Perspective: What’s in a name?

Borthwick, Alan and Ball, Jane (2018) Perspective: What’s in a name? Journal of Research in Nursing, 23 (4), 375-379. (doi:10.1177/1744987118779437).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Concern has been growing in the nursing world about the potential misuse of the title ‘nurse’. The debate came to a head following publication of analysis of advanced and specialist nurses, and the discovery that a significant number of posts in the NHS have titles such as ‘Advanced Nurse Practitioner’ or ‘Specialist Nurse’ but the post-holders were not registered nurses (Leary et al. 2017). When a new nursing support role was proposed in England, the title was a matter of dispute. The title ‘associate nurse’ was rejected, with the profession arguing that the new role should be referred to as ‘nursing associate’.

Is it professional pedantry to insist that these roles are not ‘nurses’, or an important point of principle? What’s in a name?

Alan Borthwick places the debate about professional titles in a sociological context and uses the example of titles in podiatry to reflect on the role and significance of professional titles. This is followed by a response that offers a nursing perspective on professional titles.

Text

Whats in a name JRN Mar 2018 Borthwick Ball v2-author final - Accepted Manuscript

Available under License University of Southampton Accepted Manuscript Licence.

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