We have had countless threads involving nurse's beleif that we are professionals and should be treated as such.
I agree, even us lowly LPNs are professionals and should be treated as such. AFTER it is earned!
A degree/lisence does not a professional make. Respect, and the view of professionalism comes from the public. It is not something that can be assigned based on license or degree.
Yesterday, I was up at the hospital visiting my dad. He's nearly 82. This 26 (or so) year old nurse comes bee-boppin in and says "Hi Ray!". Then immediately turns to me and asks, "Does he go by Ray or Raymond?" WHAT!?
This little bimbette expects to be respected and treated as a professional and she has none for this man? A man who is very obviously her senior. A human being who should be treated with repect and she has no simple common courtesy, let alone professionalism.
Very simply I told her "he goes by Ray, but Mr. F******** would be much more appropriate.
How can nurses expect to be treated as professionals if they are not? No professional would have come into the room, first meeting, and spoken the client/pt in such a familiar manner. This is not a pediatric unit!
She was not the only person I have heard calling my dad by his first name. I would like ot know how many of you out there also show so little respect for your elders and what your rationale is for doin so.
Now that a few days have gone by his opinions are beginning to show themselves with increasing regularity.
When addressed as Mr. F by a nurse he doesn't know he is cooperative, when addressed as Ray, the nurse he doesn't know yet will be ignored and with increasing frequency resisted. Yet, most of the nurses continue to come in and call him Ray.
I usually introduce my self and say "what do you like to be called?"
On another note, a nurse went in to mt father's room and said "Mr ####### it's time to take your medication"
He said "Please don't call me Mr. #######. That's my father's name and I don't like to be addressed like that"
And it's true. He hates it. Growing up all my friends called him by his first name. Everyone does.
If someone called me Miss so and so or Ma'am I'd be offended. I hate it. I am 32 years old. I have a first name. That is what I want to be called. My parents didn't give it to me for nothing.
A little side humor. I had a patient (90) who thought she was 21. She got married when she was 30, so if you called her by her married name she had no idea who you were talking to.
A resident at a nursing home i worked at was addressed by everyone as "Paw Paw". Nothing else got his attention, but he knew "Paw Paw" (he had Alzheimer's). His family approved.
I am fortunate to have a very experienced nurse mentor who gave me this advice:
1. When you begin your shift and go to assess each of your patients, look them in the eye, extend your hand (they usually extend theirs) and say, "Hello, Mr. Smith. My name is Linda Jones. I will be your Registered Nurse for the next 12 hours. (while doing this you can assess their eyes, color of skin and lips, and temperature of their hands). If they want me to call them by their first name, they usually tell me at that time or later during the shift. Until they tell me otherwise, they are Mr. or Ms.
2. If they have a tube(s) attached to them anywhere, check it before you leave the room.
Its a freaky coincidence this topic is being discussed - about 2 days ago I was having one almighty fiery debate with my mother about this issue. We were having coffee and the topic was (as usual) work. I was being witty and regaling her with an amusing tale and happened to use the patients first name (nothing too identifying in that...). She responded: "I hope you don't address all your patients like that... I raised my sons better than that... respect for seniors... bla bla bla". My argument was that using first names creates a more informal (ie: less clinical) atmosphere, and that you can still be respectful when using first names. I just dismissed the matter as my mother being an old fuddy duddy herself, but now I'm not so sure . I think I'm going to go back to being more formal in my dealings with patients, however I've found that whenever I call someone Mr or Mrs so and so, they often turn around with a look of horror and say "oh god no darling, call me Louise". Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
In the hospital that I work at, one of the questions in the intial interview is what do you prefer to be called, so right away you know how to address them, then this information gets passed on to the next shift.
I feel like the idea behind etiquette is to make people feel comfortable in their surroundings.
In that vein, I'm with the camp that goes formal first and then asks how they prefer to be addressed. How can you go wrong with that?
BTW, my 82 year old grandpa definitely expected to be called "Mr. P----" and would not have been thrilled by being called by his first name, though he never would have complained to anyone about it. As a matter of fact there were only a few people that I EVER saw call him by his first name, really just family members and few friends. I mean, longtime friends who were old enough to be my parents even always called him "Mr. P----". Alot of it is probably regional, too... this was in the deep south. Had nothing to do with stuffiness either, he was extremely friendly and personable, with a great sense of humor.
I'm 33 & I guess I'm old fashioned about it... I think it is a nice tradition.
In the hospital that I work at, one of the questions in the intial interview is what do you prefer to be called, so right away you know how to address them, then this information gets passed on to the next shift.
Yeah That is in ours too, the one new question I don't like in our initial assessment is: Have you ever been verbally, mentally, physically or sexually abused?
I think that it can be harder being a family member than it is being the patient. It was certainly much harder on my parents than it was on me when I went to the hospital in May 2003, having lost 4 units of blood from a duodenal ulcer hemorrhage caused by long term use of aspirin for headaches.
Only after I was released from the hospital 2.5 days later did it occur to me that no had ever addressed me by name. I was even referred to in the third person on more than one occasion while in the Critical Care Unit ("His parents are here", to the nurse giving me a sponge bath. "He has pajamas!" and "He has pictures!" by another nurse when there were just the two of us. She was surprised that I had been given pajama bottoms in addition to the gown and again surprised when I was returned to the unit holding pictures of my ulcer taken during the EGD).
I had given my name to the dispatcher when I called 911 that morning. The squad found me lying naked on the floor when they arrived, and did not ask for any information. They departed as soon as they placed me in an ED bed. One second later, a team of nurses and a doctor gathered around me, and without a word, unfolded the blanket covering my naked body. This seemed rather impersonal, but when they each told me their first names, I was impressed. When they did not ask for my name, but began treating me immediately, I just assumed that the squad had gotten my name from dispatch and passed it on to the ED team.
Every doctor and nurse who treated me introduced themselves. I guess I should have told each of them my name, but it is a strange situation when they already know who you are.
What mattered to me was the way they treated me, which was great, not what they did or did not call me. They were emotionally expressive, which I much preferred to having Mr. Spock as doctors and nurses. I was obviously grateful when the nurse told me that she was going to give me a sponge bath. When she got down to where she was dealing with dried blood and fecal matter, I looked to see her expression. I was expecting the worst, but had to know. She had a big sincere smile on her face, and I thought to myself "What wonderful people they have working here". I found the sponge bath to be fascinating, and pleasant, by the way.
After I had used the toilet (a swing-out unit mounted under the sink) to defecate, the nurse said "WHOOO!" in response to the odor of a GI bleed. Another nurse quietly laughed when my pajama bottoms slipped down, exposing my buttocks as I was standing beside her changing my gown and pajamas. This surprised me, but did not embarrass or offend me. It made her seem more like a regular woman to me, instead of someone jaded by constant exposure to naked male patients.
The respect shown to me by the way I was treated was much more important than the name used to address me.
Yeah in my earlier post when I explained my introduction I also said I usually don't even call people by their names. Maybe it is a CCU thing we already know we are getting very personal so why be coy.
I agree that everyone involved in treating a patient (LPN, CNA, RN, etc.) needs to act in a professional manner.
Anyway, when I first saw this thread, I was like, "Oh cool! Nurses as a profession!" Obviously, that isn't what this thread was about. And I'm sure there are countless threads about nursing being viewed as a profession equal to doctors and lawyers (on my first search, I couldn't find one, though.) Anyway, I wrote my own opinion on nurses (the career) compared to other professions (please see my link in profile).
I think when addressing elders its good manners to address them by their surname when I meet them for the first time.Then if they asked me to use their first name I would.I think having good manners is part of being a professional aswell. Good manners dont cost anything!I agree being professional is a way of acting and speaking but surley manners and respect are part of this aswell.I call drs by their first name ...however in front of patients I always address them by their title.
kaz:nurse:
Now see, I kind of don't agree with all this. I do address patients by their first name, but then again, I'm in neuro, so sometimes that's all a pt. knows is their first name! LOL :chuckle
However, I do not come "bee-bopping" in either. I conduct myself in a very professional manner and take my job very seriously.
IMHO, I don't believe that just by calling someone "Mr. Smith" or "Dr Jones" necessarily constitutes being "professional". Being professional is a way of acting and speaking....not just what you say alone.
So, to answer your questions...yes, I address my patients by their first name and I even (gasp) address many doctors by their first name.
. I think I'm going to go back to being more formal in my dealings with patients, however I've found that whenever I call someone Mr or Mrs so and so, they often turn around with a look of horror and say "oh god no darling, call me Louise". Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Dixiedi
458 Posts
Now that a few days have gone by his opinions are beginning to show themselves with increasing regularity.
When addressed as Mr. F by a nurse he doesn't know he is cooperative, when addressed as Ray, the nurse he doesn't know yet will be ignored and with increasing frequency resisted. Yet, most of the nurses continue to come in and call him Ray.