Tina Harrington

Well Done Lorraine and keep up the good work.... I too believe that we are the "Gatekeepers" of the profession and my students know that they will not be passed if they are not 100% up to it !!! they get good teaching on the unit so they are expected to Keep up, its the only way that "WE" as a profession can move on. The preceptorship programme is just as thouragh too :

Spellbound, sorry it's taken me so long to reply but my bloody putor has been ill !! Anyway, 1st level nurses here in UK are Registered Nurses, 2nd level Nurses were the Enrolled Nurses, I think the registration system here is much less complicated than in the USA!! We only train to 1st level now starting with Diploma, anything you do after gaining RN, can be added to your Alphabet as you wish LOL, RMN is 1st level phychi Nurse,RSCN 1st level Registerd sick childrens nurse, (I think thats the right title!!!) Training has changed so much here in the UK,thats what I remember it as The students now all have a common foundation programme and then can branch off into which ever speciality they wish, ie Midwifery, peads, adult etc: Hope this helps, tis difficult keeping up with changes........

Rie........ sorry it sounds like En's are none existant from my post, it should have read that we do not train nurses as EN's any longer... I know there are a few, EN's still kicking about, but where I work, (a huge teaching hospital) there is not one left the hosp: paid for all to convert to 1st level.. which is a great pity for the EN's were rich in knowledge and expertise at the bedside but were held back because of that extra year training, I know this first hand as I was an EN and enjoyed every minute of my years of nursing before Diploma.

This was pretty creepy...... working on night duty on a busy medical ward, there was a young Doctor in a side room and in the next room to him was an old guy, 3am in the morning the young Doctors buzzer rang, when I went to see what he wanted he said "I think ya best go see the guy next door, he just died...... I just saw his soul float through my window"" !!! Went to the old guy's room quite sheepishly to find that he had indeed died....... I fell over my own feet getting back to the nurses station.

Gee thanx Clarice ya so helpful

Hi Jenny, No we don't get the same journals here !!! has nursing 2000 got a site I could visit?? would like to read that article Thanx... Tina

P-rabbit........... LMFAO@U Totally agree with all you say..... still loling PRN

[LOL Lita, yes laugh out loud... This was my origional question !! about US titles, but then got into debate about UK titles , anyway RGN = Registered GENERAL Nurse... this course turned you into an all round every department Nurse, during training we did a stint in all areas,(Now obsolete) and no diploma on qualifying, RN = Registered Nurse, This is still a three year course and you do some practice in all areas but you get the option to branch into whatever speciality ie, adult, peads, mental health etc.. more theory and therefore a diploma at qualifying, now I have tried to simplify this explaination as my origional query generated a huge debate !! We are ALL nurses andlets face it there are good and bad in all professions.... no matter what level of academia we study at we all practice to the best of our ability with increasing stresses due to budgetery constraints, but we all entered to become a NURSE, The one solution for this I think,should be a unified title, something like CFP, caring for people!! So take care, Tina CFP, signing off

Oh....... Peace is restored on my issue but.... LMFAO, susie I just ain't gettin into this one !!! OMG, what have ya started?? LOLOLOLOLOLOL, From the innocent query I asked, the answers are long and varied, as you can see but if i was you I'd close down me putor now... Can of worms ??? More like a neuclear explosion I'm thinking.. :-p, good luck, lolololol

WOW, Susie, tut tut, May I say it is not me that feels threatened at at all !! My so called "Sweeping comments" are gathered from actually working with newly qualified staff nurses, they were meant to point out the difference from when "my Generation", (not saying it was better or worse!!) and your "generation" trained. Seeing PK2000 staff and the apparent lack of basic skills on qualifying, justifies my comments!!! The new staff I have worked with have agreed that they lack these skills and look to "us" for support which I may add is always given unconditionally !!I find it a pleasure to guide and teach during my work,I took the diploma course a couple of years ago, all I was stating is that it was completely different to the "traditional" training, and as you may be aware the new curriculum for training started in September of this year, as research dictated that students now need to spend more time in practice once again, because they were totally unprepared for the Role change they faced with the more theory based training. I am sorry if my comments upset you, I did not intend to pull down any nurse, I am not one that eats her young, May you have a long an "wonderful" career also P.S. wether I like it or not is totally irrelevant Nursing must go on, and it will with "welcome" advancements.

OOOOOO, This makes me so angry !! I am in the middle of doing a post reg course "teaching and assessing student nurses" and it is pumped into us that WE as RN'S are the "gatekeepers" of our profession, People like this are gonna slam that gate closed, I agree with the above that maybe she felt threatend by lack of knowledge but rudeness like this shows us as inappropriate Role models, which has been identified as the most powerfull teaching method!! Cherie not all nurses show this trait,most of us can acknowledge our limitations, Get qualified, get out there and make a difference. If you reflect on this and learn from it you can make a difference

Hey Pandora.. My feathers ain't ruffled LOL, Just tried to make the point that I'm a nurse plain and simple, a very good one at that even if I do say so myself !!! With smooth plumage all of the time so no need for appo's, Your comments are valuable, as I do think I complicated my own confusion, LOL, Take care, Tina.

We still have a few Enrolled nurses here in the UK, They trained for 2 years, but thier training is now obsolete, they were excellent bedside nurses, Most are given the opportunity to "convert" to RN, it would probably be near on impossible for them to gain a position in an acute area now unless they retained the posts they had before the EN course was wiped out. We have NVQ nursing aides now, who are more or less doing the same job but for a lot less money and without a formal Nursing Qualification. The Enrolled nurse can extend thier role by doin courses for IV access, venepuncture etc etc, but why should they !! they would be doin exactly the same job as an RN without the recognition they deserve, or the salary Grades !!! In my opinion Calling Enrolled Nurses, RN second level is so degrading.

... or should I say RN (Adult) !!

Pandora, forgive me, but I qualified in 1981, OMG, LOL, I have gone from SRN to RGN and now RN, all from the one qualification I didn't mean to stir up this hive of Bee's! as I said I was confused by all the US titles but lookin at all the titles I have gone through... Well, LOL. I know we are agents for change but old titles die hard... I recieved RN when I did the diploma and I suppose I really should be using it, I prefer however..... Tina, Nurse fullstop.