NP's calling themselves MD's

[shelly304]

Does anyone else get as peeved as I do when nurse practitioners and/or physicians assistants call themselves doctors? Several of the NP's and PA's in the ER clinic where I work do this and it makes me grit my teeth each time I hear this. All the pts. call them "Dr." because that is how they represent themselves to the public. Am I being overly sensitive? I would never represent myself as an RN because I AM NOT ONE! After a really, long, crappy day, I was reprimanded by a pt. because I refered to the NP as Miss Smith and not Dr. Smith! The pt. actually told me I was being disrespectful by not saying "Dr. Smith" when speaking of her! And once again I explained to a pt., Miss Smith is not an MD. Then I get the "deer in the headlights" look from the pt. when I try to explain nurse practitioner. I know in the grand scheme of things this probably falls far but ..... Any advice or comments?

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

It all boils down to educating the public.

I remember being 13 years old, new in high school, and everyone referred to my principal as, "Doc Greear"...I thought (because my own father was a physician, and to me, this was the only type of doctor there was), I once asked one of my teachers why everyone called him, "Doc Greear"?

She said, "Because he's a doctor of education"...and I thought this was along the lines of "jack of all trades"...I thought she was teasing me.

So one day, "Doc Greear" was outside his office in the hall of my high school (because even at 13 curiosity killed me), and I teased him and said, "I hear you are a doctor of education?" He said, "That's right!" and I said, "I think it's funny."

He said, "Why do you think it's funny?"

And I, in my very ignorant innocence, said, "You can't be a doctor of education!" ...and I meant..."you can't be a doctor of education because you can only be a doctor of medicine!"

He said, "Come with me".

We went to his office, and he showed me his Doctorate degree he received from the University of Virginia in Education. He explained to me in great detail the difference between my father being called a "doctor" and him. He explained to me that it referred to the type of degree you earned, that it was a very advanced academic degree.

So I left his office knowing better.

Just a few minutes of his time to teach a young girl the difference, that is all it took.

If you can do it with a 13-year-old you can do it with anyone.

You are right in one aspect it is down to education, but I don't think it is that simple. My elderly patients no matter how often I tell them I am a nurse practitioner simply cannot understand why a nurse is doing things that they have typically related to a medical role. Despite me explaining to them that although I do these things and am thier nurse practitioner they still laugh at me, pat my arm and say my dear it's the same thing.

Because I do the same tasks as my medical colleagues to them I do the same job. There are some patients I give up explaining to because it makes no difference to thier percpeption of me and my role.

I think that as a 13 year old you a much better ability to accept changes than someone who is elderly.

[focusedone]

DNP's and physicians are different. Why do we want to be them?

If you want to be a medical doctor then go to medical school.

This is no different than CNA's acting and responding like registered nurses. A DNP IS NOT a PhD. DNP are clinicians with advanced education and a PhD is a researcher, teacher, and expert in the field of nursing theory; a road scholar of nursing. Pharmacists and Physical Therapists are now also going to be required to get their "D's"

Does this mean I should be calling everyone doctor? It is an overused and misused title. NP's know that patients understand the term "doctor" to mean physician and by not correcting their patients, it becomes fraud.

What is so wrong with being a nurse anyway? We should feel fantastic that our nursing schools are finally increasing education instead of accepting less and less education as an entry into our profession.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

We should feel fantastic that our nursing schools are finally increasing education instead of accepting less and less education as an entry into our profession.

And then reward those who pursue that extra education by downplaying their accomplishment and not letting them use the title that they earned?

[Faith213]

"I'm glad I chose nursing...and after all is said and done if everyone is called doctor who will care for the patients? :lol2:"

very true.

sadly that is the reality these days...too few MDs are really concerned about the patient as a individual, instead of another file....

[focusedone]

It is not just about the education we receive. I am currently obtaining my DNP and it is not the same amount of education that a PhD (10 years) or MD (11-16 years) receives. The nursing profession has just deemed it a doctorate since it is more education than a master's and different than a PhD. I will not use the term "doctor" with my patients, but I will have "doctorate of nursing" on my name tag. Nothing deceitful about that.

[inthesticks]

I am forever correcting my staff; when they say that "yes the doctor can see you" or "yes there is a doctor here." I always makes sure that patients know that I am a nurse practitioner. Even on forms where they have a block saying "physician's signature," I cross it out and write "nurse practitioner." This is a major pet peeve of mine. Not being anal about this can easily lead to serious legal problems.

Same goes for non-nurses. It is incorrect for non-nurses to refer to themselves as or be referred to as "doctor so and so's nurse" or "nurse call line one" and a non-nurse picks up the phone to answer. I used to hear this all the time; and have gone to great lengths to have this cease - with great success.

I was at a recent NP conference and the consensus was that doctorate prepared NPs should introduce themselves like this in a clinical setting: "hello, I'm doctor so and so, I'm a nurse practitioner."

For some strange reason, I'm one of those NPs who will pursue a DNP. I will not refer to myself as "doctor so and so" in a clinical setting (if I survive the DNP). No way; confuses patients too much. "But I thought I was seeing a real doctor," proclaimed the plaintiff. I'll save that title for when I go into academia (if I ever do).