drinkwd40

Most states allow physicians to take a 100-300hour course to get certified in acupuncture. HMIeducation.com is a popular source. What about nurses: CRNA, NP, CNM? How did dentists, podiatrists, physicians, and chiropractors get allowed to do this but nurses did not? Are there any states that allow nurses to do acupuncture? I've google'd it and I still need help with getting these answers... This is not a debate about how much more awesome a licensed acupuncturist is, or about the thousands of hours it takes to train one. I don't want to open an acupuncture shop or anything like that. I don't want to spend $40,000 (more like $300,000 when you consider income lost) to learn about herbs and chinese diagnosis, neglecting my primary profession in the 3 years of training. I want to continue practicing anesthesia and augment that practice by giving treatment for 3 conditions only: nausea, pain, and anxiety. These are directly related to anesthesia, often something I am causing with the medications I have to give. The technique I am mainly interested in is auriculotherapy. Research is out there that validates the technique and there are predetermined points. Further, this is not even rooted in Chinese medicine, as a French physician pioneered it: see auriculotherapy.org. Can we learn a technique as nurses and apply it safely? Of course. My experience with the technique is that patients become interested in acupuncture for other ailments after their successful treatment perioperatively. At that point, the patients can go to the acupuncturist down the street for a thorough diagnosis and treatment. So my question remains: are there nurses who practice acupuncture in the US without nccaom.org -based credentials? What about this program: http://www.americanmanualmedicine.com/index2.html ? Has anyone done this or know someone who has? Thanks to all, including LAc's that provide a valuable service.

It's the whole supply and demand issue with personnel. Maybe they had created the LPN position and were having trouble filling it so she was able to negotiate better terms. You being a new grad may have just wanted to get your foot in the door with that low of a salary (I wouldn't work for $21/hr unless it was just the best job ever). So what it comes down to, I think, is questioning whether you are/were happy with the salary in that job, relative to the other higher paying ones out there. If not, I'd continue working there until you have 6-12 months experience and leave on good terms. That way you can negotiate your way up to a much better salary saying you are an RN with real experience. Then get your MSN and change the salary structure as their manager.

I agree. CRNA's hold advanced degrees that are academically and clinically challenging to attain. If the DNP or DNAP is offered to me after I get my MSN for CRNA, then I'll take it. I think that patients are bound to get educated to the fact that nurses' education can be advanced enough to be doctors of nursing. For the issue of misrepresentation, a nurse with a clinical doctorate should be called 'doctor' in the clinical setting. However, it should be followed by a short explanation, or longer one if the patient looks at you with a confused face. "Hello, I'm Dr. Jones, I will be your nurse anesthetist providing your anesthesia during your surgery." It's the same as saying "I'm Dr. Smith, I'm a dentist here to look at your tooth." I think the title automatically tells the patient that you didn't just get your associate degree RN and start working for an MD in the anesthesia dept. If I were a patient, I'd feel more comfortable with a doctorally prepared anesthesia provider, whether that provider were a nurse or an MD. It also enables us to convey to patients, albeit one at a time, that nursing isn't limited to the ADN at the bedside of a med-surg ward.

Let's get realistic. How difficult is it to get a BSN once you've got your ADN? Many can do it completely on-line and at state universities where the cost is reasonable and the time spent is too. No one wants to be forced out of a profession they already feel they are a part of, so I can see the fuel for the argument. It just lacks substance. Don't you think that in 10 years all current ADN's (or students for that matter) could get their bachelor's? It's not like we are so underpaid that we couldn't afford the education to advance our profession.