Do you call your teachers by their 1st names?

[noyesno]

We do.

A nurse at clinical thought this was very strange and would not refer to my teacher by her first name.

What do you call your teachers?

[JustMe]

As clinical instructor I prefer students use my first name--calling me "Mrs. Soandso" sounds very foreign to me. However, the college wants students to call their instructors "Mr/Mrs/Ms Soandso." So I do what the college wants--they pay my salary.

Just my

[kenni]

I find it kind of odd to call an instructor by their first name. even when I was taking courses for another major I only called professors by their first names if they requested it. IDK it's a certain level of respect.

[BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN]

I recently changed jobs, and went from "Ms." to "Professor". I much prefer the latter. In my first semester teaching, I thought I wanted my students to call me by my first name. After reconsideration, it just didn't feel right.

I think Professor sounds much more Professional (no pun intended :) ). Mrs. Sounds like a school teacher, or what my kids' friends call me. I was told (at my previous job) that since our title was not "Professor" we should not be referred to as such. Now, I am a professor :)

[MissJulie]

Our instructors introduced themselves to us by their first names, but refer to each other as Ms./Mrs./etc. Sure, during conversation between each other, we students call them by first name. However, the funny thing is, at clinials, we call the nurses by their first name! It's very confusing, I know, but it is what it is, as they say!

However, I say, when in doubt, Mr./Mrs./Ms. or Sir, etc. is always correct!

And, as far as Prof. Such-and-such, at our college, only people who have their PhD. are referred to as professors, others are Mr. or Mrs/Ms. That's the same in every department.

[shortnorthstudent]

Our first day of class I addressed one of our professors by her title, last name and she corrected me and asked that I call her by her first name.

I am only a week in and each of our professors this term has indicated that they prefer to be addressed by their first name. That may change in the future, but we actually encounter most of our nursing staff in first term.

I do think that it blurs the line between professor and student a bit. But, I also think that some of that is a bit intentional. So far, they seem to come across with a desire to make us feel like we are all in this together, less of a professorial (I know it and I'm going to impart some of my knowledge to you) and more of a mentoring (you don't know this yet, so I'm going to guide you to your goal of becoming like me).

[nursedora]

Here is another anecdote from my past that may help put things in perspective for when students are out in the real world...

When I first started in nursing, I worked in a small rural Apalachia hospital, one of the Dr.s was a neighbor of mine, my family and his would "neighbor" have cook outs, visit, borrow a cup of sugar, that sort of thing. So, we were on first name basis. During my first couple weeks of being employed at this small, but very proffessional, hospital, I was walking down the hall and Dr.H was coming toward me, I said, with a cherry voice: "Good morning Jimmy!" and was immediatly snatched by the nape of my neck and brought to the nurses station for counceling by the Nurse Supervisor, who told me that "no matter how personal you know any of the Dr's you WILL refer to them by their title and last name." Then was told to get back to work.

So, giving your instructors that same respect in school gives you the habit of giving that same respect toward the Dr's and other professionals when you go out into the work force.

I know today, even the Dr's are more casual, prefering to be called by a pet name or their first name. My being an "old fart" I'd kind of like to see some of the old fashioned habits come back, starting with how you refer to your instructors, co-workers, Dr's, etc. I don't care what hospital administrators try to do, as in making hospitals more like a resort, or such, but if we start using basic titles toward each other, dress more professionaly, we may end up with smoother running units. I'd be curious to know what the patients opinion is, especialy the older folks who remember when Dr's wore a suit and tie, with a white lab/overcoat, Nurses wore white uniform and their cap, And when we talked to the Dr. it was "Dr. Jones..." Or to a co-worker nurse, it was "Nurse Jones..." Housekeepers/janitors were "Mr/Mrs. Jones" And the casual first name references was reserved for at home if neighbors, or outside of the clinical setting.

[CuriousMe]

But it wasn't that hospitals or health care were specifically more formal back then.....the whole country was more formal back then. In every industry, colleagues would call each other a title (Dr., Mr., Mrs., Miss, etc) and then the last name. That was more about the times then it was about the culture of health care.

That just isn't done in many areas any more. It's not done in business, it's not done in school's and it's not done in hospitals.

That being said, I call by title and last name until I'm invited to do otherwise.....but I've never not immediately been asked to use their first names. I can't see how going back to the use of titles (and the hierarchy they imply) will do anything to make units run smoother.

I stand by my assertion that as adults, we all know how to speak respectfully with others without resorting to the use of honorifics.

Here is another anecdote from my past that may help put things in perspective for when students are out in the real world...

When I first started in nursing, I worked in a small rural Apalachia hospital, one of the Dr.s was a neighbor of mine, my family and his would "neighbor" have cook outs, visit, borrow a cup of sugar, that sort of thing. So, we were on first name basis. During my first couple weeks of being employed at this small, but very proffessional, hospital, I was walking down the hall and Dr.H was coming toward me, I said, with a cherry voice: "Good morning Jimmy!" and was immediatly snatched by the nape of my neck and brought to the nurses station for counceling by the Nurse Supervisor, who told me that "no matter how personal you know any of the Dr's you WILL refer to them by their title and last name." Then was told to get back to work.

So, giving your instructors that same respect in school gives you the habit of giving that same respect toward the Dr's and other professionals when you go out into the work force.

I know today, even the Dr's are more casual, prefering to be called by a pet name or their first name. My being an "old fart" I'd kind of like to see some of the old fashioned habits come back, starting with how you refer to your instructors, co-workers, Dr's, etc. I don't care what hospital administrators try to do, as in making hospitals more like a resort, or such, but if we start using basic titles toward each other, dress more professionaly, we may end up with smoother running units. I'd be curious to know what the patients opinion is, especialy the older folks who remember when Dr's wore a suit and tie, with a white lab/overcoat, Nurses wore white uniform and their cap, And when we talked to the Dr. it was "Dr. Jones..." Or to a co-worker nurse, it was "Nurse Jones..." Housekeepers/janitors were "Mr/Mrs. Jones" And the casual first name references was reserved for at home if neighbors, or outside of the clinical setting.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Here is a twist, how do the professors address you?

[CuriousMe]

Here is a twist, how do the professors address you?

My first name.

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

We call of our instructors by their first names, but now they are requesting incoming freshman to call them by their last names! LOL -- it's very confusing. We have been grandfathered in, I guess, with the first name basis. According to one of our instructors.... it feels very odd calling them Mrs.LastName when we will be their coworkers in a matter of months.

[TerpGal02, ASN]

We use first names with all of our instructors as well. They introduced themselves by first name and ask that we address them as such.

[nursedora]

Maybe, loosing this simple bit of formality, is part of the crux of the downfall of the US society as a whole. Look at countries that are surpassing the US, what do they do differently? What I can see is, they have the gentile politeness we've opted for casual. They wear for men, suit and tie, women, conservative business attire, we wear whatever. It's all about image, and how we refer to people, if even the lowest staff on the totem pole were to be refered to with a title, it makes a big difference in the morale, makes everyone feel important rather than "just..." What if we were to turn the clock back, and go back to a more formal time? They say history repeats itself, so rather than repeating the ills of history, why can't we make a consious effort to repeat history that was possitive? Why not make things, even the simplest of things, a special or formal occasion?

I can remember as a child, I was raised in an average home, Father was a blue collar worker, a forman at a gravel pit, Mother self employed as a cosmotologist, yet, we did things that are unheard of today, we "dressed" for diner, And the table was set formal, with the "good" china, and linen table cloth and napkins for the evening meal. It was the norm, for every day. I remember asking my parents why we had to be so formal, and was told that one never know's what the future holds and "...you may one day be invited to a high formal function..." What was done in the home was training for what we may encounter in later life.

Children were raised with manners, to keep silent till spoken to, and yes, we were still allowed to express ourselves, just weren't allowed to "but in" on conversations. Adult friends of the family were "Aunt" and "Uncle" and teachers, college professors, Dr's, Nurses, had title. Everyday social when speaking to folks, such as the grocery store clerk was "sir" or "ma'am" It's the little things that make a big difference. I know this is a bit off subject, but what environment we are raised in determines, for the most part, how we act in our professional life. And something as simple as refering to collegues and professors by title is a form of order, order makes for a smoother runing environment. By the same token, if we are to reform and call professors by their title, then students should be refered to by title as well, it's a two way street. And on that, when I was in college, I was refered to as "Miss M..." by my professors. And, back then, it was the norm that students refer to class mates as "Mr." or "Miss" and last name.