Editorial Praised

FEBRUARY 1989, VOL. 49, NO 2

AORN JOURNAL

primary definition of nurse, according to Webster’s Third Edition, is “a girl or woman employed to care for children.” I must ask Ms Palmer why she thinks nursing should be the only profession or vocation exempt from eliminating gender bias from its terminology. It is regrettable that most nurses are not aware, do not care, or are glad that there are huge numbers of men who would like to do the work that nurses do, but who cannot face the prospect of being titled nurse. Ms Palmer dismisses these men as people nursing doesn’t need anyway, but the fact is that nursing does need them. I only wish Ms Palmer could experience the situation in which you tell someone you are a nurse and get the agonizingly predictable reply, “Oh, you’re a male nurse?“ To dismiss a man as petty because he doesn’t want to be called nurse is the same as saying a woman is petty because she doesn’t want to be called a policeman, mailman, or woman doctor. If the nursing shortage is to be solved, we are going to have to do better than launch vitriolic salvos at organizations such as the American Medical Association who seek to impose their solutions on us. Perhaps simply telling them that we will consider their ideas would be more constructive and make nurses look more secure. JOHNA. McCoy, RN, MPA, CNOR STAFFDEVELOPER OR/ASU UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVISMEDICAL CENTER SACRAMENTO, CALIF

Editorial Praised

I

agree with the editorial that was published in the November 1988 issue of the Journaf. Changing the name nurse to anything else is a dumb idea. You are right on-almost. I have been an O R nurse for 12 years. During that time, I have noticed that the people who bring the most gender bias to nursing are nurses themselves. They refer to nurses as “she” rather than “he” or “she.” And I believe that men in nursing are the biggest offenders. When asked what their occupation is, many answer “I am a male nurse.” I was born a male in 1950. I became 476

a nurse in 1976. One had nothing to do with the other. If we are looking for people to change the gender bias of the nursing profession, let’s start at our own front door. CLARENCE FENTON,RN, BS, CNOR CLINICALNURSEEDUCATOR/~URGERY OSTEOPATHIC HOSPITALOF MAINE PORTLAND.ME

C

ongratulations on your editorial “A nurse by any other name is still in short supply,” which was published in the November 1988 issue of the Journal. It takes a special kind of person to be a nurse. And a nurse, whether a he or she, should always be called a nurse. We don’t need a “ha-ha.” And right now we don’t need the comic relief provided by the AMA. Lours SCOTT PRESIDENT LSA, A MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY NEWYORK CITY

Enliven Chapter Meetings

W

ant to put zip into your next AORN chapter meeting? I suggest you do what Margaret Miles, RN, CNOR, St Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center of New York, did. She pasted various questions from past AORN Journal “Clinical Issues” columns on cards and had members and invited guests choose one and discuss how their hospitals handled the situation. As an invited guest, I can assure you that the discussions that followed were lively and thought provoking. Each member presented his or her institution’s goals from a slightly different angle, and it was interesting to compare the different methods to the official AORN recommendations, which Margaret had with her. Try it. It is sure to stir up an otherwise quiet meeting. JOSEPHINE MCDONAGH, RN, CNOR ST VINCENT’S HOSPITALAND MEDICALCENTER OF NEWYORK NEWYORK CITY