Attn Clinic/Doctors office nurses!

[Elleveein]

I've seen this topic before but it's come up again at my clinic/urgent care, sorry in advance if you've heard this a million times. Do you call medical assistants nurses at your clinic? Would you care if a pt or the doc called them nurses? How would you handle it?

I'm the only nurse at my job yet all of us, myself and six MAs are referred to as "nurse" by the pts and the doctors. Ugh! I'm so over it! Is it really that big of a deal? Should i just let it go? I live in Cali where the word "nurse" is to only be used for RNs,LVNs and graduate nurses but theses doctors in private practice don't giva a poo about the law.....

[Ashley02]

I work with MAs in my clinics and I am the RN. I'm in Indiana so it may be a regional thing, but no one refers to them as nurses and they certainly do not refer to themselves as nurses. In fact, if a patient calls them a nurse, they will said "I'm the MA; Ashley is the nurse."

[Becca_Anne]

I just corrected one of our medical providers today (she is very new to our practice) when she referred to the MA's as the nurses. I gently asked her if she could remember to call them Medical Assistants as I had worked very hard for my title and felt it was dangerous for patients to assume that they were nurses if they were to overhear her. She agreed that I had a point. Since I am the only floor RN in our clinic and even the front desk staff wear scrubs I really felt it was important to impress upon her that it wasn't a good idea to treat the term casually. None of my MA's would misrepresent themselves, they always say they are an MA if a patient says nurse. I feel it is worth speaking up even if it might seem petty to some.

[hayest]

Congratulations! I'm glad you corrected the provider and it's nice to read that your MA's do not misrepresent themselves. In our area, they all misrepresent themselves and the doctors go along with it. I had a new appointment with an OBGYN's office a few months ago. I noticed it at the time they kept saying "give that to the nurse or the nurse will take it". Only to find out they were not nurses, but medical assistants. I had to call back for something and again the receptionist said "nurse". I said "I'm sorry to say, but they are not nurses, they are medical assistants and it's against the law to call them a nurse. Only RN's can have the title of nurse. She first said "it's just easier to say nurse". I responded "but that's not what they are and you are misleading the patients. It's a misdemeanor and felony. The state can fine them and shut the office down. She then said "well I happen to know Lori is a nurse". I said "no she isn't, I;ve known her for years and I thought she was a nurse, but she is a medical assistant as I asked her the day I was there." That shut the woman up... but she still refers to them as nurses. Hmmmmm.. the state board of nursing just might hear about this office.

[TriciaJ, RN]

I've tried to educate them SEVERAL times yet still I hear them say "This is Dr. doe's nurse" or the doctor will tell the pt "wait for my nurse".My favorite of all is "Good Morning nurses", I'm working on getting passed it. I guess its petty and silly to keep complaining when there's nothing i can do.

You are not being petty and silly. They are breaking the law. Why not refer to the MAs as "doctors"? After all, they have "medical" in their title. See if the doctors mind their title being illegally usurped.

Next time someone says "Good morning nurses!" you can pipe up and say "Aren't you going to say good morning to the MAs, too?" I would not let it go. I might even drop a dime to the BON.