DEAR MISS MANNERS: When I refer to doctors, whether in an email or in person, I use “Dr.” and their last names, as I assume most people do. What is the proper way of addressing a nurse, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant?
They have all put a lot of effort into earning their degrees, but “Physician’s Assistant Smith” seems awkward, and the usual “Ms./Mr.” doesn’t acknowledge their degrees at all.
Even though they want to call me by my first name, I prefer not to do the same. Would Miss Manners offer a solution?
GENTLE READER: “Physician’s assistant” only sounds awkward until everybody gets used to it. And the profession ought to be teaching them to do so. On a letter, you could put “P.A.” Miss Manners is less interested in professionals displaying what degrees they earned than she is in patients knowing where they are in the medical hierarchy. Badges and explanations help, but a title establishes the answer to, “Who is this person in the examining room?”
First names are not the solution for anyone involved in this situation. When you are concerned about your health, you want a skilled professional, not a new friend. And when you are wearing a hospital gown, you are in severe need of whatever dignity an impersonal, professional attitude can confer.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
COPYRIGHT 2023 JUDITH MARTIN
DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
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