Order of Credentials

20 minutes ago, Hannahbanana said:

Your opinion is your own; that's not the same as a rationale.

Susie Q, BSN, MA, PhD(hon) has a nursing degree but not a license for some reason. She may have failed NCLEX, but she may have retired, or just given up working at jobs that require nursing licensure for something better for her. Don't assume the worst.

The license isn't the most important in many settings that require nursing education, expertise and experience. In the old days we used to say it's what's between the ears that counts, not the hat on the head (or, "what's in your wallet").

BTW, the seeing offending people "as a bonus" was kind of gratuitous. There's been entirely too much of this going around the last few years.

It's an opinion, but it's also a rationale. Please explain, how is it not?

You assume that I assume the worst. Not true. Just giving an example of why, for myself (not necessarily for you or for Susie Q), the license is the most important piece, and should be listed first. An equally illustrative example would be that a former nurse who changed careers cannot provide patient care as a RN. The same principle applies. I still consider my license to be the most important credential, and still choose to list it first. You and Susie are free to list your credentials in whichever order you choose.

"What's between the ears" is never listed as a credential, so it is irrelevant to a discussion regarding the ordering of credentials. Experience and other qualities fit nicely on a resume, but there just isn't room in someone's professional title.

And yes, a person who "despises" nurses who do not list their credentials in the same order that she does, is small-minded, petty, and deserves to be offended, gratuitous or not.

By the way, your response to this light-hearted post seems needlessly hostile. Why?

What I find interesting is that some other health professions, physical therapy for example, prefer a different order for listing credentials.  The American Physical Therapy Associate, for example, has the order as license first followed by highest physical therapy related degree (John Smith, PT, DPT for example).  This is actually the order that I was taught when I first entered nursing (John Smith, RN, BSN or John Smith RN, ADN, etc.).  It has taken me some time to get used to writing my credentials as MSN, RN.  I don't think it is worth an argument and my facility actually endorses whichever order the clinician finds most comfortable.  I just think it is interesting that different professional organizations seem to have differing perspectives on this.  Anyways, just my two cents.

On 3/10/2021 at 10:54 AM, SteveRN said:

This is actually the order that I was taught when I first entered nursing (John Smith, RN, BSN or John Smith RN, ADN, etc.).  

I learned this in nursing school as well.  The rationale behind it at the time was that above all else, we are nurses....therefore RN first.

I get leaving the RN off if a license has been retired, inactive or just not renewed.  For me, as long as my license is current, I will probably always put RN first, then degree and finally certifications. 

Never been questioned about it. ?‍♂️

Huh. I am no longer actively in nursing, but my RN license is still current. I am in a tangential field now. I write my credentials as RN, BSN, MLIS. I have no plans to change this; MLIS, RN looks silly and gives incomplete information for my field. (I realize I'm somewhat of a special case here, but such iterations of former direct-care RNs didn't appear to be covered here, so I chimed in).

On 3/5/2021 at 5:08 AM, Hannahbanana said:

* Just because somebody seems to be despicable to you doesn’t, IMO, justify an intentionally offensive rejoinder.

* “I was only joking” is a familiar rejoinder when a “light-hearted” statement isn’t taken well. I stand by my opinion that it is unseemly to offend somebody intentionally in the way and for the reason you described. One could even characterize it as hostile. As my grandmother would say, “ T’ain’t funny, McGee.”

You're an angry little clown, aren't you? It doesn't matter what you think. Knowing that such an insignificant act gets someone all worked up is hilarious to me. You disagree. So what? Your hostility is still unwarranted.

You are the kind of person who goes home at the end of the day and pats yourself on the back for self-righteously putting everyone in their place, and then sleeps like a baby knowing you made someone's day worse.

I never said I was joking. I was not joking at all. I said it was a lighthearted post. Please learn how to read and interpret information before attempting to engage in written discourse with others.