PittNurse says ...

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?

WHOAHHH.. hold on there... I was an LPN and i can assure you an LPN has every right to call themselves NURSE.

 A nurse is someone who cares for the ill, the elderly etc. they hold their hands when they are scared. The put a moist wash cloth on their forehead when they have a fever. you get the idea and cna's are nurses.. As a LPN, I identify myself as a nurse and when I was a CNA, over 30 years ago I did as well.

 I have never said I was an RN.. And I don't want to be one. But I am a NUrse maybe you should look it up in the dictionary??

Boy I have come across plenty of RN'S who thought they were more of a nurse than I, Or sometimes ever better.

I have worked at a large teaching hospital in the ED, As a Nurse, a LPN, actually a GVN, and the first on in over 10 years. I worked in ICU, Surgical Step Down Unit, Telemetry, worked with a Cardiologist, Did all the back office duties as well as Office Mang. and coordinated the coumadin clinic. Worked also in Med/ Surg at a private Hospital, and also as a Hospice Nurse.

All my name badges, along with my name identify myself as a nurse ( not an RN).

Get over yourself, Nursing includes all of us: CNA'S,LPN/LVN, RN, NP  ALL OF US ARE NURSES!

So Sorry you are so stuck on the titles but you are no better than any cna or lpn

WE are the nurses

RNdude says ...

No, Katherine. Being a CNA does not qualify you to introduce yourself as a nurse. This is simply because they are not one. And, yes, they should introduce themselves as a CNA. There is no shame in being a CNA or equivalent, but misrepresentation by alluding that they are a licensed Nurse is completely inappropriate. When I was a tech in our ER going through nursing school, I introduced myself as a "tech". It is an honor to call oneself a Nurse and I did not deserve that honor until I earned it.

CNAs work just as hard as some of ya'll nurses and some of ya'll be needing help from the CNAs. My mom is a CNA and her boss and all brag about what she do and she is damn proud and I can guarantee you she know just as much as some of ya'll CNAs. When I was in the hospital in Texas the pedicatric doctor wanted to hire her on the spot because she was helping him with all my stuff and he wanted to pay for her to go to school but she didn't take the offer because she like her job in Louisiana.

cdnurse says ...

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?

It bugs me to no end.

To me that is your business they all are damn nurses to me so what the hell.

COLLIEMUM says ...

I too am an LPN and I do consider myself a nurse. I am currently in the process of finishing my RN only for one reason, money. I have no desire to return to the hospital, and frankly that is the only place that makes a huge difference. My job will not change in anyway or shape, and I currently love what I do.( Correctional Nursing ) I do more and see more in one shift than I often did in months in long term care or the hospital!! I think RN's that are intimidated by having LPN's and CNA's referred to as nurses have issues that have nothing to do with titles. We need to stick togerther, and frankly good CNA's and Med Techs will provide invaluable information and assistance, and I consider all nurses.

You have a really good point to me they all perform the same duties some do more than others and some lower ones help the higher ranking ones.

I agree, RNdude. I as well am a tech - a nurse tech to be exact, so I am very specific. They actually lump us nurse techs  together in scheduling and most things and calls us CNAs (even the white boards in the patients room have a space for RN and CNA - and nurse techs go next to CNA). I find it very important to ensure that people know I'm not a nurse, I'm just learning to be one. CNAs are NOT nurses and should NEVER introduce themselves as such! The thing that nurses can do that CNAs do NOT is ASSESS the patient and diagnose (a NURSING diagnosis)/plan/implement/evaluate interventions! Well CNAs can implement interventions - that's where they get delegated to do things that they can do within their scope.

Katrina it's not that CNAs don't work hard. Everyone is a part of the team and does their job and most do their jobs well! It's not about how well you do the job, it's about what education you've gotten to qualify you to have that position you are calling yourself. CNA does not get the education a nurse does. That's not a biased opinion, it's a fact. Nurses definitely need CNAs and CNAs are valuable! But a CNA is a CNA not a nurse.

 look up the definition of a nurse here online, google wikepedia whatever.. anyone who takes care of any other person, who is ill etc.collaboration with other members of a health care team, is responsible for: treatment, safety,and recovery of acutely or chronically ill individuals; health 

In the book the everything new nurse book by Kathy Quan isbn-12: 9781593375324. It states not word for word but it says that a nurse is a professional caregiver someone that advocates for patients right and cares for the sick and infirm.  The books says that different types of nurses are rn lpn and cna. I think the big deal is the difference in what each nurse can do, My questiuon is would you be upset to hear a lpn call themself a nurse? Im an lpn and i call myself a nurse yeah i might not do a limited few things that you do as an rn but im a nurse. like alphamale said they are just different titles but we all need each other in our work settings none of us are better than cleaning poop. Dont think you should be so upset. I also worked as a cna and no i didnt call myself a nurse

It seems folks are still missing the point.  We're not talking about the literal "Webster's" definition of the word "nurse".  That has no basis for the points we've been making for years now.  It's the title of "Nurse" issued by the state Board of Nursing that is the actual topic.  Yes, all members of the healthcare continuum "nurse" people back to health.  But they are not all Nurses.  If you "doctor" a wound, does it give you the authority to reference yourself as a doctor?  Sounds silly, I know, but it's the same argument people are still using on here.

Be proud of what you do and be proud of your official title.  But don't misrepresent.

     I agree with most in this post, that for a Cna to introduce themselves as a nurse is misleading and misrepresenting. I am now an RN, but was a Cna for 20 years and there was no shame in saying that I was indeed the assistant not the nurse.

My Cousin who is a Stna has been making comments to me saying "I just love being a  nurse dont you"  I was a stna for a few years before getting my LPN and never once said i was a nurse it was always "my name is... and i'm your aide for the night." Every time she say's she's a nurse i want to choke her or ask her when did she go back to get her LPN or RN degree. Maybe that's wrong of me to want to say that but she doesnt realise the risk she's putting herself at. by calling herself a nurse and if something happens she could be accountible for saying that.  Though it doesnt bug me as much as my best friend who is a first year in her 4 year RN program telling everyone that she's a nurse.

daynette says ...

I think everybody has lost sigth of the plight.CNA,LPN,MA,RN,NP,ect are all titles and are all deserving of ones -self & one could not function without the other.So can't we all just get along and help one another & get that glass of water or wipe that butt. It will in the end make everyone's job easier & more pleasant. After all, taking care of the patient is what its all about or is it???

Finally someone is talking like me. CAN WE ALL JUST GET ALONG.....we all need eachother and in the end of the day it really does not matter what position you have as long as we all are making a difference in someones lives and working together. Jeez!!!!

Katherine says ...

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"?

No, but I suppose that 'nursing assistant' would be ok... but if i were working as a caregiver or something i would introduce myself to the family as the 'nurse' because if you say 'nurse's assistant' and you're the only one there, they might be like 'well who the hell are you assisting" lol

I worked for a nursing home.  The unit clerk thought she was in charge of the unit. She would tell us nurses how to do our jobs. She would say "My nurses." She would take telephone orders over the phone. Call doctors on her own. Families etc would often call her the head nurse and she never corrected them. She became so overbearing that she would check our work and then run to the DON and tattle. The DON always stuck up for her mole.   She likes to play nurse and the sickening part she was backed up by the DON. Sad.

I am from arizona where I was a medical assistant for 7 years before going to school and getting my ADN. I never identified myself as a nurse before I took my boards, and I agree with many others on this post that it is a slap in the face to those who have passed the boards, to get the right to that title. If you want to be a nurse, do the time and get the licensure to back it up.