The term ‘Doctor’ is recognized as an earned title for anyone who has achieved a terminal degree in their profession. It is no different for nurses. Physicians are not the only healthcare professionals recognized to have doctorate degrees. Nursing practitioners have also taken to pursuing medicine courses in nursing practice degree (Decapua, 2016) . If nurse practitioners with a doctorate may identify themselves as 'doctor' has been an ongoing debate between the nurse-led and physician-led organizations.
In 2006, the American medical association published a resolution titled, ‘need to expose and counter nurse doctoral programs misrepresentation (Decapua, 2016) .' The decision stated that other health care providers including nurses who hold doctorate degrees and address themselves as doctors would create confusion, destroy the trust present in a true physician-client relationship as well as jeopardize patient safety. It asserts that patients that are made to think they are receiving care from a registered doctor while receiving treatment from a nurse may jeopardize their health. In response to the published resolution, nurse practitioner organizations responded with a unified stance that the title doctor is not reserved for physicians alone (Decapua, 2016) . They also gave their stand on the accusations made that DNPs risk patient’s life citing that extensive research demonstrates that nurse practitioners provide safe, high quality, and effective care with an example from a Nursing Economics systematic review in PubMed that compared patient care by nurses and physicians and found no disparity in patient satisfaction and outcome (Decapua, 2016). However, in America, nine states require nurse practitioners to follow their introduction with a clarifying statement while six states have made it illegal for nurse practitioners to address themselves as doctors. This journal was written by Dr. Melissa Decapua, DNP, PMHNP dated April 28, 2016. It is a credible and reliable source given that it is a recent journal and by a recognized expert. It compares physician care and nursing care and the right each has of being referred to as a doctor as well as patient care. The term doctor is not reserved by physicians alone but can be used by other professionals in the clinical setting preferably with a clarification.
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An article by Kristin Prentiss, an MD, Physician done in 2016 dubbed ‘Will the real doctor, please stand up?' Explains that there needs not to be controversy on whether nurses with doctorate degrees should be addressed as nurses since, for a controversy to brew, there need to be two good opposing arguments (Ott, 2016) . The article derives this conclusion by the simple fact that nurses with doctorate degrees have earned the title ‘Doctor’ while the only reason why the term may not be used to refer to nursing practitioners is the fact that it is strongly associated with physicians, therefore can be misleading to patients and consequently unethical (Ott, 2016) . Physicians may feel that the title doctor to nursing practitioners may be inappropriate when the nurses have run a shorter course (Ott, 2016) . Both physicians and nurses have valid arguments. In conclusion, the author sees a change in the tradition where professionals introduce themselves by their degree. For example, an introduction like; "Hi, I'm DNP James, this is MD Elsie and DO Charles." The article is a recent one, with a credible author who is a recognized expert in the field of Medicine.
An article in the New York Times titled `When the nurse wants to be called 'doctor' in 2011 by Gardiner Harris, elucidates that other healthcare providers including nurses are exceedingly claiming this honorific and physicians are fighting back (Harris, 2011) . Doctor Roland, the board chairman of the American Academy of family physicians, said that physicians are continuously getting worried of losing their control over the title doctor, a word that has defined their profession for many centuries and is even more concerned that they may lose control over the profession itself (Harris, 2011) . He explains that patients may be confused about roles played by different healthcare professionals who all call themselves doctors. Benefits to patients that are taken care of by nurses with doctorate degrees are unclear since there is no established evidence that nurses with doctorate degrees provide better care than other nurses (Harris, 2011) . This article is from a recognized reporter who covers international diplomacy for the New York Times – a recognized media outlet in the United States though it may be from 2011, there is consistency with other recent articles of the same.
The title doctor has been allowed for different professionals who have earned a Ph.D. including lawyers, veterinarians, pharmacists and nurses are no exception (Registered Nursing.org, 2018) . This is according to an article in the registered nurses' website (registered nursing.org) titled ‘can you be referred to as Doctor if you earn a DNP?' It indicates that since that is the highest attainable degree in nursing, nurses should have the title to indicate expertise in his or her field. It explains it also helps build trust between the patient and the nurse since patients are reassured on the level of expertise and competency (Registered Nursing.org, 2018) . This article is recent and from a recognized website by nursing professionals and gives an argument that since other professionals can use the term to indicate to their clients their level of competency, nurses too ought to have the right to address themselves as ‘Doctor' for the same reasons.
An article by Mathew O’Donnell on ‘Why nurses should not be called doctors' the author is of the opinion that even though addressing nurses as doctors may seem to be a simple use of semantics, it may be confusing to the patients since they expect that anyone who addresses themselves as doctor is, in fact, an MD (O’Donnell, 2012) . The patients may feel resentful that they were treated by someone they deem underqualified or whom they believe is unlicensed. The article also explains that physicians have more medical science knowledge and extensive training as well as the blurring of roles and identification between nurses and medical doctors (O’Donnell, 2012) . The article is from 2012 and is arguably consistent with all other articles and research papers that have the idea that nurses ought not to be referred to as doctors in a clinical setting despite their academic qualifications.
References
Decapua, M. (2016). Are nurse practitioners doctors real doctors? Barton Associates. Retrieved from https://www.bartonassociates.com/blog/are-nurse-practitioner-doctors-real-doctors
Harris, G. (2011). When the nurse wants to be called 'Doctor . ' The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/health/policy/02docs.html
O’Donnell, M. (2012). Why nurses should not be called doctor . Health eCareers. Retrieved from https://www.healthecareers.com/article/career/why-nurses- should-not-be-called-doctor
Ott, K. P. (2016). Will the real doctor please stand up? KevinMD. Retrieved from https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/01/will-real-doctor-please-stand.html
Registered Nursing.org. (2018). Can you be referred to as a doctor if you earn a DNP? Retrieved from https://www.bartonassociates.com/blog/are-nurse-practitioner-doctors-real-doctors
