I was an STNA for 3+ years and always corrected my patients when they called me nurse i didnt want that added responsibility at the time.  now that I am an LPN I work hand in hand with many of my peers who some think that they are above nurses and they talk crap about other nurses to other nurses to start drama.  I said this before to them and will always remember my roots as an aide because of how much I learned on my journey to becoming a nurse.  I am starting my ADN in january and until I pass my boards as an RN I would never say that i am.  I am an LPN and i am proud of who I am.  I have met many great RNs and many great LPNs and many not so great ones but all you can do is be the best you can be and admit to who you are Aide LPN or RN this way from the get go your patients know who they are asking for.  I get frustrated when I am doing med passes and patients say well I asked the nurse for a pain pill and they didnt ask me they asked their STNA and they didnt pass along the message that is my pet peeve...sorry  had to vent

jevell says ...

If an individual feels better about the jobs they are performing as a CNA (or another similar role) by giving themselves an "inflated" title ...why should that cause so much  disruption/care for concern for some of the RNs on this post?  As long as they aren't over stepping their bounderies as far as duties...who cares?  Imitation is the biggest form of flattery, right? just my 2%.

 

It is cause for concern for many reasons. A) patients get confused on whom to ask for what they need, B) In Arizona, stating you are a nurse when you are not, will end you up on the impersonators list with the state board, and C) Unfortunetly, it is the titles that define boundaries of duties. It is a bad practice to get into and a dangerous one since you never know who might be listening.

jevell says ...

If an individual feels better about the jobs they are performing as a CNA (or another similar role) by giving themselves an "inflated" title ...why should that cause so much  disruption/care for concern for some of the RNs on this post?  As long as they aren't over stepping their bounderies as far as duties...who cares?  Imitation is the biggest form of flattery, right? just my 2%

then the patient would think that everything that the CNA says is from years of proper education when in really did not.  The patient then would not know who to listen to .............................the CNA that is posing as nurse or the REAL NURSE!

plus it is illegal.   it would be like me saying that I am a doctor when clearly I am not!

I need to clarify something.......................a LPN is a real nurse.  thus the name Licensed Practical Nurse. 

As a Medical Assistant since 1988 I have worked in family practice where I was not limited in my skills (Injections, IV's, venipunctures). I have worked as a phlebotomist, thaught Medical Assisting, worked in Stem Cell trasnplant, and spent 5yrs interrogating and progamming Pacemakers and ICD's. I lived by the thought that education cost but knowledge was free. I learned how to do things that I now know I had no business doing. I understand the frustration of being in lateral positions with RN's and LPN's doing the same job and even training a few of them while not recieving the same acknowledgment.

I have spent the last four years getting my degree in nursing and pending a grade of 40 or higher on Mondays finals, I will graduate with high honors in two weeks. I have always respected the title of a nurse and have waited a long time to claim it as my own. I feel that once I recieve my results from the State BON I can finally call myself a nurse and no longer have to explain to anyone why I can't. There is a false sense of security to working under a license that is not your own. I have spent many years having the luxury of running to someone else when a pt was having problems. Now I will be the one others will run to and believe me there is a lot being ask for when a pt calls out for a "nurse".

ButterflyWings00 says ...

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.

same here. most residents think we are nurses, so i don't always feel the need to correct them when they ask for simple things. But if it is something medical i always say, i am the nurse aide i will get the nurse for you. I always introduce myself as an aide. 

 I have seen that sometimes the patients call the CNA nurse because I guess do not understand the difference and they think that everybody is a nurse. I just graduated from nursing school and I am not going to call myself a nurse until I get my RN license, I am a GN now and then when I pass my boards I will very proud to call myself a nurse. 

 I find it hard to believe that a CNA would introduce themselves as a nurse.  In my experience, most CNAs dont introduce themselves at all.  This sounds like something a patient would assume (and not corrected), refer to the person as such and then escalates into an issue within the staff....the first option is too scary to believe for either party involved, no?

To all,

I believe that all professions have their own distinct titles and should be used as such. I am a LPN, and I can't go identifying myself as a RN or an ARNP. Get the picture! No matter what you are called, we all work together for the benefit of the patient. I am what I am and that  is an LPN!

If you lookbackover hes notes aon this forum., you will find out that I esd going to but changed my mind..

Well this was not what I can say, We are a team for the patient and"Can't we just all get along" We all have titles, butthe most im[portant iis that we are there for the patient, not a pagent for nametags..Teesa

Sorry for the misspeling.. Brain spasms...Teresa

I do believe that it will bite her inher behind some day..Teresa

Guys, I have been in the hospital several times over the years...I don't have a problem with any of the care I've been given.. There are so many people that run around the hospital all day for their own reason..Patients should be able to tell who ever what they are needing.. And thenit is that person' responsibilty to follow up with the appropiate person....Teresa

I'm a CNA and I'm mistaken all the time as a Nurse, I correct them right away as to who I am, if it's something I can help them with I do it but I always inform the accountable what I did. Most nurses I work with don't show their faces half the time and of course If I'm all the patient see most of the time he will think I'm the nurse. We have MSNAs (multiple skilled nursing assistants) and on top of their own assignments as nursing assistants, the nurses add more work needing their blood drawn, ekg, foley inserts if they can't get it. Although the MSNA jobs have played out they are still working as CNAs but making more money. Although they are more skilled as regular CNAs, I notice some RNs resent them acting more of a nurse than a CNA. I don't consider myself a nurse but I'm working on it because you can tell when you are being discriminated on how certain people talk to you.

I don't know what the ethics portion of the CNA program states, but I am days away from graduating as a Medical Assistant, ( my jumpstart to NP in Cardiac surgery) and it is right in our MA code of ethics training that we are to correct our patients and even the physicians when the flub up. Even if it is something as simple as asking for water! Because we are NOT nurses!!  RN's and NP's are far more educated and frankly we don't deserve to share that title! And while I will agree that all the positions work their butts off and contribute tons to the medical team as a whole, and yes we are all part of the field of nursing we just can't allow someone to mistake us for something we are not! I can almost guarantee if it was a patient or family upset about a mistake made by "their nurse" a CNA or MA would surely correct them then! Everyone deserves respect at their level, but the truth is that a CNA requires only weeks of school, an MA only requires a year of school. Rn's and NP's are in school for at the very minimum 2 years. There is a HUGE difference!  I was a CNA, and never had a situation that I couldn't politely correct someone that called me a nurse, and as a new MA, I fell strongly about it so I know I wont have problems in the future! My RN's will have my respect for their title! The respect they get for how I am treated has absolutely nothing to do with this topic~! =)