Identify nurse experts by their RNs and their advanced degrees

We encourage the press to identify nurse experts as registered nurses and by their educational credentials when they are interviewed for press stories. Please do not identify nurses only by their RN. Many nurses have advanced degrees, including Ph.D.'s, but members of the public often do not know that nurses can earn such degrees. Conversely, when a nurse is identified solely by his Ph.D., the public may think he is a physician or other non-nurse scientist. If the public learns that nurses can earn advanced degrees in nursing, understanding of and respect for the profession will surely increase. Parents and teachers may also be more eager to encourage their best and brightest students to enter the nursing profession.

For further discussion, see Pam Meredith's 2002 article "Pick up that RN flag and wave it," in the Nursing Spectrum. (pdf archive)

Last updated April 16, 2010