Does this *really* bother any other nursing students??

[Italia23]

so, i don't want to sound catty at all. (great way to start a thread lol) anyways, does it bother anyone else when people who are not nurses call themselves a nurse? now i am not talking about when for example a cna is caring for a dementia pt. really they aren't going to say no i am not a nurse i am a cna and then the pt will ask what that is and maybe it will confuse them and that's not good for the pt. i get that! 100% what i don't get is how other people will tell fully functioning people that they are a nurse when they aren't. they aren't even a student nurse. they are an assistant of some sort. i just feel like that isn't right. i am an lpn/lvn student. i would never try and get someone to think i was an rn student you kno? nursing to me is not just a career it's a total lifestyle. i have given up so much to be an lpn student and i am very proud of my chosen path and find no need to represent myself as anything other than what i am. i don't know why people feel the need to pretend to be a nurse? is it just me? i have friends who are ma's and cna's and we will be out to dinner or shopping or whatever and they will tell people they are nurses. im like what?!?! i feel like nurses work very hard to earn the title! and the title "nurse" is protected in my state so it is illegal to say your a nurse if your not. but i am not going to call the bon you kno?!!? how does everyone else feel about this???? i just feel like people should be proud of whatever they are! there is nothing, nothing wrong with being an assistant! what would healthcare be without them?! so i think they should just be proud of who they are. period!

[OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN]

I am a CMA and people call me a nurse all the time. I let the pt. know I am not a nurse because I am proud of my title and spent two years getting it (none of the 2 years were pre-req's all major course classes).

I will hopefully be going to nursing school for my RN this year. I cannot predict the future so my mind might change, but I don't think I will ever be offended for people calling themselves nurses when they aren't. This is because I, and a lot of other people, think of nurse as a general term (nurse=someone who provides care or assists a MD).

The part that would make me mad is if they were calling themsevels RN, LPN, CMA whatever else and were not. I am a Certified MA not a MA, and when I hopefully graduate nursing school I will be a Registered Nurse not just a nurse. To me that is what makes the difference.

I also wanted to add that I NEVER assume that the person in a MD's office or hospital is a nurse or what type of nurse they are. If I want to know their title I ask but it is usually printed on their name badge if they have one.

I think what you said about nurse=someone who provides care or assists an MD is why it is so annoying because thats a misconception, at least you have to pretend to believe that in Nursing School..One of our first projects was what it means to and what it is to be a nurse and what misconception about our profession is out there.

[cgravier]

I know a PA who calls himself Doctor and has DR on his name tag. But Nurse Practitioners refer to themselves as Mr or Mrs even when they are physicians just as PAs are.

weird how all that works.

[grownuprosie]

I work in a clinic with a lot of MA's and i had an experience lately that made me think about this topic. A man came in that was an RN. My coworker said to him, "Dr. ______'s nurse will be out to get you soon". The man then went on a rampage about how she was a MA and did not earn the title and he was going to sue our office because we commited a felony by calling her one. when she came out to get him he told her, "I know you are not a nurse, you know you are not a nurse so stop pretending to be one". really scary situation actually.

Moral of the story: Going rabid over someone being called a nurse is a bit rediculous. I do see the frustration though. Everyone knows their position when the paychecks come out. If(when) i were(am) a RN, i dont think i would stress too much about it knowing that i was being compensated for being a nurse and they, as an MA. feel free to disagree.

[rocket surgery]

IMHO, and from a patient's perspective at least, a "nurse" is anyone who is caring for them and who is not the doctor. RN, LVN, LPN - unless you're in the medical field, those abbreviations can be meaningless and confusing. So while I agree that someone who is an LVN/LPN should never misrepresent themselves as an RN, being called a nurse or calling yourself a nurse is okay by me. After all, they all have the word "nurse" in their title. FWIW, I'm a BSN student starting this Fall.

[Italia23]

well i have been thinking about this a lot since i posted the question and i think that i am so bothered by it is because i feel like when my friends who are ma's or cna's lie to other people and say they are nurses i feel like they are saying it to put the person they are talking to down. almost like rubbing it in. let's face it. being a nurse is a huge accomplishment! nurses are very well respected. maybe it is their own insecurities that cause them to lie?! i don't know! i just think it is a little bit odd to call yourself a nurse when you aren't one. i feel like it would be like me saying i am in rn school when i am in lpn/lvn school. i just don't think it is nice to intentionally lie like that. and trust me they do it on purpose! yuck!

[DarkBluePhoenix]

I cant stand it either!

[2ndyearstudent, CNA]

Yes, that really bothers a lot of people, including the ANA and many others.