Im a male nursing student and have come across ALOT of people refering to the role of a registered nurse as "sister" and LPN as "nurse". This is in Australia so we might be abit behind the times. This happen anywhere else?
I work in a nursing home and if a resident needs something explained or given that a LPN cant do they often say "ill just go get one of the sisters". I suppose its useful in distinguishing between nursing roles.
Also when i tell people im studying nursing at uni they ask "wil that make you one of the sisters or a nurse". Maybe its an Aussie thing.
I was a patient in the ministry of defense hospital in Kuwait City for a while and most of the RNs were from India. The females were called sister, the men were called Mr. and last name. i.e. Mr.Smith.
Here in Australia I'm constantly called sister, especially by older patients. I don't really like it but I can put up with it. I once heard a male nurse introduce himself as 'sister'! I couldn't stop laughing at that one.
Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.
Oh please spare me!!! For heavens sake! The term "sister" ceased being used in Australia YEARS ago!!! About the only places you'll hear that word used in reference to a nurse today is in a nursing home or Veterans hospital! By ..... OLDER people!!! Nurses here, whether male or female, are mostly referred to by their own name. NOT a title!
And..... FYI, we DO NOT have LPN's in Australia. We have EN's. Enrolled nurses. While in some ways similar to the American LPN, they are distinctly DIFFERENT!
We have a few actual "Sisters" that are RN's...but that is a title of Religion as a Nun and nurse. You refer to them as "sister _____" commonly or "nurse sister _____".
But yeah...we call LPN's LPN's and Nurses Nurses.
:yeahthat: We have a St. Mary's hospital near where I live and there are still nuns there that work as registered nurses.
Ihad never heard of that ....but you live and you learn something new everyday...by the way iam new to this fourm.. iam a first year nursing student ..33 years old...and this is the hardest thing out side of giving bith to my 3 children that i have ever done but ILOVE IT..
For those who KEEP asking what we call a male nurse in the role of sister - if you'd actually read back you'd see I answered it straight away!!! However, for those who didn't read it first time her gpoes AGAIN..... they are called "charge nurse".
For those who KEEP asking what we call a male nurse in the role of sister - if you'd actually read back you'd see I answered it straight away!!! However, for those who didn't read it first time her gpoes AGAIN..... they are called "charge nurse".
casualjim
191 Posts
I was a patient in the ministry of defense hospital in Kuwait City for a while and most of the RNs were from India. The females were called sister, the men were called Mr. and last name. i.e. Mr.Smith.
aloha
Jim