OPINION: NJ bill would reserve ‘nurse’ title for licensed nurses
New Jersey State Nurses Association CEO urges lawmakers to advance bill protecting the title
The basics:
- Assembly Bill 2474 would reserve the title ‘nurse’ for licensed professionals
- At least 35 states already have laws protecting use of the nursing title
- New Jersey State Nurses Association urges lawmakers to advance the measure
Not everyone who calls themselves a “nurse” in New Jersey is licensed as a nurse in the state.
Odd, right?
Here’s what’s even more surprising: Under current New Jersey law, someone without a nursing license can legally use the standalone title “nurse.”
I found that out about eight years ago. That’s when I received a phone call from a registered nurse working in a pediatric practice in South Jersey. She asked me a simple question: “Can anyone call themselves a nurse?”
Simple answer, I thought: No.
Surely, you had to be licensed to use that title.
Then she told me why she was asking.
The nurse said her medical practice had replaced its nurses with certified medical assistants. But patients and their families believed the people caring for them were still nurses.
How can that be?
Surprising...