Editor's Note

What's in a name?
Does the title 'nurse' accurately reflect who we are
Joellen Koerner, Ph.D., MSN, RN
Midwest Edition Editor
May 14, 2001

This issue of NurseWeek focuses on the image of nursing. Much debate is raging about the name nurse. While some believe the original meaning-which reflects caring and nurturing-is compelling, others feel that it does not adequately express the rigors of scientific inquiry and clinical reasoning that accompany a nursing presence at the bedside. Some argue that the name is a barrier to attracting young people to the field.

A recent SAT College Entrance Exam study showed that in 1970, the overwhelming number of high school students seeking a college degree listed "seeking a career of meaning and purpose" as their prime motivator. The same study showed that in the late 1990s, the prime motivator was "to have a career and make a million dollars." Do these two goals have to be mutually exclusive?

While visiting with a male colleague recently, I saw that he was incensed that he is continually referred to as a "male nurse." He lamented that he has never heard the public refer to a "male lawyer" or a "male engineer." He loves nursing and is excited by his career. As he has moved from staff nurse to manager to chief operating officer, his career has been diverse and broad. He and countless others (male and female alike) have continued their education and professional development across their career span. While this option is not possible for all of us, the potential lies within each of us.

Why do we put qualifying terms on the title nurse? How many descriptors, acronyms and letters do we list after our names? What does it reflect? In an oppressed society, titles and degrees frequently are used because they are a way to demonstrate competence and legitimacy. Using these descriptors to define ourselves is part of our collective history. It comes from a time when everyone providing care-from the mother and friend to the highly educated caregiver-was referred to as nurse.

When the caps disappeared, the confusion heightened. Everyone coming into the patient's room was a "nurse." As I watched carefully and talked with patients about their experience, one differentiator was present in the public's experience that separated a registered nurse from others. While many offered care and solace, the nurse who stood out was the one who shared his or her clinical reasoning with the patient.

This nurse would ask a question: "Could you take five deep breaths every hour today? If you do, it will increase the air exchange in your lungs and you won't be so prone to developing pneumonia while you are in bed."

Sharing the rationale for nursing activities small and large with the patient and family is a great way to make them partners and educate them for self-care upon discharge. Encounters like these go far beyond a name tag to signal your competence to a patient.

We live in interesting times. Is it time for us to redefine ourselves and change our name? What should we be called? How should people know us? Please share your ideas on the Web forum or drop a note to Readers Forum. Let's examine how the Midwest feels about this issue, and let our collective voice be heard. But please be mindful that regardless of what we are called, the essence of who we are and what we contribute vibrates in the hearts and souls of people throughout antiquity.