using patient titles on charts

[sewnuts]

the nurses in my ambulatory surgery center routinely use the patients title on the header for each page of the chart . for example: pt. name: smith, dr. john

pt # xxxx

dob xx- xx- xxxx

this title is used even if the patient is a phd or a dentist. what do you think of this practice? i always thought that a legal name on a chart or other legal document did not include titles. any input would be appreciated. please include any info or links you may have to support or negate my position. thanks

[HMP83]

I'm not sure about whether the "dr" title should be in legal documents, however I know where i work if a physician or dentist is a patient then their chart says: Smith, Dr. John.

physicians, dentists, veterinarians are all doctors and get the Dr. in the front of their name. PhD's are usually not called doctors...though they do have a doctorate degree, just the same as pharmacists usually don't introduce themselves as "Dr. John Smith though they have a PharmD.

Here is a link that I think brings up some good points...not sure that it is exactly the standard but i think most of society tends to agree to extent.

http://www.medhunters.com/articles/misuseOfTitleDoctor.html

[MIA-RN]

on a humorous note in this subject, I had a patient who was in and out of the hospital several times. She expressed her frustrations to me regarding the residents, especially one who had an elevated sense of himself and would say things like "Well, I went to med to school to learn this" and other types of comments.

the patient then told me that she was a doctor as well; she held a PhD in a non-medical field. She was resentful of the much younger doctors treating her as if she was not knowledgeable and she felt she was being talked down to. I asked her if she'd mentioned her degree/title to the doctors and she said no, she didn't want to embarrass them.

When it was finally time to be discharged, I was going over her discharge paperwork with her and she had to sign her forms.

With a flourish she signed Dr XYZ, PhD. "THere," she said. "That'll show them"

We both had a good giggle.

She did not want her title bandied about but wanted to share it on her terms.

I loved that patient!

[TX RN]

That's a good story MIA. When a patient has a "title," Dr, PhD, Lawyer, whatever it may be the family is usually the first to tell me. In my opinion, depending on how people bring this up, if it's out of the blue - I interpret this as a way for people to remind me that the patient is "more educated" than I am or just as "smart" as the doctor. I usually reply with "congratulations, what do you prefer to be called?" Usually the congratulations catches people off guard, it's a small reminder that I clearly un

[sewnuts]

I didn't mean the issue to be whether a PHD was a "real" Dr or not. Or how we address them orally. My question is should that title , or any other title be part of their legal name on a medical chart when they are a patient.

[pebbles, BSN, RN]

We don't use it, and I don't think it should be used.

It's not like their title is relevant to their medical care or treatment in any way.

Often, if a pt has a medical background, we do note that in the kardex and chart notes. But that's something relevant to teaching/learning, explanations and that aspect of care.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Some places view this as a customer service (yes, I know we cringe at that phrase) issue. If the patient feels strongly enough about their title to mention it in the registration paperwork, we might as well call them by that title.

[Valanda]

I could see my mother wanting "Dr." with her name on her charts. She was so excited about finally making it through Veterinary school, she even had us calling her "Dr. Mom" for about a year.