Ok folks, I'm just about ready to lose it and I know it's a little silly..or it may seem petty...but just take my feelings into consideration.
I am SICK to DEATH of SOME Medical Assistants, CNAs, and Respiratory Therapists (etc.) calling themselves NURSES, or allowing themselves to be called nurses...or saying that they are getting their "RN". Are you KIDDING ME?
Before I start, let me begin by saying that I respect ALL health care workers and think you should be proud of what you are doing, going to school for, and what your title is. However, I have LOW tolerance for people who break the law and throw around a professional title/license. It's beyond ignorant and I'm wondering how it can be stopped.
I would NEVER in a million years, call myself a Doctor...or a Nurse Practitioner..because I am NOT one. I did NOT go to school for it. I am a Registered Nurse and PROUD of it. If anyone calls me Doctor, or ANYTHING else, I quickly correct them with a sweet smile on my face.
Examples of what I have heard/seen/witnessed/etc.:
" Can I speak to the nurse?" Medical Assistant" Speaking, How can I help you?"
" So excited for my first day of school, we did injections!" says the medical assisting student..friend asks "OH, nursing program?!"...medical assistant student says "Yep, sure is!".
"Nurse Sarah, when do you finish school?". Sarah says, "In 2 months"...Sarah is in a RESPIRATORY therapy program.
My friend says to me," I went to school to become a nurse and finished, but I decided I prefer Social Work." I ask, "Really, so you're a nurse, where did you go?" Friend replies "Yes, CNA Tech Institute".(fake name) Uhm, that's a well known 6 month CNA school. SERIOUSLY?
"I actually teach the nurses on my unit everything. I know more than them and have more experience.", says the Medical Assistant after I ask them why they are referring to themselves as "Nurse".
I can't even go on to tell you how much more I have witnessed. MANY of this is coming from my friends. I'm going to be REALLY honest with you guys. I am just heated. I worked my BOTTOM off in nursing school. I applied to a program with 600 applicants in line (which is STANDARD) and was accepted into ONE of 20 seats. I killed myself not to be flunked out and passed with an average 3.5 GPA. It was four years of GRUELING work and I feel I have earned the right to refer to myself as a Registered Nurse. I'm very proud of it.
I feel like other health care workers are SERIOUSLY making a JOKE of the nursing field throwing around the title as though we are a dime a dozen. Why can't they be proud of what they do? EACH of those fields is JUST fine..but WHY are you breaking the law and calling yourself a Nurse?
Can you imagine what would happen if I called myself a Doctor? Sorry, but that's ignorant and pathetic. I would NEVER do it. If this thread offends you, then please don't reply. It shouldn't be offensive unless you are one of the few health care workers who live a lie and call yourself a nurse.
How do we address this and stop this? Medical Assistants are the BIGGEST group I have witnessed this by. I have a LOT of respect for them and envy their position. They ENJOY their jobs...but why do SOME (not ALL), throw MY nursing license value around like that by claiming they are a nurse?
What do you do when it's a friend doing this?
What do you do when it's a health care coworker?
I already know what I would do if I was going to a Doctor's office and they did this. That's easy. It's the friend part that is hard. I KNOW it's silly to be upset..but I have never seen so much ignorance. Why did I work hard if someone else can call themselves a nurse and only went to school for 6 months? What did I work for? Other than the obvious paycheck and passion?! ha :)
What about lpn's caliing themselves Rn? I know a lot that do but it doesn't make me angry. What makes me angry is when they try to justify doing it by saying"yeah but I know more than some rn's." Or "I do more work them theem,all they sit and do all day is paperwork."
I have worked in long term care and have heard some LPNs say that they know more than RNs but I have never heard the ones who even were rude about to call themselves an RN... thats ballsy. That I would report to the BON. When someone puts me down like that I say well you should get your RN then its well I can't. It took me a few years to get rude back but that stops it and most LPNs dont act that way to me and I am respectful of their knowledge and skill set as well.
Your dialog brought back memories. As I stated in an earlier post...I've never called myself a nurse & I corrected those that did. I do remember several pt's telling me their C/C, followed by asking, "So, what's wrong with me?" My response: "IDK. I'm not a Dr or a registered nurse; I'm just an MA & it's against the law to diagnose Pt's w/out a medical license."
Angelfire it is against the law for an RN to diagnose patients as well... we can assess and call the doc and give him ideas and parameters about things going like vitals ABG electrolytes and so on on but no dagnosing . I would lose my license pronto....
as long as they are not referring to themselves as RNs or LVNs, there is nothing wrong or illegal. nursing has been around long before it was recognized as a profession and regulated. mothers and grandmothers have been nursing their families without licenses for generations. as do some nurse mid-wives. much like THIS SITE is open to CNAs, MAs, PSNs, etc. it's something we are going to hear all the time in this profession & we just have to get over it.
I think it has to do with not wanting to be recognized as all the same because "I'm better than you". in the way that it makes a big deal to some BSNs to be distinguished from other nurses. to me, no big deal because I know what I am and how I got here and it is reflected in my pay and responsibility.
I have a friend who is a sono tech and travels for work. She calls herself a travel nurse all the time. The first time I heard her say that it caught me so off guard that I didn't say anything, but I really wish I would have. Now I feel like it's too late.
I understand how all of you feel. Now you all understand how doctors feel when nurse practitioners and physician assistants lead patients to believe that they are the doctors. I took my kids to see their pediatrician, and several times, they were seen by nurse practitioner. I know that she's a NP but other patients called her "doctor" and she never corrected them.
The same for 2 physician assistants I worked with. I think it's their responsibility to represent themselves as who they are. If patients address them incorrectly as "doctor", then they should let patients aware.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Ok, let me say this I am CNA and I am aware of my limitations as such. I for one would never claim a title that I am not entitled to have within my scope of practice. For with a title comes responsibilities and with responsibility comes liability any person with a brain would not jeopardize themselves by needing to resort to using a title that they have not earned. Personally speaking, when I consider my own educational goals I know just how foolhardy it would be for me to do so and I would not dare risk it.
Now let me say this, surely you could not think to start a thread such as this and not expect some backlash. I mean your anger and frustration are written all over my screen at the moment and to tell you the truth I find it very unbecoming indeed. I have not decided as of yet if I should be offended or not. As I said before that I do not do this, but I do not know what has annoyed me more if it is your holier than thou attitude or the fact that you have basically dared a person not to respond to you. You cannot say I respect these people and follow that up with the vitriol you have let loose on here. I understand that you have worked hard to be where you are and that you are proud of that, I can appreciate that but still...
Now you say the offending parties are your friends and some are your co workers? With the co workers it is a little iffy of course it is, but surely they teach leadership and how to deal with difficult situations at the University. As you have articulated yourself so well here, why not use such a resourceful gift to educate them and set them straight? As to your friends, why not speak to them with the truth? Be a good friend and let them know that the cons of using a title that they have not earned and let them no exactly what could happen to them if they continue to do so. You do not need to be a savior for everyone, but, since this subject is a bone of contention for you use all that education you worked so hard for in other words put it to good use and help them help themselves.
You wrote that nurses cannot call themselves doctor and you are wrong about that. There are many nurses who hold PhD and Doctorates tell me what do you call them? What would be their title then? The MD's are upset that these nurses who too have worked their butts off can now deign to share such a title with them. Which seems nonsensical to me because when you look into other professions people earn their PhD and are called doctor, so then it leaves me to conclude that it is about ego. It is about I put in this time and this person did not and so who are they to when if they would research they would see that nurses who earn their PhD's and DNP's are not trying to take anything from them, but just wish to be at the top of their field. So it is not even about the well being of patients any more, it all comes down to prestige and titles. How uplifting, it makes me want to go right out and be the best that I can be. I am working hard to become a member of this type of bureaucracy it makes me feel all warm and tingly inside...not. In times like these I have to remember why I love nursing so much and why I have decided against all to take this path.
Why are you considering becoming offended? The OP stated several times she was only referring to those people who say they're a nurse when they're not. The reason MDs or anyone else as far as I know have a problem with the PhD DNP issue is that almost all people think that saying, "Hi, I am Dr. DNP" means MD.
Holy moly. Good to know these battles are ahead of me. I think this is common in all professions. I am currently getting my CNA and believe me when I say it is not my first choice. From what the RN at the school told me, they are overworked and underpaid. (Sadly, as are a lot of people in the health care profession.) I became pregnant with my husband 4 years ago and had to drop pursuing my prereq's for nursing school. Meanwhile, my husband completed dental school and is now a first year resident as a new dentist. When we moved out here in August (Washington State), it suddenly dawned on him that NOW he wants to go even further and specialize in pediatric dentistry. Sadly, we are in debt over 300 thousand dollars for his schooling and will hit 500 before he finishes specializing. I guess my concern is that it seems almost as if CNA's are simply not respected and disregarded. I have a handful of friends who are CRNA and also RN's and the way they talk about the aides is REALLY beginning to stress me out!! Is this how I can expect to be treated or thought of once I start working? I feel as if this is the closest thing I can do to make money and help pay for this RIDICULOUS debt until it is finally my turn to start my career. Also, just for some input, I come into my husbands office quite a bit for lunch and often times hear the dental assistants say they are " same as hygienists", or "applying to dental school" when they have yet to take English 101 at the local community college..SOOOOOOO....again, I think it is quite common. Personally I truly admire both aides and RN's and hope that whereever I end up working, will learn from both of them. I have noticed that at the school the CNA training us is on a major power trip.....I don't think anyone has ever made me feel smaller. Ugh. This stress is eating me up.
Why are you considering becoming offended? The OP stated several times she was only referring to those people who say they're a nurse when they're not. The reason MDs or anyone else as far as I know have a problem with the PhD DNP issue is that almost all people think that saying, "Hi, I am Dr. DNP" means MD.
Maybe it could be that the rant rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it is as simple as that. Or then again maybe perhaps it is the fact that I have heard such arguments before and I can mentally record each time a nurse has tried to disrespect me by using their education and position to try to make me feel small. Or then again perhaps it is the idea of someone saying if you do not agree with me, don't post here unless you are like them. I am not like anyone else yet, I am part of the whole. I am a nurse, I am not and RN or an LVN, but I nurse and take care of sick people and help people every single day. This is what I have chosen to do with my life and I love everything that nursing is and represents. With saying that I must say this as well, it is challenge to mantain one's professional dignity and render the best care one can whilst dealing with such superfluous nonsense. This site is called Allnurses for Godsake, not the RN's den! That means to say every person who plays an active part in nursing has a voice. I do not hesitate to use mine when I deem it necessary and will always continue to do as long as I live and breathe.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Addeycakes and makingitright - no one should be disrespecting anyone else based on the silly "pecking order" argument, and I try never to do that. As I'm an LVN I'm sure there are a lot of people happy to hand me a ration of cr^p. I've learned not to let it get to me anymore. I don't think the nursing word in general is full of petty back-biting snakes who bicker day and night. This forum is not an accurate picture of all people working in the healthcare field. Like anything else, there are the good, the bad and the vast group who are a little of both or lean one way or the other.
Just vow that whatever you do in life, you remember where you came from and refuse to do it yourself. That's really the only way for a meaningful positive change. Be an example for how you would like to be treated. Don't be a doormat to anybody, but that stuff meant to get a rise out of you will backfire on the person doing it if you refuse to play the game.
I understand how all of you feel. Now you all understand how doctors feel when nurse practitioners and physician assistants lead patients to believe that they are the doctors. I took my kids to see their pediatrician, and several times, they were seen by nurse practitioner. I know that she's a NP but other patients called her "doctor" and she never corrected them.
The same for 2 physician assistants I worked with. I think it's their responsibility to represent themselves as who they are. If patients address them incorrectly as "doctor", then they should let patients aware.
I hate to tell you but MDs have been some of the worst offenders, long before there were PA/NPs. Visit the majority and ask for a nurse and at least half the time, they will refer to an MA or, occasionally a receptionist as their "Office Nurse".
Addeycakes and makingitright - no one should be disrespecting anyone else based on the silly "pecking order" argument, and I try never to do that. As I'm an LVN I'm sure there are a lot of people happy to hand me a ration of cr^p. I've learned not to let it get to me anymore. I don't think the nursing word in general is full of petty back-biting snakes who bicker day and night. This forum is not an accurate picture of all people working in the healthcare field. Like anything else, there are the good, the bad and the vast group who are a little of both or lean one way or the other.
Just vow that whatever you do in life, you remember where you came from and refuse to do it yourself. That's really the only way for a meaningful positive change. Be an example for how you would like to be treated. Don't be a doormat to anybody, but that stuff meant to get a rise out of you will backfire on the person doing it if you refuse to play the game.
Your post made me feel good and made me smile. I will take your advice I can promise you that. Thank you so much for your wise words. If I am honest can I tell you that I feel to hug you right now.
Psychtrish39, BSN, RN
290 Posts
I have worked in long term care and have heard some LPNs say that they know more than RNs but I have never heard the ones who even were rude about to call themselves an RN... thats ballsy. That I would report to the BON. When someone puts me down like that I say well you should get your RN then its well I can't. It took me a few years to get rude back but that stops it and most LPNs dont act that way to me and I am respectful of their knowledge and skill set as well.