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 :)
If you go and earn a PhD in Nursing then you have every right to call yourself a doctor because you would actually have a doctoral degree, and therefore have reached the pinnacle of your profession. In that case you would have more right to call yourself doctor than most medical practitioners do, remember medicine is only a bachelors degree.
That is frustrating. If MA's wanted to be nurses they should have went to a 12 month LPN program instead of a 9 month MA program. I personally have no problem with MA's but their schooling and licensing needs to be regulated... it seems like any John Doe can walk out of a technical school and call themselves an MA. Then again- maybe it's good they aren't regulated, could hurt nursing in regards to jobs in Dr's offices? Hum.
Cathy Foley, LPN
The MA program where I teach is an Associate Degree program. Medical assistant is just a name for a job--like "cashier." It could apply to anyone in the clinic such as the receptionist or biller (MA's are trained to do front office skills as well). MAs can take a certification test but they are not licensed because they work under the license of a doctor.
A different perspective... I know some physicians that are irritated that PhD prepared nurses are referred to as Dr. Smith.
But If you have a doctorate..... You are no longer "Mr." or "Mrs.". I could have my doctorate in history and be called Dr. Cathy Foley. It doesn't make me a medical doctor, just a doctor of history... so I don't think that makes any sense.
If I walk into a patients room and say "I'm Dr. Cathy Foley" I am not misrepresenting myself. I am not saying I am their Physician. I am telling them my degree earned name.
MA's didn't earn a RN or LPN. So they are FULLY misrepresenting themselves if they say they are a nurse. And it's probably illegal to claim a license you don't have.
The MA program where I teach is an Associate Degree program. Medical assistant is just a name for a job--like "cashier." It could apply to anyone in the clinic such as the receptionist or biller (MA's are trained to do front office skills as well). MAs can take a certification test but they are not licensed because they work under the license of a doctor.
Oh, okay. Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't 100% sure on what MA's did/who they worked under/etc. :) The majority of schools in my area offer 9 month MA programs, not Associate Degrees. Seems like an Associates would be more valuable!
A lady I met at a function mentioned that she was a nurse. I was happy to hear that, because I am doing prereqs for an RN program now. I had so many questions! I asked what kind of nurse, where she worked, and I even managed a few other questions, without taking a breath. Then she informed me at that she was a CNA.
Well heck, nurse shmurse, I have more units than whe does in medically related subjects. Does that make me a higher ranking nurse than her?
As a cna who has witnessed pcw's do this I can kinda sympathize with you on this one. I have one that works with me and signs his charting Joe Sixpack-cna, when I asked him about where he went to school for his cna he promptly told me XYZ school but never took the certification test. To which I just looked at him funny. I think he got the point tho because now he no longer signs his charting with the cna after his name but rather the appropiate pcw. I have fam who are actuall nurses and have seen how hard they busted their hump to earn that title and would never even consider throwing around that I'm a "nurse" and it irks me as well when I see/hear my fellow cna's doing so
You know what else is frustrating? Always being CALLED a nurse and repeating over and over again no I'm not! lol
I am in nursing school and currently a CNA and in the hospital a lot of patients call me a nurse.. or they are on the phone and ' the nurse is here'
There are some confused patients who will keep calling you a nurse I will correct them so many times though and just ...not ignore them but the fact they are calling me a nurse
I understand where you are coming from though! I would definitley be frustrated if I were you
The MA program where I teach is an Associate Degree program. Medical assistant is just a name for a job--like "cashier." It could apply to anyone in the clinic such as the receptionist or biller (MA's are trained to do front office skills as well). MAs can take a certification test but they are not licensed because they work under the license of a doctor.
LPN's and RN's in a clinic setting also work under the MD, so it doesn't matter in that aspect. Don't call yourself a nurse if you aren't one. But I think in the clinic setting it is easier to say "nurse" rather than "medical assistant" to make people feel more comfortable that they are cared for by a professional.
I agree. I don't believe it is any different in any state. You are not a nurse until you hold a license. A pin is like a pre-engagement ring. Almost but not quite. I became a type of nurse the first day of nursing school...a STUDENT nurse, and sign every chart SN as I am required to do. My name goes up on the white board in my patients room and I put it below the line that says nursing assistant. I usually just write student. But it goes to the bottom of the food chain. When someone refers to me as a nurse whether it be a patient or their families or even my kids talking to their friends I quickly interject that I am not a nurse, I'm a student nurse. A spade is a spade so call it what it is.
I am a CMA and I am finishing up pre-reqs for nursing school. I went to an accredited school to become one and took my exams to become certified. I don't tell my pts that I am a nurse but our older pt's don't know the difference. When they call and ask for Dr. so and so's nurse, the staff up front gives them to the doctors MA. Also, if the MA went to an accredited school, they would know the difference in ranges with tests. Although, we aren't LPN or RN's we are still provide care to our pt's, the care we were trained to give. We are very proud of our position. We are trained to work in doctors office, that is our place. Just my
BlessedMomRN
27 Posts
A different perspective... I know some physicians that are irritated that PhD prepared nurses are referred to as Dr. Smith.