Medical Credential Abbreviations
Medical Credential Abbreviations
By: Ashlee Hamilton
May 13, 2016
English 205
Hondros college
Medical Credential Abbreviations
My topic is medical profession abbreviations that are common. The knowledge of
medical professional’s and their scope or area of treatment vary in large amounts. The amount of
medical professions is very large and grows by the day. Medical credential abbreviations help us
as people out in the world know what type of doctor we are seeing at the time. We as people may
not realize that we are using the abbreviations to identify the medical staff member, but we are.
This is more of a subconscious happening in our daily lives. Not all of us understand exactly
what each letter in the abbreviation stands for but we do have a general understanding. I will just
be giving you a brief understanding and a little more depth onto what you may already know.
There are thousands of medical credential abbreviations. They represent several different
profession’s there are abbreviations to show for every type of healthcare provider. I will start off
with STNA. This stands for State tested nursing assistant, this is someone who helps a patient
with activities of daily living. They are under the direction of the nurse and doctor’s. They can
only carry out things that are ordered in the plan of care. The nurse’s delegate simple task that
are within the STNA scope of practice. The STNA take a course and that makes them a CNA
when they are finished with the course. A CNA is a certified nursing assistant. They then have to
take a state board examination to become an STNA. The state board examination is a
combination of skills, such as changing a bed, hand washing, ambulating a patient, and so forth.
They must also pass a written exam. They are expected to be compliant with HIPPA, which is to
not disclose any information of a patient to anyone that is not on the patients care team. They
work in all avenues of healthcare such as home care, hospitals, and nursing homes.
Medical Credential Abbreviations
The next abbreviation I would like to focus on is LPN this stands for Licensed Practical
Nurse. An LPN is the nurse who works along with your RN and under the order and direction of
your doctor. The LPN is generally a full time 12 month program at an nursing college. They
must sit for the NCLEX after the completion of the program. The LPN is carrying out
delegations from the RN and the LPN is delegating task to the STNA such as vitals, and
activities of daily living. The LPN is allowed to do a lot of the same task as an RN but no
hanging the first IV but they can maintain, they can not do any IV push medications. The LPN
used to be used a lot more than it is today because we used to use what they call team nursing.
LPN generally will be the one giving your medications and you generally find an LPN working
in nursing homes, or doctors offices.
RN is an Registered Nurse, they go to school generally full time for 2 years. This is an
associate degree. The RN is the nurse that works directly under the Doctor or Nurse Practitioner.
The RN is found mostly in the Hospital and long term care facilities the Rn is allowed to do most
things they can flush a picc they can push medication in an IV, they can also hang the first dose
of medication. An BSN is a bachelors of science and nursing, this is the more administrative and
leadership side of the nursing.
The next abbreviation I chose to use is the NP this is a Nurse Practitioner. An NP is a
nurse with a master’s degree. The NP can be general family practice, teaching, or even
specialized. They work under a Doctor. They can diagnose and treat they just can not write a
narcotic prescription. The NP is becoming more common instead of always having to see a
doctor. We are also being taught nursing by some NP’s. They are a vital role. They are seen in
hospitals or doctors offices, or even nursing colleges.
Medical Credential Abbreviations
MD this is a doctor of medicine. A doctor of medicine is like your family physician. The
MD goes through lots of schooling and even many long hours of fellowship and then they
become attending, they really have lots of education behind them it is your degree plus then four
more years on top of that for medical school. They are the backbone. They are the one who we as
nurse’s do everything under the direction of. They are the one that is generally treating and
diagnosing any condition and they are who writes all the orders. They write orders based off of
the necessity found during their assessment.
DO is an osteopathic doctor. This is a doctor who truly practices all avenues of medicine.
They go through slightly more schooling than an MD. They have a wide scope of practice. This
is another doctor that we as nurses carry out the orders of.
I hope that you have a general understanding if you did not already on some awesome
medical credential abbreviations. These are just a few of the medical credentials used most often.
There are many more that I think I could possibly write a entire text book on just the medical
credential abbreviations. This is a great thing to have a little knowledge about so you can make
informed decisions of your healthcare. The Healthcare providers will help you in way’s you
could never imagine and you could be entrusting your life in that persons hands so you would
like to make sure you have a slight understanding at least on what schooling is necessary, what
the job they do is, and how good they are. I hope this was helpful. I think it is more of a
subconscious thing here in the US. We need to make sure everyone has the general
understanding
Medical Credential Abbreviations
Bibliography
AAPA. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aapa.org/
ANA. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/What-isNursing/Tools-You-Need/RNsAPNs.html
APTA. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apta.org/PTCareers/RoleofaPT/
CCI. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cc-institute.org/cns-cp/advancedpractice/promote/np-job
MD and DO difference. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.piedmont.org/livingbetter/your-doctor-the-difference-between-an-md-and-do
Practical nursing.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.practicalnursing.org/working-aslicensed-practical-nurse-lpn
Ohio codes. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.codes.ohio.gov/oac
Nursing Shortage vs. Patient Care
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Nursing Shortage vs. Patient Care
Carlena Hester
English 205
May 13, 2016
Nursing Shortage vs. Patient Care
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Executing another more secure and more beneficial workplace for attendants won't lessen the
deficiency, yet it's a stage in the right direction for enhancing quiet care results. In human services
today, numerous regularly inquire as to whether ones bargained workplace represent a risk to patient
well being. Furthermore, assuming this is the case, what conceivable changes can be made to guarantee
that patients are accepting the ideal measure of consideration obviously. Numerous attendants realize
that because of the rebuild of medicinal services in the late 1990's, most human services offices began
cutting their staffing needs so as to lower cost.
Only this added to over effort of the nursing staff, which prompted numerous getting to be
"wore out." Burn-out comprises of a wide range of signs and side effects, for example, crabbiness,
weariness, sleep deprivation, and hypertension. Some attendants have voiced encountering migraines,
back torment and also sadness. There are numerous anxiety related variables at work and inside
attendants' close to home lives. This is a noteworthy antecedent for simple wear out.
Because of spending plan cuts on the ascent and administrative cut backs also, numerous social
insurance offices are encountering an emergency with regards to nursing deficiencies and staff wear
out, which both are imperative segments with regards to risky working conditions for the health
care staff. The steady disintegration in the nature of consideration is at an untouched high.
As indicated by (Carayon and Gurses, 2008), there are a few outcomes for an expansion in
workload for medical attendants. For example numerous offices may see an expansion in falls,
pharmaceutical blunders, and contaminations to give some examples. An examination was finished by
the Institute of Medicine, this demonstrated the record number of deaths every year as a consequence
of Preventable Medical Errors was some place between 44,000-98,000. Instead of 50,000 deaths
connected with Alzheimer's illness, and the 17,000 deaths that were connected with unlawful
medication use. (1999). By and by these
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concentrates alone are all that could possibly be needed to demonstrate the effect that working under
staffed may have on patient consideration. In greater part of any medicinal services setting, attendants
are truth be told the fundamental social insurance supplier.
The patients will in all probability experience and invest a lot of energy with the nursing staff
amid their remain. However even in their most powerless minutes, one's security ought to never be
risked. It's genuinely basic that we as attendants are intended to encourage the sheltered and
legitimate conveyance of nursing consideration conditions.
In order to have a positive impact on patient safety and patient care, one must ensure effective
nurse staffing, communication and a productive work environment for nursing staff. As stated by Despin
(2009), the key to obtaining a healthy work environment includes the ability to adequately address the
soft issues. (p.11). Overall we must be vigilant and continue to promote safety, nursing shortages has
many contributing factors. All of which, may or may not directly impact the outcome of patient care and
safety.
Despite the fact that the requirement for nursing staff is high, the actuality remains that
selecting and holding qualified and skillful human services proficient is an issue also. During the
time staff deficiencies and coherence of consideration has keeps on being debilitated by this.
Most healthcare workers acknowledge nursing positions keeping in mind the desire of having
lucrative, dependable staffing and a sheltered workplace.
Numerous healthcare workers are liable to stay in the health services setting where more
secure work practices and conditions are executed every day. One realizes that the nursing situations
can't be changed at the snap of your fingers, yet in actuality usage of collaboration, administration
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abilities, and part clarity may truth be told be a stage in the right direction to building a more secure
and effective workplace.
"Many nurses assume an indispensable part in patient care and wellbeing and now and
again are viewed as the main line of safeguard. The effect that working understaff has on
numerous medical caretakers is inescapable. I have went home a few evenings subsequent to
working short and frequently consider on regardless of whether I was going to return for my next
planned movement. I got myself overpowered now and again. As nurses we anticipate a sheltered
workplace and I do concur that a change in the workplace would minimize the nursing deficiency in
more routes than one. Not just will progression of consideration enhance, quiet security would never
again be traded off." (R. Brooks RN, individual correspondence, May 3, 2016). Greater part of the
medical staff that I had the chance to talk with and in addition from my very own experience, all
concur that a decent workplace comprise of admiration, collaboration, satisfactory measure of staff,
and backing from bosses and administration. Each of these are little points of reference in the health
services world, yet in the event that these are connected every day they can advance a more secure
workplace and in addition more secure working conditions.
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References
Carayon, P., Gurses, A.P. (2008). Nursing workload and patient safety: A Human Factors Engineering
Perspective. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2657
Despins, L. (2009). Patient safety and collaboration of the intensive care unit team. Critical care Nurse
29(2), 85-91,doi: 10.4037ccn2209281
http://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=xwypQJo1o&featureyoutubegdata/nursingshortage
Buerhaus, P.I., Donelon, K., Norman, L., DesRoaches, C., Dittus, R. (2007). Impact of the nursing shortage
on patient care; Comparative Perspectives. Health Affairs, 26(3) 853-862. Retrieved from
http://www.content.healthaffairs.org/content/26/853.full
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