Long time no see! I haven't visited here in ages (lots of things going on personally), but when I saw this the other day, I knew I had to share....you folks here will understand it in a way no one else in my life will!
It was Thursday afternoon, I was watching Judge Joe Brown in the background as I got ready to go to work. Some lady was suing some dude for money for something (that's what happens when I half-watch something, LOL). Anyway, Judge Joe is asking the plaintiff lady what she does for a living..."you're a bus driver, right?" Lady: "Yes, and I have two jobs, I'm also a NURSE."
Joe: "Are you an RN or an LPN...?"
Lady: "I'm a medical assistant....REGISTERED."
Joe: "So, you're a bus driver and a nurse....(continues to discuss case, talks about how hard it is for her to support herself even without kids, blah blah blah).
You guys know where I am going with this. It's been discussed countless times here, I know. This was just a different forum for me to hear it in, and it made me MORE mad because all I could do was watch....and think, "THIS is how the misconceptions happen, dang it!" Anyone watching who doesn't know any better assumes that yes, this lady is a nurse.
I'm not saying her job isn't important, or that she doesn't have a role in healthcare. Of course she does. But that role is NOT of a nurse.
I know there are posters here that don't get/don't care about other people using the title "nurse," and that's fine. To each their own, no big deal. I'm just one of those people that it DOES bother, and hearing that exchange fired me up a little. The way she had to tack that word on the end...."REGISTERED"....like THAT is what makes the difference here. I realize that some MA's are registered and some are not, yes....it just has nothing to do with being a nurse either way.
FYI, the people pulling you back into the Dr's office may actually be nurses. I work at an outpatient clinic during nursing school and we actually have RNs and LPNs that room pts in addition to their other duties. I once told a pt, who was a nurse, that "the nurse would be with her momentarily." She gave me an earful about how inappropriate it was to call an MA a nurse. She was going to report me to the BON, yada yada. I had to hold back my giggles when the RN came out for her. She started on on the nurse too, but her face went scarlet when she saw the badge with RN on it.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
In that case the patient was in the wrong for making a false assumption. The number of licensed nurses in doctor's offices and clinics is declining, but it was the norm not that long ago. I worked in a clinic of approx 50 doctors. We had one employee who wasn't a licensed nurse.
Did anyone see the NYTimes article a few months ago that talked about nurses with doctoral degrees introducing themselves as "Dr. So and So" to patients? I'm not saying I don't agree with the OP, I actually do 100%, I'm just curious what you guys think of the article/issue. If you have a PhD in any subject you technically have the legal right to the title but how does one use it in the case of nurses without totally confusing the patient?
I saw a JUDGE JUDY episode (who I love) not long ago and she ****** me off!.. I usually always agree with her choices to grill and humilate evil people. This episode was about some chic suing some dude and she had her mom testify as a registered nurse witness. She stood up and said " yes judge judy I'm a registered nurse, and I do this and that and i've take care of these patients and specialize in this and that" judge judy stopped her and said what kind of education do you have? she said "I have my associates in nursing." Judge judy said " are you kidding me?! sit down! " that isnt formal education.!!" i was SHOCKED AND disgusted with her..
Wow. I wonder just what Judge Judy thinks a Registered Nurse is. There isn't that much difference in education between the ADN and the BSN. I have them both, but I learned far, far more in my ADN class than in my BSN classes!
To me the issue isn't that I feel superior to a CNA or that they are beneath me in some way. The problem as I see it is whenever I encounter someone who is trying to misrepresent their medical training, they are usually up to no good. I can usually spot them fairly quickly. Actual nurses and doctors who are patients usually let me do my job. I get the feeling from them that "hey I'm not at work, you do this". Heck, I even had a patient whose daughter was a malpractic attorney, and she never made a peep to anyone about the quality of care that her mother got. Whereas someone who is lying about their training is all know-it-all about everything and is very knit-picky about every little thing. That and the outlandishly wrong medical information usually gives them away.
I thought for sure judge judy would still respect the nurse, as a professional!!!! geeze imagine if I stood up as an LPN she would have laughed at me. People have no idea what we nurses go through and do on a daily basis.
Specializes in Managed Care, Onc/Neph, Home Health.
Did anyone see the NYTimes article a few months ago that talked about nurses with doctoral degrees introducing themselves as "Dr. So and So" to patients? I'm not saying I don't agree with the OP, I actually do 100%, I'm just curious what you guys think of the article/issue. If you have a PhD in any subject you technically have the legal right to the title but how does one use it in the case of nurses without totally confusing the patient?
I think its inappropriate for the RN to introduce herself as "DR", to patients. Yes definitely this would be confusing, its the setting. Patients know Dr. as "Doctor". They don't usually understand a Doctor of Philosphy (Ph.d) In a professional setting, amongst his/her peers, by all means, the introduction as Dr would be ok, next question would then would be "....dr of what?" then it would be "oh", most likely, 9 times out of 10. IMO, to keep from sounding so "cocky" I would have my Phd or Dr. printed on business cards, to exchange, even in that setting, for I would know who I am and what I have accomplished, not unless the convo just came up.
Did anyone see the NYTimes article a few months ago that talked about nurses with doctoral degrees introducing themselves as "Dr. So and So" to patients? I'm not saying I don't agree with the OP, I actually do 100%, I'm just curious what you guys think of the article/issue. If you have a PhD in any subject you technically have the legal right to the title but how does one use it in the case of nurses without totally confusing the patient?
I don't think I'd refer to myself as Dr.on the job. As the PP said, it's misleading and seems inappropriate. Would I refer to myself as Dr. every second outside of work? Heck yes I would! To the point of obnoxiousness until the newness wore off.
During my 9 years as a MA working in various offices (in a former life) I never, EVER once came across a MA that called herself "nurse"...unbelievable, but true...On the other hand, I came across countless patients and members of the general public who referred to us as a "nurse" in some form or the other on numerous occasions and here's the thing, you could tell them straight out that you were not a nurse, but rather a MA, you could try to educate them on the difference between the two...and guess what?...THEY DON'T CARE.
Seriously, I could have called myself Santa Claus for all those people cared. They had more "pressing issues" such as being seen RIGHT NOW for a 4 day old stuffy nose, getting their kid 10 different tests done for a black and blue mark, well to do professionals getting their big doggie bag of free drug samples while leaving none for the people who truly could benefit from them, heck one night I even had a lady get fuming mad at me because I wouldn't drive 25 minutes out of my way home to go to the drugstore to pick up her meds which I was to then deliver personally to her house!
I think medical assisting does need some serious regulating, but I really don't think anything will ever stop the general public from thinking every female in a pair of scrubs is a nurse. Actually, it seems that the only people really concerned about it is other health care professionals, mainly nurses, and rightfully so, but then why isn't something ever done about it? I mean other than b*tching about it every other day on AN?
As a former MA (school educated, not pulled in off the street) who never, ever referred to herself as a nurse, who now has the financial means to go the distance with my education by earning my nursing degree, I get highly offended by the holier than thou attitudes that seem to think that every MA out there is nothing more than a lowly, uneducated scum bag who just got pulled in off the street and now runs around referring to herself as "nurse" to everyone
.thumb.gif.fc0b5b00a77a1cf676541776e02de0f9.gif){kind=avatar}
grownuprosie
377 Posts
FYI, the people pulling you back into the Dr's office may actually be nurses. I work at an outpatient clinic during nursing school and we actually have RNs and LPNs that room pts in addition to their other duties. I once told a pt, who was a nurse, that "the nurse would be with her momentarily." She gave me an earful about how inappropriate it was to call an MA a nurse. She was going to report me to the BON, yada yada. I had to hold back my giggles when the RN came out for her. She started on on the nurse too, but her face went scarlet when she saw the badge with RN on it.