Our profession deserves an accurate title; we have earned it. Regardless of gender, it is time for a change. "Nurse" is an archaic, irrelevant and inaccurate label which mocks the modern professional standard we represent. We are board-certified clinicians who have endured years of competitive education combined with strenuous clinical training.
The argument that we need to support this title for tradition's sake is weak. This field has come so far and changed so much that what we do would literally be unrecognizable to nurses fifty years ago - nevermind Florence Nightingale. True, nurses are caring figures who share special relationships with the sick, but I was taught much more than that in school and I am responsible for MUCH more than that at work. The sad part is that we are responsible for medical knowledge but our responsibility comes with few rights. We are usually the first providers to see lab results and we "respectfully suggest" drugs and treatments to the physician. In the hospital, we are the first to see changes in a patient's condition, and with ACLS training, who runs codes? Do you think Florence Nightingale knows the algorithm to treat PEA or V-fib arrest? No, she would probably suggest opening a window. So, men and women, alike, deserve a name with absolutely no reference to breastfeeding or trashy Media. This issue may be a joke to you, but many believe it affects their honor; and their salary.
