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I've always wondered: What's a correct way to address a medical practitioner or a psych therapist/counselor who's not a doctor? (MD or PA) Or a nurse (all levels: CNA, LPN, RN, and NP), for that matter
When you meet someone they usually introduce themselves the way they want you to refer to them. So if they intro with their first name, nickname (Mike instead of Michael) or first and last name, you can call them by their first name or nickname.
If the person does not introduce themselves say something like "I'm Mike and you are....?"
as posted above: (I live in the South so "Miss First Name" has nothing at all to do with whether or not the person is married)
Honey, that is what all of us should live up to.
our receptionist is "retired" but endures in her position because she knows everyone (or their Grandmother)
and is so Respectful and Polite to even the gang members. she gets more out of nothing than any woman i know
(including my wife). if i could make a TV show, it would be something like this: CSI Miss Linda.
No one has used "Nurse" followed by Christian name in decades. That bit went out with starched whites and caps.
Nurses like every other healthcare professional have name tags; thus it can be either "Mr.", "Mrs." or "Miss", even "Ms." followed by their last name. Or in these days of implied informality just their Christian name. Personally I don't roll with the latter because some people don't like it. Many will simply tell you how to address them after first introduction. That is if you call a nurse "Ms. Downing", she may reply "just call me Kate".
Doctors of medicine are always just that in this country; addressed as Dr. it is a sign of respect. Interestingly in many parts of Europe doctors are addressed/referred to by same "Mr." or whatever as anyone else.
To add more confusion there is a movement afoot to make nurse practitioners a doctorate level profession. That seemingly would entitle such advanced degree nurses to be addressed as "doctor".
When you meet someone they usually introduce themselves the way they want you to refer to them. So if they intro with their first name, nickname (Mike instead of Michael) or first and last name, you can call them by their first name or nickname.
If the person does not introduce themselves say something like "I'm Mike and you are....?"
This.
Quote:
Originally Posted by turkeydance
as posted above: (I live in the South so "Miss First Name" has nothing at all to do with whether or not the person is married)
Honey, that is what all of us should live up to.
our receptionist is "retired" but endures in her position because she knows everyone (or their Grandmother)
and is so Respectful and Polite to even the gang members. she gets more out of nothing than any woman i know
(including my wife). if i could make a TV show, it would be something like this: CSI Miss Linda.
No. "All" of us do not live in areas where this is the cultural norm.
It irritates the heck out of me that Chiropractors insist on calling themselves doctor. Or a Naturopath.
They aren't and I refuse to do so. Quackery is quackery, no matter how long you went to school to become a quack.
Amen to that. My sister was in a bad car wreck several years ago and her nightmare of a chiropractor has screwed it up so bad she is stuck wearing ugly shoes from hell and shuffling around like an old lady the rest of her life (she's in her 30s). But she still swears by his "miracle adjustments" and won't see a real doctor
I generally call them by the name they give me when I first meet them. I'm not on a first name basis with any of the docs I see, and that's fine with me even though they're on average, 20 yrs younger than I am, and call me by my first name. That's fine with me too.
The PA's, NP's I've seen have introduced themselves with their first names, and everyone there calls them by those first names. So I follow suit, and first names it is....
Maybe I'm old-fashioned or hanging onto my youth (when I would never call an adult by their first name).
All other adults are Dr. or Mrs./Mr./Ms./Miss Lastname until they tell me to call them by their first name. I actually find it a bit too chummy when the nurse or teller at the bank automatically calls me by my first name. I recognize this is weird, and I certainly don't raise a fuss about it or actually get angry.
If they had a name tag that only said their first name, I would call them that, of course.
In general, I tend just to talk to people and not use their names or titles though.
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