NursingLink

Isn't calling yourself a nurse different than calling yourself an RN? Do they both bug you? Doesn't CNA stand for Certified Nursing Assistant? I think that qualifies as a nurse.

How should they introduce themselves? "Hi, I'm a CNA"?

All right, well thanks RNdude. You learn something new every day.

I'm a CNA too... I work in a nursing home, and I've found that most people ASSUME that I'm a Nurse... When I'm walking down the hall and someone wants something, they call out "Nurse!" Usually, I don't feel the need to correct them. But, I never call MYSELF a Nurse. For instance, if someone says "Nurse, Can I have a glass of water?" I say "yes" and get the water. I don't feel the need to say that I'm not a nurse. BUT... If someone were to say "Nurse, I'm having trouble breathing" or something like that, I wouldn't pretend to be a nurse and handle the situation myself. I wold tell them "I'm just the Aide, and I will go tell the nurse and have him come in right away." For the record, everytime we get a new resident or patient, I introduce myself as the CNA.

You should ALWAYS differentiate who you are regardless of your profession in the medical field. People address me as "doctor" several times a day at the office and I always tell them immediately that I am a nurse practitioner. Patients often don't know the difference but you can better believe that they are very upset when they find out that a CNA has been telling them that they are the nurse. There is nothing wrong with being a nursing assistant. They should be proud of their contribution to the health care system. Without a great tech, my day would really be terrible.

npssavelives and cutie - i'm glad to hear about the honesty. It just really gets on my nerves sometimes. Sometimes I hear about people impersonating nurses and I think well that happens so much. There should be a non-acronym term for CNAs and LPNs, don't you think? Anybody have any ideas?

PittNurse said:

npssavelives and cutie - i'm glad to hear about the honesty. It just really gets on my nerves sometimes. Sometimes I hear about people impersonating nurses and I think well that happens so much. There should be a non-acronym term for CNAs and LPNs, don't you think? Anybody have any ideas?

As a CNA, I introduce myself at the beginning of each shift like this:
"Hi, I'm Laurie. I'm a CNA and I'll be your Aide tonight. If you need help with anything, let me know..."

I think telling someone that I'm an Aide, it's easier to understand my duties and responsibilities than it is if I use the term CNA.

Angie_ri78, I'm certain that you will remember your roots when you become an RN. Over the years before becoming a Nurse I worked under many other titles...Nurse Assistant, corpsman, Emt, Nurse Tech...and I have always made it a priority to treat my paramedic and PCT teammates the way I always appreciated being treated. They should feel like everything you ask of them is a personal favor to you and, afterwards, they should receive thanks...regardless of how small a task. Unfortunately, I have seen Nurses who have forgotten their roots and, obviously, what it was like being a CNA or the like.

ButterflyWings00 said:

PittNurse said:

npssavelives and cutie - i'm glad to hear about the honesty. It just really gets on my nerves sometimes. Sometimes I hear about people impersonating nurses and I think well that happens so much. There should be a non-acronym term for CNAs and LPNs, don't you think? Anybody have any ideas?

II'm confused... Are you saying that an LPN should not be called a nurse?

As a CNA, I introduce myself at the beginning of each shift like this:
"Hi, I'm Laurie. I'm a CNA and I'll be your Aide tonight. If you need help with anything, let me know..."

I think telling someone that I'm an Aide, it's easier to understand my duties and responsibilities than it is if I use the term CNA.

Well, in all my time as a CNA, there's only been one time that I've seen an incident where the LPN on my floor had to call in an RN to do something that she was unable to do with her status as LPN... Only once. I have in my time, however, seen two different RN's make mistakes that the LPN needed to fix... Including an RN that mistakenly gave someone a suppository in the vagina... And belittled the resident saying it was all in her head, when she complained of vaginal burning. I've also seen many LPN's take over for an RN who had trouble with a certain task... To be honest, there are days that there's only one RN in the whole facility, and the floors are run, quite well, by the LPN's.. Infact the Suprevisor on my shift is an LPN.

I think belittling an LPN''s status as a nurse is much the same as belittling an NP, for the simple fact that an NP isn't quite a doctor... Each person, each position is what it is. All are worthwhile. All are worthy of respect, and each person should be proud of the status they have achieved.

Hi to all. Over the last 38 years working as an LPN I introduce my self as (lowest paid nurse) LPN and this usually get a laugh and then opens up the conversation as to the different roles in nursing. Believe me I do consider myself a nurse but I also respect the difference in education and responsibility of being an RN. Working on a busy acute medical and palliative unit we frequently have brand new RN's who are nervous and unsure of many basic things. They will frequently seek out the LPN to ask what they feel is a stupid question because they don't want to look silly to their peers. I have seen dozens of new RN's grow and blossom on our ward and then go on with confidence to a speciality field. There are many ways we can help and encourage each other as we work together in nursing and bickering over who gets called Nurse is not helpful. Florence Nightingale did basic bedside nursing and guess what - she called herself a nurse.
Perhaps going back to distinctive uniforms would help the general public know -who is who.

As a male and a nurse, people often call me doctor. I correct them by saying, "I'm not a doctor, I'm a nurse, but can I help you?" I wouldn't pass myself off as a doctor and I don't think Nurse Aides and Techs should let people assume they are nurses. I do understand that everything has a time and place however and sometimes a correction is not in order.

When a person says nurse, it could mean licensed practical nurse or registered nurse unless they specify. I really don't agree with a CNA calling themselves a nurse bcause they are a certified nursing assistant. Sometimes pts. get confused because there isn't any type of clothing-- like the old white uniforms-- to say hey there's a nurse, because everyone's wearing scrubs. Adrienne Poli LPN

PittNurse said:

Ok, so I don't this sounds like a meanie post, but I am tired of CNAs calling themselves nurse to patients and family members. I'm an RN, and I would never call myself an NP, so CNAs should not call themselves RNs. I was visiting my dad in the hospital (nothing major - gallstones) and this CNA called herself a nurse, the nerve. I'm interested to hear what others have to say. Have you ever been in this sort of situation?

I started out as an LPN. My pet peeve was to hear another LPN say "I am just an LPN" or for a CNA to say "I am just a CNA" I now am an advanced practice nurse with script rights. I am often called "Dr" I correct them. I am proud to be a nurse, worked hard for it, and my other peeve is for someone with no license to call themsef a nurse.

I looked up the definition of a nurse in the dictionary, it was a webster's New Dictionary copywrited in 2005. There were two definitions. One definition, was a nurse was a girl or woman employed to take care of children. The second was, a person trained to take care of sick people. I know times have change now since these original definitions were revised, even under Registerd Nurse, It only quioted the Registered Nurse being a graduated trained nurse who is license to practice, that's the key word practice.''''' not the LPN. It said that a LPN is a specially trained person who is licensed( as by a state) to provide routine care for the sick person. It didn't have a definition for CNA, but we know that CNA's are certified by the state, not license to assist the nurse or LPN to provide care to the patient. So this answer's Pittnurse question. A Registered nurse can practice nursing, that's the differentiation.