Nobody gets my credentials right

[haitwun]

Introduce myself as nurse practitioner to all my patients and I have never called myself doctor. Yet, people throw the doctor title on my name.

From medication refill requests, medication bottles patients bring in, lab results and imaging reports...they all give my name as Dr "my real name here" MD. My prescriptions and all my documentation clearly states NP.

I've been out of school for a year now and I've noticed this occurs quite frequently. This is not a question, more of a rant.

[dianah, ASN]

How frustrating!

I suppose all you can do is remind people, over and over!

A belated congrats getting your NP, and I hope it is as fulfilling a position as you had hoped. :)

[Oldmahubbard]

I have been an NP for some 15 years, and it still happens all the time. All the time.

I usually introduce myself by my first and last name, and title, with which I am very comfortable. Depending on context.

Some people still refer to me as Doctor. Depending on context, sometimes I correct, sometimes I let it go.

Most people are able to grasp the nature of the role. Some people, by reason of intellectual disability or psychosis, are not.

I don't push it, either way.

A few people express the idea that they don't want to see both me, and Dr So and So, who is a psychologist.

I let them know we work closely together, but I have a license to prescribe and he does not.

[DizzyJ DHSc PA-C]

All lot of this is just the labeling programs lab/pharmacy/etc use. One Dr. ________ space is listed and they don't have an option to change the title in the computer system. One would think they could have changed this by now. You have zero worries of other's mistakes when your orders/RXs have proper labeling.

[emsguy, MSN, APRN, NP]

It happens all the time in my clinic. Even when I was an RN. Since I'm a male in scrubs and a stethoscope. I do the same thing, introduce myself as so and so Nurse Practitioner, and add "you can call me by my first name or nurse". Invariably, I am called doctor. I sometimes correct but only once, as it can be futile at times.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Happens to ALL of us. Introduce yourself once and let it go.

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

Interestingly, female doctors seem to complain a lot about being called "nurse," judging from sites like KevinMD. Since becoming an NP, I've only been called nurse twice.