is why even though I am a NA (new) and working towards RN I have started using the term RN vs. Nurse.

I think it would be great to raise the professionalism of RNing and the view everyone has of being an RN, language is a great place to start. Being referred to as RN Lance vs. Nurse Lance will cause everyone from the pt to the Dr. to Admin to thick of my training and professionalism, not the historical image of Nurse (stand when the Dr. enters, do what is told w/o questions and all that).

Oh and not to start a ruccus but goddess most definitely isn't gender neutral :) And if you think I am just PC then you don't know this cigar smoking, poker playing amputee very well :)

Gwenith what are nurses referred to now instead of sister?

How about CYA, EET. (EET of course stands for 'everyone else's, too'.)

Seriously, though, I like RN. I introduce myself as "the RN that will be working with you today".

I introduce myself by my first name, and tell the pt that I will be the nurse taking care of them for the night. I greet pt's by Mr/Mrs/Miss most of the time, occ. we get young pt's and I will refer to them by there first name and ask if that is what they go by or would they like me to refer to them in another way.

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RN is good, but I think what Cheerfuldoer was asking for was a prefix kind of name. Like "Doctor"... he/she worked hard (harder) for the MD but doesn't introduce himself as MD Smith.

Has anyone ever introduced themselves as "I'm Nurse Mary... or whatever?" Why does that sound weird?

Specializes in ICU.

I always call myself by my first name.

I always use RN too.

I don't think it really has anything to do with being/not being professional at all, I think it's a personal decision with whatever makes you comfortable.

I call my doctor and dentist "Dr. So-and-so" and yet I call my lawyers, etc by their first name. It doesn't mean I respect one more than the other.

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by WhiteCaps

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RN is good, but I think what Cheerfuldoer was asking for was a prefix kind of name. Like "Doctor"... he/she worked hard (harder) for the MD but doesn't introduce himself as MD Smith.

Has anyone ever introduced themselves as "I'm Nurse Mary... or whatever?" Why does that sound weird?

Exactly what I was asking for, but that's okay as long as everyone is having fun, laughing, and interacting...letting go of stress...unwinding here....learning from one another...thinking and adding new thoughts to their "Nurse Diary". :D :kiss

When I started in nursing (dark ages) we were addressed as "Nurse (last name)". But I trained and worked in a military type hospital, so we were a bit more rigid than most. I was 'Nurse Young' then and got teased about that... got called "Young Nurse Young" then "Older Nurse Young" etc...LOL.

I do go by my first name now as its the fashion. Sometimes i do wonder if it's a mistake that we have gotten too familiar.....maybe Nurse Jones (like Dr Jones) is a good thing. :)

Pet peeve is the patient/family who yells a generic "NURSE...come here"....after I've introduced myself more than once. :rolleyes:

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

:chuckle I hate that too, mattsmom! Nurse, nurse, nurse!!! PUL - LEEZZZZ! GIVE IT UP ALREADY! :rotfl:

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

"Do you think patients demote our status as caregivers because they call us by our first names like we're their newfound friend? "

Yes! Why else do you think docs always want to be introduced and addressed by their last names? I refer to myself by my last name and I address patients and co-workers by their last names. This is a formal, professional interaction, not one between friends.

I don't like the title "nurse" either, since it has so little status or respect, being used by everyone from the assistant-to-the-nursing assistant up to the director of nursing. Receptionists, ward clerks, housekeepers, candystripers, etc. are often called "nurse" by patients. (You don't hear these people being called "doctor" by mistake, do you?)

I usually use "RN" or "Registered Nurse," but we should be able to come up with something better, IMHO.

Specializes in MS Home Health.

I like RN.

renerian

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