Nursing in Practice Winter 2021 (issue 122 | Page 20

20 COMMENT

Is protecting the nurse title important , or is it just a case of semantics ?

Patients and wider society expect nurses to be qualifi ed professionals , so why are we not taking action to make sure this is always the case , asks Marilyn Eveleigh
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lthough I have been a nurse for decades , I was surprised to learn that the title ‘ nurse ’ can be used by anyone in the UK . Unlike the title ‘ doctor ’, it is not protected in law .
Our legal protected title is ‘ registered nurse ’. Yet , I ’ m never referred to as ‘ registered nurse ’ in my daily work . Nurse is the title I recognise and respond to , and the one I use to describe myself . Simply : nurse . Society expects those using the title to be qualifi ed professionals .
The public consistently regards nursing as the most trusted of professions . But there are individuals and organisations where the title is used when people involved are not qualifi ed nurses . The elected MP for Blyth Valley is a healthcare assistant , but his election material described him as a nurse . Others have misled the public and tarnished the reputation of the profession by using the title nurse for profi t and deception . Recently , a high-profi le anti-vaxxer was removed from the NMC register for bringing the profession into disrepute by spreading disinformation ; yet this person continues to use the title nurse with impunity since it is not protected in the UK .
There is also an increasing number of caregivers who use ‘ nurse ’ in their job title despite not being qualifi ed nurses . While caregivers provide an essential nursing support role , their use of the title is deceptive and potentially unsafe .
The uncontrolled use of the title has implications for the profession . I ’ m somewhat indignant that anyone can call themselves a nurse . It undermines the long training and qualifi cation that underpin the award of [ registered ] nurse and discredits the importance of being on a regulated professional register . It fl ies in the face of how patients and the public defi ne us . It affronts qualifi ed nurses with outstanding student loans .
From a straw poll , it appears many nurses are unaware the nurse title is not protected in UK law . Their concern refl ects mine , in terms of our reputation and of public perceptions and safety . In visiting health and social care providers , I sometimes struggle to identify who is a [ registered ] nurse among the plethora of roles , titles and uniforms in use . I suspect it is even more diffi cult and frustrating for the public to navigate .
One hundred years ago , nursing became a registered profession with a set of qualifi cations that underpins our identity and safeguards the public . Six months ago , a petition to Parliament calling for the title nurse to be protected in UK law was launched and at the time of writing , it had garnered more than 32,000 signatures .
Let ’ s take inspiration from the response to this petition and fi ght to protect our status and title in law . Should the nurse title be protected ? Debate , page 22
I ’ m somewhat indignant that anyone can call themselves a nurse
Marilyn Eveleigh Nurse adviser and independent trainer in East Sussex nursinginpractice . com Winter 2021