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Note that new NPs will be required to study longer and get a "doctorate of nursing practice". Those that do will need to make it very clear that they are nurses with a doctorate, not a physician, which is what patients expect the word "doctor" to mean in a medical setting.
{The NP} really should not allow you to call her "doc", though. She is not a physician...
Note that new NPs will be required to study longer and get a "doctorate of nursing practice". Those that do will need to make it very clear that they are nurses with a doctorate, not a physician, which is what patients expect the word "doctor" to mean in a medical setting.
This is such an important point. We had an NP with a doctorate in the practice, who would correct those who called her doctor while engaged in clinical work. In academic settings, like being introduced at a conference, she would (correctly) be referred to as "doctor."
I agree with the two of you above, but let me tell you: patients seem to think every woman in scrubs in a hospital/office is a nurse, even the cleaning staff. When patients express anger at nurses, they're often referring to a CNA, or in an office, an MA. The parapros who work in our school district's health rooms get referred to as "the nurse". There is much confusion for patients re: who is who in health care.
I agree with the two of you above, but let me tell you: patients seem to think every woman in scrubs in a hospital/office is a nurse, even the cleaning staff. When patients express anger at nurses, they're often referring to a CNA, or in an office, an MA. The parapros who work in our school district's health rooms get referred to as "the nurse". There is much confusion for patients re: who is who in health care.
I guess some institutions don't want to appear "classist" but I really want to know the title and qualifications of each person I speak with in a medical office.
Even as recently as a few years ago it was a nurse who confirmed your medications with you before seeing the doctor. Now the person (in "nurses scrubs" reading them off to you can't even pronounce them correctly and pauses for the patient to recognize their garbled pronunciation or finish it for them while they laugh nervously! What is the purpose of this? They certainly can do no more than check a box off by rote - they can't make an observation that there might be an issue. This is a just an exercise to somehow reduce liability while offering no real benefit. Even medical transcriptionists used to have to have a class in medical terminology - these staff don't even learn from one appt. to the next how to pronounce a common medication they should encounter multiple times a week.
My last appt. I was asked to verify my medications online before the appt....then someone with no knowlege at all went through them all before I saw the PA...THEN the PA did it AGAIN! I was being charged for an annual checkup with half the time being wasted on my medications that hadn't even changed but had to be double-checked after I'd verified them myself the day before! What a terrible amount of waste so that I could be billed for a longer appt.
Note that new NPs will be required to study longer and get a "doctorate of nursing practice". Those that do will need to make it very clear that they are nurses with a doctorate, not a physician, which is what patients expect the word "doctor" to mean in a medical setting.
You are right but on the other hand our granddaughter worked for a few years at a walk in clinic where many of the patients didn't even speak English. They would call her doctora and she jut let it go. No, she doesn't consider herself a doctor but sometimes it is better not to say anything.
There is much confusion for patients re: who is who in health care.
Absolutely. And you're right that what we wear compounds the confusion. Walk into a hospital today, and virtually all members of the care team wear long white coats (residents, fellows, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, nutritionists, etc.).
When I was training, only the attending physician wore a long white coat on rounds. Medical trainees wore white coats of varying lengths (including very short white coats, and white pants, for interns).
Absolutely. And you're right that what we wear compounds the confusion. Walk into a hospital today, and virtually all members of the care team wear long white coats (residents, fellows, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, nutritionists, etc.).
When I was training, only the attending physician wore a long white coat on rounds. Medical trainees wore white coats of varying lengths (including very short white coats, and white pants, for interns).
When I was in nursing school, nurses, both RNs and LPNs, wore caps, white dresses, white hose and shoes. CNAs wore neither caps nor white hose. In the early 70s when skirts got so short, we were allowed to wear pant suits. Then the caps went, then the white hose, and finally the whites went altogether and scrubs came in. At some hospitals, the nurses don't wear uniforms any more.
When I was in nursing school, nurses, both RNs and LPNs, wore caps, white dresses, white hose and shoes. CNAs wore neither caps nor white hose. In the early 70s when skirts got so short, we were allowed to wear pant suits. Then the caps went, then the white hose, and finally the whites went altogether and scrubs came in. At some hospitals, the nurses don't wear uniforms any more.
I do think that some hospitals are switching back. Some have pictures posted of what color uniform means what. Some have a different color for all the different employees so patients can tell the difference between the different jobs. I guess it is so we don't ask the doctors to empty the bed pans!
I do specialty imaging procedures and work in a private practice office setting. I wear "business casual" and a long white lab coat. I'm allowed to wear scrubs but just find the clothes I wear more comfortable. I get called "Doc" pretty regularly. When that happens I tell people I'm not a doctor and make light of it by saying "I've been called worse things than Doctor but it's been a while".
Part of the confusion for patients is that not every hospital and practice requires staff to wear name tags with a role designation (RN, LPN, MA, MD etc) clearly displayed. Most do but there are some that are lax on this. Sometimes the role designation is in a font size that makes the patient strain a bit to read it. The location of the tag can also be a problem reading it when it is attached in the hip area rather than in the upper chest area. Of course if staff would just introduce themselves (including what they are) upon entering a room much of the confusion would be eliminated.
Earlier this year I had an appt. with a PA to get stitches removed. A woman entered the room without introducing herself and not wearing a name tag and without even saying what she was going to do, grabbed my hand and started removing the stitches. I knew she wasn't the PA I had an appt with so I stopped her and asked who and what she was and what she was doing, saying that I had an appt. with the PA. She then tells me she was an MA and would be doing the procedure. What struck me most of all was she didn't apologize for not having identified herself or saying what she was going to do. It was as if she didn't think that mattered. She just answered my question and kept going.
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