I was raised that you should NEVER call a person who is older than you by his or her first name unless that person says otherwise. It's something that even now, at the age of 40, I still maintain and make sure my children do as well. That was also something that we were taught in nursing school.
I work in a medical clinic and the staff there regularly calls all patients by their first names regardless of age. I cannot bring myself to do that. It goes against everything that I have been taught. When I was in the hospital for surgery 2 years ago roughly 3/4 of the nurses I met called me Laura instead of Mrs. "Sc".
Now tell me, is calling patients by their first names now the norm? As I get to know my patients at work, I will usually switch to first names if they are around my age or younger, but the elderly are still Mr and Mrs. For me it's a matter of respect.
I try to call them Mr., or Mrs., but in the facility where I work is small, 65 residents, with the majority having dementia/ alzheimers, they like to be called by their first name. I really dislilke when people are called Honey, sweety and so forth. The residents call me by my first name nd seem to like the familiality(?), of the situation.
Specializes in CCU (Coronary Care); Clinical Research.
It is interesting for me to read this, my first inclination is to call people by their first name. If I went with calling everyone older by their last names I would never call anyone by their first name in the population that I work with! I wonder if it has to do with my age (24?), I certainly feel that there is possibly a generational difference. Has anyone else noticed this? Because of all of the answers that have been posted and more, the first thing I do when meeting my patient is introduce myself (first name only). Next I look at their name band and ask what they would like to be called during their stay, I have found that some people (like myself) don't even go by the name on their nameband. This way I don't offend anyone. I have never had anyone say they would like to be called by their last name.
I also work part time in a clinic. Because of HIPPA, we have gone from calling the patient out by their last name when the doctor is ready for them to only using their first name. Less identifying I guess.
chipper
13 Posts
I try to call them Mr., or Mrs., but in the facility where I work is small, 65 residents, with the majority having dementia/ alzheimers, they like to be called by their first name. I really dislilke when people are called Honey, sweety and so forth. The residents call me by my first name nd seem to like the familiality(?), of the situation.