Do you call your teachers by their 1st names?

CoffeemateCNA · Sep 21, 2010

All of my teachers have always insisted on being called by their first names. It makes me uncomfortable, and I feel I am disrespecting my instructors when I talk to them so informally, yet they (the instructors) have told me it makes them feel old when they are called Professor, Doctor, Mr., Ms., etc. I put the best of both worlds together and call my teachers Mr./Mrs. (First Name Here).

sandyfeet · Sep 21, 2010

By their first names, and it feels a little weird. I was not raised to call elders by their first name because it would be disrespectful.

However, in pre-reqs there was a professor we were all afraid of because her class was so hard, and it was a show of extreme confidence to call her by her first name! Otherwise she was Dr. X. She answered to either, which made it even more intimidating: were you going to be respectful and call her Dr or try to be familiar and call her by her first name, knowing she could make the final decision on your grade/GPA/chance of getting into nursing school?!?

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Sep 21, 2010

By first name except for the dean.
I still always use sir or ma'am though when being addressed by them.

I adored my sons football coach. If he or any of the other coaches caught the boys not using sir or ma'am when talking with adults, they would have to drop right there and do push ups!!

He was very big on respect. It was great! The boys also had to dress in dress shirt and ties and slacks on game days.

noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP · Sep 21, 2010

The first day of class, our instructors always introduce themselves with the name they like to be called. We don't have to guess, which is nice. If we were left to guess, I would just ask their preference.

I should add, the instructors with doctorate degrees usually introduce themselves as Dr. So-and-so, so, these are the only instructors we don't call by their first name.

Thanks for the replies! :)

Mandychelle79, ASN, RN · Sep 22, 2010

We call the teachers Mr/Mrs Dr. Even if we work with them in the real world. So the woman I call "Sue" at work I will call Mrs. Last name.

There is one clinical instructor that I know of that has his students call him by his first name. I work with him too in the real world, and know why he does it.

Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN · Sep 22, 2010

The first day of class, our instructors always introduce themselves with the name they like to be called. We don't have to guess, which is nice. If we were left to guess, I would just ask their preference.
I should add, the instructors with doctorate degrees usually introduce themselves as Dr. So-and-so, so, these are the only instructors we don't call by their first name.
Thanks for the replies! :)

Most of my instructors so far have had a PhD or DNP, so that usually solves the problem. I address them as Dr. Their Name.

mkblakley07 · Sep 22, 2010

We call instructors by their title and last names. As a matter of fact, our instructors this semester made a point to make sure that we did NOT call them by their first names. I've only had one instructor who has asked me to call her by her first name and that took some getting used to... It seems kind of disrespectful for me to address an instructor on a first name basis, but that's how I was raised.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Sep 22, 2010

We call instructors by their title and last names. As a matter of fact, our instructors this semester made a point to make sure that we did NOT call them by their first names. I've only had one instructor who has asked me to call her by her first name and that took some getting used to... It seems kind of disrespectful for me to address an instructor on a first name basis, but that's how I was raised.

That's the same how I was raised, that's why I had such a hard time with it too. At the same point I don't want to be disrespectful by calling them something they don't want to be called. I wish they just insisted on the last names too.

allnurses Guide · Sep 22, 2010

I too grew up never calling an adult or (now) elder by thier first name. My Scouts always called me Mrs. B, which to me was teaching manners and respect. My kids followed our church's culture by saying Miss or Mr. First Name, to our friends, and Mrs/Mr. Last name to the rest. (Since dad was the pastor, we didn't have to worry about that one!) :lol2:

I teach in a community college, very small town atmosphere, where first names are used by all levels. I might have preferred Mrs., but as I point out in our lecture on cultural awareness, you go with the culture you are in. I instruct them to always ask pts how to address them, (we have a rather conservative elder population here). In India, nurses are Sister Name, and nursing teachers are Name Ma'am; that was fun!

I would be uncomfortable being call Professor though, as my title is section instructor (being adjunct faculty), where some of my colleagues are titled Associate Professor (staff). I have a Masters, not a PhD. "Professor" can be used by anyone teaching at the college level, but still.

What bugs me is the school has changed to using Firstname.Lastname for all of our emails, and I now get people using my full first name which I abandoned back in the 70s (except for my mother); rather than the shortened version. :mad: I correct them but I'm getting tired of it.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Sep 22, 2010

I too grew up never calling an adult or (now) elder by thier first name. My Scouts always called me Mrs. B, which to me was teaching manners and respect. My kids followed our church's culture by saying Miss or Mr. First Name, to our friends, and Mrs/Mr. Last name to the rest. (Since dad was the pastor, we didn't have to worry about that one!)
I teach in a community college, very small town atmosphere, where first names are used by all levels. I might have preferred Mrs., but as I point out in our lecture on cultural awareness, you go with the culture you are in. I instruct them to always ask pts how to address them, (we have a rather conservative elder population here). In India, nurses are Sister Name, and nursing teachers are Name Ma'am; that was fun!
I would be uncomfortable being call Professor though, as my title is section instructor (being adjunct faculty), where some of my colleagues are titled Associate Professor (staff). I have a Masters, not a PhD. "Professor" can be used by anyone teaching at the college level, but still.
What bugs me is the school has changed to using Firstname.Lastname for all of our emails, and I now get people using my full first name which I abandoned back in the 70s (except for my mother); rather than the shortened version. I correct them but I'm getting tired of it.

I have the opposite problem. I have a name that almost always is used by a shortened version. (at lest majority of the time I have ever seen it used). No matter how many times I say I want to go by the full version, everyone calls me the other one. Even people that have never met me or known me by anything else. They will flat out say, do you go by XXXXXXXX or XXXX and I will tell them and they will than use the shorter one. :| I hate it. I don't know why my parents bothered to name me this pretty name if it was always going to be butchered. :confused:

Nicole Anderson · Sep 22, 2010

My school puts a strong emphasis on professionalism and we call all our instructors Prof. last name. They also made sure to mention that fraternization with college faculty is a big no-no, so no facebook friending the teachers.

starmickey03, MSN, RN · Sep 22, 2010

My school puts a strong emphasis on professionalism and we call all our instructors Prof. last name. They also made sure to mention that fraternization with college faculty is a big no-no, so no facebook friending the teachers.

LOL...Why would anyone want to do that anyway? That seems way beyond the student-teacher boundary to me, but Im sure there are those that do it. I even refuse to friend my momma on facebook, all of her requests get "ignored".

But on another note, it seems that how students address their instructors can have a lot to do with the intimacy of the institution. I got my BS from one of the Big 10 universities and all of my classes had at least 200+ people in them so there was no intimate relationship with the teachers and students. Actually I cant think of one time where I actually even spoke to one of my instructors there. On the other hand nursing programs are usually really small making them more personable giving them an intimate feel where students and teachers can interact on a more one on one or personal level, thus the first name basis.