Will The Real Doctor Please Stand Up?

Here is a great article talking about the battle to keep NPs from introducing themselves as a doctor when dealing with patients. I am very proud of the physicians in the piece who are standing up for patient care. The OBVIOUS reason that NPs (and now some PAs) want to use “Dr.” in the exam room is to confuse the patient. End of story. There is no debate. Here is my favorite section of the article:

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, in a statement to Stateline, said it supports the right of nurses and other providers to use the “Dr.” title when they have doctorates. The organization opposes legislation that would prohibit nurses and other professionals from “clearly representing their credentials to patients and the public.”

I think this says it all. And the deception is working: The American Medical Association found that 39% of patients surveyed in 2018 incorrectly believed that a person who holds a doctor of nursing practice degree, known as a DNP, is a physician, while another 11% said they weren’t sure. That’s 50%!!!!!

Hold on, this NP has proof otherwise:

“I don’t know any nurse practitioners who would go into a patient’s room and introduce themselves as a doctor without also identifying themselves as a nurse practitioner,” Stone-Gale said.

There is nothing like an anecdote from one NP to prove your point. She continues:

“Using that ‘doctor’ title and saying you have a doctor of nursing practice is not wrong,” she said. “We worked hard to get that degree, just like any other specialty.”

Worked hard? Just like any other specialty? An online degree at Walden is the same as getting an MD/DO?

As you can see, it’s not even close when getting the NP degree. But Doug, what about the doctorate? Here you go:

Yeah, it’s not the same.

Kudos to Dr. Kavali and Dr. Bernard and all the others keeping up this fight. You are my heroes.

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