Why do Nurse's wear there degree on there name badges?

Nurses General Nursing

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I have never had anyone give me a straight answear to this question, Why do nurses wear there degree on the badge uniforms? I see few other people in the hospital setting that do it except for nurses, why is this? Is it an ego thing? I would understand if you were qualified for various postions ie RN, EMT-P, RRT, but the whole concept of wearing your degree seems to have a I'm better than you attitude. Personnally myself being a military man I find the postion you hold carries more clout than your degree. I have seen ADN's as Supervisors and MSN's doing floor work. Does the degree vs the certification(CEN,CCN) make a difference? As a pre- hospital care worker when I go in the ER or up to a floor the only thing I ever notice is that the higher the degree the less likely that person is to assist you, not always but more often than not this is the case. I would welcome any feed back on this. Thanks Kev

nurs4kids! From your statement i would conclude that you are much more than a "pathetic" ADN RN. You sound quite good to me, and I think you are probably an excellent nurse as well. Thank you for understanding that we just want to show what we have worked so hard to accomplish :)

BrandyBSN (BSN in 9 months)

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My current employer just puts "Registered Nurse".

At first I was very upset about this...as I worked very hard "for all those extra letters" behind my name.........then, thinking as a patient, I realized that what the patient wants is an RN !

and the rest of the stuff just is confusing to them, often requiring lengthy explinations.

Now, at the bedside, I wear a big "RN" pin and save "all those extra letters" for correspondences, emails, resumes....and here! (just teasing!)

Haze RN, BSN, RNC, PIA, RCN, DW, MOHC, etc.

.

.

.

.

.

registered nurse

bachelors of science in nursing

pain in the ass

registered nurse, certified in my specialty

dear wife

mother of his children

etc!

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Specializes in Psych.

I spent alot of time and money getting a college degree. I get so offended when people ask me about "nursing school." It's demeaning. I politely inform them that I didn't go to 'nursing school', I went to college." It makes me sick when I think about the fact that alot of people don't even realize that colleges offer degrees in nursing.

I'm not a snob, I have a college education -- I didn't go to nursing school and I'm tired of being demeaned by other nurses because I chose to enter nursing through a university. If nothing more, nurses who wear "BSN" on their name tags are educating the public.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

Sounds like you have a problem with "nursing school".....hate to break it to you, but we all went to college, but to the general public, if you are a nurse, you went to nursing school. I would have to tell you to get over that little problem....I'm sure you get a lot of eye rolls at your response and I'm really sure your patients don't care.

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Specializes in Pediatric Rehabilitation.

Lol, chicgap..perhaps attitudes like yours is where this whole issue stems. Last time I checked, all nurses are required to attend college. Doctors are asked where they attended medical school. Do you think this offends them? I believe in order to sit for the nclex, one must have satisfied required curriculum from an accredited COLLEGE. I agree with nicugal that you probably get a lot of eye rolls and laughs. Then you leave the questioner thinking you have some feelings of inadequacy. A much more appropriate response would be, "I attended ___ University". This would provide the info requested AND let them know you went to COLLEGE. We're a little backward down south, but all of our colleges and university have subdepartments that ARE called "The School of Nursing", so in essence we DO go to nursing school@___ University.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

Well, actually, there are a few of us dinosaurs left out here who did NOT go to college! Like me, who went to a diploma School of Nursing. I don't seem to remember a problem getting into the room to take my "Boards" (2 full days of testing!). And I waited about 7 weeks for the results!

I think you should be able to have any and all initials you want, and have earned, placed on your name badge.

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There are so many good responses on this one. I am not allowed to have my BSN included on my badge where I work. I was disappointed because I worked hard for it and was proud of my accomplishment.

Personally, I think everyone should be allowed...for many of the same reasons that have been mentioned, like educating the public. I also think that no matter what degree (or diploma) we earn to become a nurse, we should be allowed to wear it because it represents the hard work, long nights of studying, sacrificed family time and social life which brought us to that point of improving our education.

Just my opinion! :D

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Originally posted by kellyray

I think that Fiestynurse hinted at a very important reason to wear your credentials on your nametag:

"Patients have a right to know who is taking care of them and what credentials this caregiver has. Since nurses don't have offices where their diplomas, degrees, or certifications can be displayed for patients to see (such as doctors who have their walls covered with this stuff) being able to display this on our name badges is important. "

The job descriptions and responsibilities between a staff RN who has received their education through a two, three or four year nursing program are the same. In the twenty years as an LPN, I've yet to be able to see the difference in nursing care based on education. I see no reason why a nurse would require more the RN on their name badge.

Last night, we sat at work looking at our state board of nursing news letter which containted recent board results from our state. The results showed the associate nurses programs had a higher percentage of students passing their state boards upon graduation then the nurses who had received a BSN. We currently have many new graduate nurses on the floor I work on and so far the only person that unfortunately did not pass her state boards was a nurse who received her BSN. I question what type of nursing program these private and state colleges have here since students pass the state boards in the eighty percent range while the community colleges are in the high ninties. I wonder what is lacking in their program that is reflecting in the board results.

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Originally posted by NicuGal

Sounds like you have a problem with "nursing school".....hate to break it to you, but we all went to college, but to the general public, if you are a nurse, you went to nursing school. I would have to tell you to get over that little problem....I'm sure you get a lot of eye rolls at your response and I'm really sure your patients don't care.

I totally agree with your message. Patients want a nurse who is able to give safe care and a college education is not a sure thing this will happen.

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Specializes in LDRP; Education.

And I guess my next question would be...

Why shouldn't nurses wear their credentials on their badges?

I've had patients who were shocked that ALL nurses didn't have a 4 year degree.

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Specializes in NICU.

Just a short comment here... 'nursing school'? I have never heard a doctor, when asked about his education, choose to say 'So-and-so University' rather than point out with pride that they went to 'MED SCHOOL'. If anything, those two phrases are in the SAME SENTENCE! (I.e., 'I attended Med School at Blabbityblah University...'). In fact, other professions use the same verbal shorthand; what about LAW school? I am very proud to be an almost graduate of NURSING; I would hope that my fellow almost-graduates feel the same way. I don't find that demeaning at all; in fact, I believe it would more likely be the person SPEAKING the words rather than the words themselves that would possibly bother me. In the end, it is the fact that we are ultimately nurses that should make us proud of ourselve and each other; how we got here makes little difference in the long run. :p

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Originally posted by Susy K

And I guess my next question would be...

Why shouldn't nurses wear their credentials on their badges?

It surprise that this is an issue with some nurses. I don't see the necessity of wearing your education on a name badge. Identifying the type of licensed nurse you are, or if you are a supervisor, should be sufficient. To me, all I've seen in messages here with the nurses who feel they should have BSN on their name badge, have a need to show how they've sacrafice to receive their degree. Is that really necessary and again the patient's priority is safe care which is achieved more through years of experience in nursing and not the number of years in the classroom.

I've had patients who were shocked that ALL nurses didn't have a 4 year degree.

What is your point? Did this patient feel that if a nurse did not have a four year degree, she was inadequate? I've worked in hospitals and a nursing home and I've seen many associate and diploma nurses who I would choose as a supervisor/team leader over a nurse who had a degree in nursing. Organizational skills are more important today in nursing and this is where I see a nurse suceed or fail in handling a patient assignment and supervising others.

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