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 :)
My Cna's occasionally ask the pain scale. We clearly have some problems with separating the role of nurse and cna at our facility and so maybe this not appropriate. but with that i don't mind , they aren't assessing pain they are collecting information for me.
I've heard that pain level should be considered "the fifth vital sign" - that might be why it would be part of a vital sign flow sheet.
This is actually how it was taught to us when we covered vital signs in class the other day (LVN)... but I don't know if it's being taught to CNAs that way.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
If a CNA told me a pt's pain was 8/10, I would just wind up reassessing the pt myself, since I'm the one who has to potentially medicate the pt. I mean, it doesn't hurt (pun intended), but it's not really all that helpful in the long run.
I'm currently a nursing student, and practice as a CNA at my job. I have never called myself "nurse," because I'm not. My name has "SN" at the end of it, not "RN" and I know that! Personally, I think it's terrible that people do this, and I have seen it done, not at a hospital mind you, but in private offices. I think it's hard enough for patients to differentiate between the CNAs, MAs, RNs, LPNs, Respiratory Techs, Physical Therapy, etc. that people allowing themselves to be called "nurse" when they aren't is going to make patients even more confused.
Today, I had an experience at my nursing clinical site. I was at the nurses station (not the inside, but using the counter as a writing space) when a patient's family member asked me, "Nurse, can you get the preacher that's on call." I promptly told her that I was a student and that I would ask the charge nurse to contact this person for her. She seemed stunned and asked me, "If you're not a nurse, who are you?" I answered honestly, "I'm a nursing student." She simply walked away.
Yes, sorry if I didn't mention LPNs, in my original post..I have just heard many RN related scuffs, in the field. LPNs are Nurses...RNs are Nurses...CRNAs are Nurses...NPs are Nurses (Advanced Pracititioners)...but outside of that...NOT A NURSE. I'm so glad people feel the way I do.
I know some members said that I shouldn't allow myself to be mad over it..and that it doesn't bother them. I truly wish I felt the same way. I guess my fuse is shorter....it just really gets under my skin for some reason. Does a person who takes a basic tax prep class get to call themselves a CPA? Does a Paralegal get to call themselves a lawyer? Does someone who finished a 10-month automotive degree, at a tech or vocational school, get to refer to themselves as a mechanical engineer...because that's what I seem to be seeing, here, in nursing.
I actually see a LOT of this through my Facebook friends. Most are going to school for MA or Respiratory Therapy..and passing it off as Nursing..or allowing people to ask them if they are nurses and saying "Yes". I'm so tempted to put something up on my status like..."Joanne is writing an Essay on the illegal use of the title of "Nurse". Scary to see how much it breaks the law...always be proud of what you do!"...or something along those lines. Is it immature? Yes, perhaps..but it would make me feel better. I'm positive I would burn a few friends. They may not say anything to my face..but they won't like it. 99% of the people on my list are just distance-peers anyway.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
How strange it is that students sign up for MA or RT school, and insist on calling it nursing school. Why not just get around that little dilemma and go to nursing school? Especially when you consider that RT school is not for the faint of heart itself!
Speaking as a Registered Respiratory Therapist for 18 years, I would never have even thought about calling myself a nurse. I worked too darn hard to get my respiratory degree and was too proud of it to hide that title from any patient. Most if not all respiratory therapists I know feel the same way. Never saw it or heard it.
She seemed stunned and asked me, "If you're not a nurse, who are you?" I answered honestly, "I'm a nursing student." She simply walked away.
She sounds obnoxious lol. When I was a student, we (my clinical groups) had similar things happen to us sometimes the family members walk away like the lady did with you & then you get the ones who say " oh student nurse I like students" and then they would talk anyways. The funniest ever was when I was doing my preceptorship when I was a senior student. Since we worked the full 12 hours shifts with a single preceptor some patients who were in for 3 days or so would get used to us and start acting like we were some mini me version of the real nurses we were precepting with. Try explaining that you can't IV push & they are insisting you already have & should do so again because they think the antibiotic you just hung with your preceptor 45 mins before is the same thing as an IV push. Miss Julie you may long for the days when they walk away
I once overheard a PSW student telling someone that she was studying to be a "Personal Support Nurse." I was a nursing student then, and it bothered me no end! I respect all that PSWs do, but they are notnurses.
People want to use titles because doing so connotates respect from others, but respect (and the title "Nurse") has to be earned.
Try explaining that you can't IV push & they are insisting you already have & should do so again because they think the antibiotic you just hung with your preceptor 45 mins before is the same thing as an IV push. Miss Julie you may long for the days when they walk away 
Lizzie21
204 Posts
You don't have to have RN after your title to be a nurse, you can also be an LPN who are wonderful nurses as well!