Nurses are Not Doctors

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

I have not seen anyone call a DNP 'doctor' in a healthcare setting... Have you?

The proverbial "cow" that the AMA is having over the possibility that it won't be a big deal for a non-physician doctorate to refer to oneself as "Doctor" is pretty much keeping that from being mainstream at the moment.

It's kind of hard to get a doctorate in nursing and be ignorant of social mores in your individual work setting. This is probably why you do not hear "doctor nurse" bandied about.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

I have not seen anyone call a DNP 'doctor' in a healthcare setting... Have you?

Yes, and no one had to have their underwear removed with a crowbar. There wasn't any spontaneous patient deaths or patients that had to be admitted to the psych ward because of all the "confusion" either.

[BlueDevil, DNP]

Yes, I hear it every day, since that is what people call me, and yes, I admit my own patients to the hospital. It never occurred to me that some NPs might not.

Whatchu talkin bout Willis?

[firstinfamily, RN]

I have seen NPs work harder than the MDs and not get reimbursed from the MD. They get dumped on a lot when they are under a MD's practice. They should be able to function independently from the MD and charge for their services. They are not pretending to be MDs but they are a separate professional category who can function at a MD level. What about the tasks only nurses use to do like taking vital signs, doing blood sugars etc. We have relinquished those to nurse techs---see how the hierarchy of nursing has changed, and the PA's have also emerged through out the years as medical care has become more complex and in demand with the current demographics. When the ACA was passed/created it was done with the intentions that NPs would be able to provide clinics for those who have been underserved, so really the purpose of the NPs is being fulfilled by the passage of the ACA. The government knew what it was doing at the time!!?