"Wait for the nurse"

Nurses Relations

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Hello,

I am not a nurse nor a nursing student. However, I brought this up with a few nurse friends and just want some more feedback.

I've been dealing with my doctor's office quite a bit with visits and follow-up calls. It seems like they refer to every employee as a nurse. "Wait for the nurse", "the nurse will be right with you", "you need to talk to a nurse."

I have no experience in the medical field, so I didn't think much of it. I was talking to my friend who is an ICU nurse. She was saying how she is stressed at work and wants 9-5 hrs. I briefly mentioned how nurses work at my doctor's office and maybe it would be a good fit for her. She said "nurses? They're most likely medical assistants." She asked me what they do there. They take my history and vitals and then the doctor comes in. She was highly offended that they would call themselves nurses and wanted to report them. I asked her to explain, but she told me I wouldn't understand.

I told another RN friend of mine the story and she thought it was strange that my friend would react that way and kind of brushed it off. I didn't pursue it further.

But I'm a little concerned that my doctor's office can be reported. It makes me lose trust in them that they would call medical assistants nurses. Can they be reported? What would happen? Should I even concern myself with this?

Thanks for your time and btw, nurses rock!

Specializes in RN.
But they are not nurses nor should they be referring to themselves as such, explicitly or implicitly.

AGREE!!!! This needs to be stopped!!

Specializes in ICU.

We have LPN's in our doctor's offices in my area. Most of the Medical Assistants that I personally know work in the hospitals. There are a few random doctors that have an RN follow them around, but from what I hear, they don't want to pay them much, and have a constant turnover because of the long hours and low pay. These RN's go with the doctor from hospital to hospital, etc., and the day can be long. Some of the MA's are going back to school for a nursing degree, due to the unavailability of MA jobs here. They make the same as a CNA at our hospital, and perform the same duties. And, no, we don't call them "nurses." They never call themselves nurses, either.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Doctors in offices and clinics are used to referring to anyone as "the nurse". They do it because it is verbal shorthand when talking to patients. In very large clinics or offices the doctor may not actually know whether "the nurse" is a medical assistant or a licensed nurse. They don't meet a new person and and ask them to tell them their title so they can be sure to say "the medical assistant will be right with you." I really didn't think much about it until I joined allnurses.

Now I do care about it and feel that people should do what they can in a polite way to let others know that just as doctors protect their titles we should respect ours enough to be just as committed to educating those in healthcare and the public. Many people don't know if it is illegal in their state to use the title of "nurse" when not licensed. Here's a helpful guide:

Title "Nurse" Protection: Summary of Language by State (from the ANA)

Specializes in Cardiac/Stepdown, Rehab.

I would FIRST find out if they ARE actually LPNs or RNs...

I am an RN and I work at a physicians office... Many specialty practices will only hire RNs.

And many of us were willing to take the big pay cut to work regular hours!

I wouldn't so quickly assume that they aren't licensed JUST because they work at a doctors office, IMO.

Specializes in Medical Surgical.
I would FIRST find out if they ARE actually LPNs or RNs...

I am an RN and I work at a physicians office... Many specialty practices will only hire RNs.

And many of us were willing to take the big pay cut to work regular hours!

I wouldn't so quickly assume that they aren't licensed JUST because they work at a doctors office, IMO.

I agree with this. They very well may be nurses; you would have to verify the next time you go in there. Also, it is possible that if they are MA's they may not know it is illegal to call themselves nurses. If they do turn out to be MA's you could mention it to them or if they have a survey or something you could mention it that way. It is somewhat of a discredit to nurses if anyone who assists a doctor calls themselves a nurse. My dad actually had an ex-girlfriend who is a PCT and said she was an LPN going to school to get an RN. Both of those statements turned out to be false. Health care is a very respectable field no matter what team you are a part of but get the title right!!! :)

I work as a PCT and even though I have patients that will thank me for being such a good nurse, I ALWAYS, make sure to tell them I am not their nurse, that *insert name of their nurse* is their nurse and I am the tech that assist the nurse in giving them care. I am a nursing student, but I am not a nurse. I respect the heck out of nurses and the time they put forth. I think I recall a forum on here talking about MA's talking about having attended medical school too. A nurse is a nurse, and unless you have earned that title, legality issues or not, you should not call yourself what you are not. Just my two cents there.

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

The clinic we use as a family utilizes almost MA's exclusively. There are very few RN's on staff and they are used to handle phone triage and the rare IV or catheter. They used to use LPN's occasionally, but as they retire or leave for whatever reason, they are replaced with MA's.

There are times when I'll call the clinic and the FO will say "let me put Dr. Johnson's nurse on for you". When the "nurse" comes on the line they'll sometimes say "this is Carrie, Dr. Johnson's nurse" (mind you, we've been patients there for 20+ years, so I KNOW who Carrie is) Carrie is an MA and I will mention this technicality of titles to her. If they just say "this is Carrie", I'll let it go b/c Carrie isn't calling herself a nurse (this time)

Specializes in Med/Surg, Rehab.

If they are nurses, it should have their title on their badge.

At my current doctor's office, they staff RN's to take medical histories and do basic assessments (vitals, weight). Not sure what else they do because that's all I've ever needed. At my previous PCP, they had a medical assistant.

Point is, yes, some doctor's offices do use staff RNs. We tend to cost a lot more than medical assistants so it all depends on the office and what the nurse is needed for.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

My doctor's office used to put "nursing staff" on the badges, although they weren't nurses. I complained, and those badges mysteriously disappeared.

Specializes in Hospice.

My drs office only has MA's and its awkward because there isn't an easy title. i don't get my panties in a bunch about this. i have never heard them refer to themselves as a nurse just others that confuse the titles. (and i think Drs. are notorious for doing this ......rofl and if you think about PA's get called DR. all the time....I don't get upset that they don't correct them every time.... .I hear it all the time "hi Ms. smith i am the PA working with DR. Johndoe .... .patient then says as they leave "thank -you Dr." to much work to correct. I never refer to them inappropriately but trying to correct pts is a lost cause.

My drs office only has MA's and its awkward because there isn't an easy title.

There is an easy title, "Medical Assistant." Or "MA."

If the physicians think saying that is too hard, they could start calling the MAs "doctors" instead.

Specializes in Pedi.

I get told all the time "fill this out and the nurse will come get you"... and I know (because I look at their badges) that the vast majority of the people who check me are not nurses. Some are not even medical assistants. The office staff who works at the reception desk probably doesn't know the difference. In my experience, nurses in doctors' offices do more phone triage than anything.

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