When was the last time you referred to someone with a Ph.D. as “doctor?” Probably fairly recently, considering the majority of professors at ASU have doctorates.
Assuming that a majority of students are taking classes not related to the health profession, it can rightly be assumed that these professors are not doctors in the medical sense.
While most students simply use the term “professor,” what if you were legally prohibited from calling you professors “doctor?"
Unfortunately, for nurses, that is exactly what will happen if the New York State Senate passes a bill that prevents nurses from referring to themselves as “doctor,” regardless of their education, reported The New York Times.
The concern of physicians is that patients will be confused about the difference between the roles of the nurse and the roles of the physician, both of whom would go by “doctor.”
This is an understandable concern if we are assuming that patients don’t have the wherewithal to distinguish a nurse and a doctor, especially when nurses normally specify that they will be your nurse.
Yes, physicians can go to school for upwards of 15 years and they deserve recognition, but that recognition should not come at the expense of undermining advanced degrees that nurses obtain.
According to The New York Times, both physical therapists and nurse practitioners will be required to have doctorates to practice by 2015.
If the degree will be required anyways, it only makes sense for nurses to be able to call themselves “doctor.”
There would be no sense in nurses going back to school for a doctorate if they didn’t want to be acknowledged for it and some of that acknowledgement comes in the form of a more prestigious title.
It is a term used as much out of courtesy as it is out of respect. Many students call their professors “doctor” upon first reference to assert the professor’s superiority.
Granted most professors are only referred to as “doctor” in written communication, and it would be insulting to tell them that they were prohibited from using the term.
The New York Times reported that nurses are allowed to practice without supervision in 23 states and that having nurses with doctorates could increase that number.
With the unreasonably long waits that patients are often met with in doctors’ offices, it could be beneficial to have nurses on staff that could treat patients with non-life-threatening illnesses. This would free up a significant amount of physicians’ time to tend to the patients who require the most care.
Understandably, physicians want to be distinguished as the best of the best, and they should be. By the same token, however, nurses that go through doctoral programs should not have to set aside their accomplishments for fear of hurting somebody’s ego.
Maybe it should be that nurses must specify that they are nurses, even if they go by the title “doctor.” Whatever the solution is, no one, nurse or otherwise, should be barred from being recognized for their achievements.
Reach the columnist at lweinick@asu.edu
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