How many nursing post nominals = MD/DO?

[Neuro Surg]

I have always noticed that nurses love post nominals. It's not uncommon to see 4+ post nominal letters on nurses' name badges with many of them including BSN (wtf?). I understand it's a mid-level position with a lot of laterality, but c'mon. I'm just wondering why they do it? Perhaps for easy identification of nurses with special skills around the hospital? How many nursing post nominal letters do they believe is equal to an MD/DO? 5, 8, 10?

MD/DO > DNP, CPN, MSN, RN, BSN, BC-AMD, FAAN… (?)

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[illegallysmooth]

I have always noticed that nurses love post nominals. It's not uncommon to see 4+ post nominal letters on nurses' name badges with many of them including BSN (wtf?). I understand it's a mid-level position with a lot of laterality, but c'mon. I'm just wondering why they do it? Perhaps for easy identification of nurses with special skills around the hospital? How many nursing post nominal letters do they believe is equal to an MD/DO? 5, 8, 10?

MD/DO > DNP, CPN, MSN, RN, BSN, BC-AMD, FAAN… (?)

Yes, I've seen this, and yes, I think it's funny that I often see nurses with "BSN, RN, CCRN." But what the hell does this have to do with equating oneself to a physician? They do it because it's nursing culture to post your position, your degree, and additional certifications. They like having the f-ing alphabet after their name.

To assume this means they are trying to be equal to a physician is very arrogant of you, and it appears you're just trying to stir up a flamewar here. Do you know what they call people who do that?

 

[Neuro Surg]

I appreciate your input, but I am not assuming that they attempt to equate themselves to physicians, from the ANA's responce to the Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act, it appears that they (at least on some levels) believe they are on equal ground. And I am not trying to be arrogant by asking such a question. It's something I don't understand and I'm just looking for some insight as to why nurses do it.

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAPoliticalPower/Federal/Issues/Healthcare.aspx

Excerpt: "This bill would make it illegal for any licensed health care provider who is not a medical doctor (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) to make any statement or engage in any act that would lead patients or the public to believe that they have the same or equivalent education, skills, or training as an MD or DO."... "While APRN practice differs from that of physicians, APRNs do - in fact – provide services equivalent to those of medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy."

 

[illegallysmooth]

I appreciate your input, but I am not assuming that they attempt to equate themselves to physicians, from the ANA's responce to the Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act, it appears that (at least on some levels) they believe they on equal ground. And I am not trying to be arrogant by asking such a question. It's something I don't understand and I'm just looking for some insight as to why nurses do it.

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAPoliticalPower/Federal/Issues/Healthcare.aspx

Excerpt: "This bill would make it illegal for any licensed health care provider who is not a medical doctor (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) to make any statement or engage in any act that would lead patients or the public to believe that they have the same or equivalent education, skills, or training as an MD or DO."... "While APRN practice differs from that of physicians, APRNs do - in fact – provide services equivalent to those of medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy."

Most nurses are not NPs. In your original post, you did not call out NPs specifically for this observation.

The NP contention that they provide services of equal value has nothing to do with the nursing phenomenon of listing a billion certs after a name. It's because they are "practitioners" and see themselves DOING the same thing as docs in the same practice - seeing patients, writing scripts and referrals. They don't know what they don't know.

This topic has been beaten to death. If you want to learn more about it, there are many threads you could catch up on.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I appreciate your input, but I am not assuming that they attempt to equate themselves to physicians, from the ANA's responce to the Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act, it appears that they (at least on some levels) believe they are on equal ground. And I am not trying to be arrogant by asking such a question. It's something I don't understand and I'm just looking for some insight as to why nurses do it.

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAPoliticalPower/Federal/Issues/Healthcare.aspx

Excerpt: "This bill would make it illegal for any licensed health care provider who is not a medical doctor (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) to make any statement or engage in any act that would lead patients or the public to believe that they have the same or equivalent education, skills, or training as an MD or DO."... "While APRN practice differs from that of physicians, APRNs do - in fact – provide services equivalent to those of medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy."

The part of the bill you quoted states that only in education, skills, or training can non MD/DOs not claim to be equivalent. Guess what, the 1st and 3rd things are not going to be equal at all. Not one bit. You could argue about equal skills, and I might even agree, but the first two are just flat out wrong.

 

[fab4fan]

It's something that's "done" within nursing, but it has nothing to do with nurses thinking it puts them on equal footing with physicians. That's ridiculous. Some nurses like to put every single credential they ever obtained on their badges, something I personally find annoying, but whatever. I think it's more appropriate to put your highest degree obtained, your license, and if you have a certification that pertains to the specialty you are working in. For example, if you're a nurse working in oncology and you have your BSN and certification: Mary Smith BSN, RN, OCN.

Personally, I couldn't care one flip if a doctor is/is not impressed with what's on my badge. I have no idea why this issue bedevils so many of you. Don't you have better things to worry about? 😉

 

[NYRN]

It's something that's "done" within nursing, but it has nothing to do with nurses thinking it puts them on equal footing with physicians. That's ridiculous. Some nurses like to put every single credential they ever obtained on their badges, something I personally find annoying, but whatever. I think it's more appropriate to put your highest degree obtained, your license, and if you have a certification that pertains to the specialty you are working in. For example, if you're a nurse working in oncology and you have your BSN and certification: Mary Smith BSN, RN, OCN.

Personally, I couldn't care one flip if a doctor is/is not impressed with what's on my badge. I have no idea why this issue bedevils so many of you. Don't you have better things to worry about? 😉

👍

I see a lot of this in magnet hospitals. The hospitals that want magnet status want nurses with BSN's and certification on their specialty.

To the other posters, this has nothing to do with advanced practice nursing at all. It has to do with the hospital wanting the nurses that work in a particular area to have a better understanding of nursing in that particular specialty. I hold a certification, and a BSN. Neither one of them are on my hospital ID.

 

[smq123]

👍

I see a lot of this in magnet hospitals. The hospitals that want magnet status want nurses with BSN's and certification on their specialty.

On a side note, is there really that big a difference between a BSN and an RN? 😕 One of the nursing supervisors at my hospital was being told to go back and get a BSN degree, or she might be demoted - again, due to magnet status or some such. What gives?

 

[fab4fan]

On a side note, is there really that big a difference between a BSN and an RN? 😕 One of the nursing supervisors at my hospital was being told to go back and get a BSN degree, or she might be demoted - again, due to magnet status or some such. What gives?

I would love to answer this but would be considered a Benedict Arnold to my profession. Oh, what the heck.

BSN= better at bullsh*tting. Now, I'm sure someone will say that's just me saying that because I don't have a BSN and I am jealous. Not true. I don't have the patience for "nurse-speak" and you have to do too much "nurse-speak" to get any advanced degree in nursing. I speak English and Spanish. If that can't get me through my job day after day, something is wrong.

Magnet is ANA driven. Please don't get me started on my feelings on the ANA. "Inmates running the asylum" is the kindest thing I could say about it.

 

[NYRN]

Personally, although I don't work in a magnet hospital, I know people that do, and it makes no damn difference at all as far as working conditions go. The hospitals like to have it because it "looks good" when they are advertising to patients and nurses.

Without getting into a debate, the one thing I will say is that the ADN programs combine patho/pharm/physical assessment, where BSN students take a semester + of those alone. Some ADN programs also combine peds and OB. I personally don't feel that combined courses cover everything that seperate courses do. I do see the difference when there are new grads, but then again, after there is a year of experience, you wouldn't know the difference. I am only talking about recent graduates. Years ago, ADN's were much better prepared because they were trained on the floor from pretty much day 1. With lawsuits nowadays, nursing students are not allowed to do pretty much most of the clinical skills they will be doing as working RN's. Years ago, this wasn't even an issue. Before I graduated, I never even started an IV or drew blood. We were not allowed to, and we had to sign a contract (drawn up by the hospital) stating we won't do it

However, I don't see how holding a certification would be a bad thing. If you know more about your specialty than those who aren't certified, that is better for patient care. That is my bottom line.

 

[PostLessOne]

How long would it take for a nurse to get EVERY post-nominal available? 30 years? Surely by then they would have roughly the knowledge of a doc, right?

 

[JaggerPlate]

Wow, it was a freaking joke, and it was funny. SDN needs some sort of sarcasm indicator.

 

[deleted6669]

Wow, it was a freaking joke, and it was funny. SDN needs some sort of sarcasm indicator.

I , for one caught the humor.

emedpa, pa-c, ms, ba, bs, emt-p, dfaapa