A nurse refers to a person trained in giving care to patients and works with other professionals like doctors to ensure positive outcomes of health services. There has been an argument on whether nurses who have achieved degrees should be called doctors, such as those who have earned Doctorate of Nursing (DNP) degrees. Generally, people that qualify to be called doctors are those with PhDs, lawyers, and pharmacists among others, but when it comes to nurses, conflicts arise. Although some scholars claim that nurses with degrees should not have the title as it would confuse patients, it should be used because nursing is one of the hardest degrees to accomplish, those with degrees should be treated like others and furthering education to earn a doctorate is costly, thus appreciation is needed.
Nurses who have earned degrees should be called doctors because finishing a nursing degree is tough. The quantity of concepts learned is large, especially on terminologies, concepts as well as practical skills. Nurses have to spend most of their time studying books and in the field, where they deal with real patients while learning. It is also hard completing the course because of the level of intelligence needed in dealing with patients ( Moran et al., 2016). Even though a situation might have various solutions, nurses have to evaluate and identify the most suitable technique based on the patient’s needs. At times, this is tough for them, because a simple mistake would lead to the deterioration of patients’ health. Time management is also critical in nursing, due to the idea that they have to spend a lot of time in books and in the field practicing. Ensuring a balance between the degree and other life aspects is thus hard as many sacrifices have to be done. Therefore, using the title doctor to qualified nurses is right, as the struggle is worth the title.
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Nurses with degrees should also be called doctors as they attain the credentials needed in the doctorate level. Some of the qualifications needed are that one must have a bachelor's degree, take the Medical College Admissions Test, earn a medical degree, finish a residency program, have a license and get a certified to advanced education. Nurses with degree go through the same procedure, so the denial of the title shows discrimination. As stated above, the nursing education journey is tough which needs extra determination and hard work for the above qualifications to be attained. Therefore, nurses with the above credentials should be referred to as doctors. Other than that, earning a doctorate especially in nursing is costly. Earning a nursing degree takes four years, where the costs range from $12,000 to $46,000 ( Buppert, 2017). Scholars claim that nurses with DNP are different from people earning a Ph.D. though the only difference between the two is that DNP deals with clinical aspects while Ph.D. involves research ( Dols et al., 2017). As a result, both titles show a mastery of skills though in different areas. Regarding the cost incurred in earning a doctorate in nursing, the title doctor should be used, as the skills earned are worth the title.
Some scholars do not agree with the above claims, where they insist that nurses with doctorate qualifications should have a nurse title and not a doctor. The basic idea raised is that the title would confuse patients as they do not know the roles of a doctorate nurse and a medical doctor ( Udlis & Mancuso, 2015). As a result, they would sue a hospital, if the expected services are not provided by the doctorate nurse. For example, when a senior nurse enters an examination room and claims to be a doctor, the patient would assume that the person is a medical doctor and thus raise concerns needing the attention of a doctor. If the nurse does not handle the condition, the client would easily claim that the facility has employed less qualified doctors and thus putting patients’ lives on risk. However, the above claim is not valid, as professionals are required to create a rapport with patients. In this stage, the doctorate nurse explains to patients on their qualifications and roles regarding their treatment ( Lievrouw et al., 2016). Even though most of the professionals do not make the patients understand their qualifications, the aspect helps the patient know what the person is capable of doing. Therefore, the claim that nurses with doctorate levels should not be called doctors due to the confusion is not valid, because nurses explain to patients about their qualifications in ensuring that the patient understands the person's roles.
In conclusion, nurses with doctorate qualifications should be given the title ‘doctor.' Attaining a nursing degree is tough, due to the many concepts that have to be learned and the time spent in books is also long. Moreover, nurses with the credentials ought not to be discriminated and the costs incurred are also high. Thus, appreciating the struggle and the roles played should be ensured, which would be to recognize them as doctors. However, there has been the claim that using the title would create confusion among patients, as they would assume that doctorate nurses are medical doctors. The claim is however invalid because professionals make patients understand their roles in the treatment process. Therefore, nurses with a doctorate level of education should be called doctors.
References
Buppert, C. (2017). Nurse practitioner's business practice and legal guide . Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Dols, J. D., Hernández, C., & Miles, H. (2017). The DNP project: Quandaries for nursing scholars. Nursing Outlook , 65 (1), 84-93.
Lievrouw, A., Van Belle, M. D., & Benoit, D. D. (2016, July). Coping with moral distress in oncology practice: nurse and physician strategies. In Oncology nursing forum (Vol. 43, No. 4, p. 505). Oncology Nursing Society.
Moran, K. J., Burson, R., & Conrad, D. (2016). The doctor of nursing practice scholarly project . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Udlis, K. A., & Mancuso, J. M. (2015). Perceptions of the role of the doctor of nursing practice-prepared nurse: Clarity or confusion. Journal of Professional Nursing , 31 (4), 274-283.
