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10-11-2006, 11:31 PM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Production Unit Nurse Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 10
 | What do the abbreviations stand for? Okay, maybe I've completely missed this but being from Australia, I've noticed several abbrieviations such as LPN in other members posts which I have no idea what they stand for. A suggestion I have is perhaps you can have an admin post where you have each abbreviation 'spelt out'? I'm not sure if I'm the only nurse outside the US [I hope I'm not] and a bit of clarification would help a great deal. 
__________________ Ching-Ling Lim => EN Level 5] ================== My resume - http://kimba.ggenesis.net |
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10-12-2006, 06:41 PM
| #2 (permalink) |
| Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 4
|  Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? We have a number of different designations for nursing caregivers in the U.S. Forgive me if these explanations are too elementary, but I admit, I don't know what your strata of caregivers is in Australia, so a similar response from you would be welcomed. MA-Medical Assistant. Minimal amount of training, usually works in a physician's office. Able to draw blood, do EKGs, vital signs, etc. (There are not a lot of regulations in the physician's office environment at this time. We need to work on this.) HHA-Home Health Aide. Some training in providing comfort care in a patient's home, such as bed baths, assistance with activities of daily living. CNA-Certified Nursing Assistant. Minimum requirements include 75 hours of class time, 75 hours of hands-on experience. These people are typically found working in nursing homes, providing the hands-on care for those residents. Unfortunately, they word extremely hard, have a lot of responsibility and don't get paid much. LPN-Licensed Practical Nurse/LVN-Licensed Vocational Nurse--Both of these disgnations mean the same thing, but some states in the US choose to call them one or the other. These are nurses who typically go to school for 18 months to 2 years, receive basic education about anatomy and physiology and more training on the technical side of providing nursing care and are able to carry out certain nursing practices. With the R.N. shortage that we are experiencing in the US, their responsibilities and capabilities have most certainly increased. Typically, these nurses are not placed in supervisory positions, you will find them in nursing homes more-so than in hospitals. R.N.--It sounds like you know about that, so I won't go into it, though we have different educational degrees that make up the same designation of R.N. A Diploma R.N. which studied and trained in a hospital-based environment working as staff in the hospital for hands-on experience in the off shifts of class time. Typically lasts 3 years and is rapidly being phased out. The Associate Degree nurse has a 2-year college degree. The Bachelors in Science in Nursing has a 4-year college degree. These degrees mean college courses first, then hands-on experience. Nurse Practitioner (N.P.) or Advanced Nurse Practitioner: R.N. with a Masters degree who practices under the license of a physician to do most everything a physician does, such as diagnose, write prescriptions, give orders for tests and referrals, etc. Nurse Midwives fall under this category as well. P.A. or Physician's Assistant is typically a non-nursing person who has 2 additional years of college on top of their 4-year Bachelor's degree and has similar capabilities as the Nurse Practioner. (Of course, being a nurse, my opinoin is that these guys are not nearly as competent or adequate as the N.P.) MSN or PhD in nursing typically are educators in nursing schools. Does that kind of clear it up for you? K.C.  |
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10-12-2006, 06:59 PM
| #3 (permalink) |
| Production Unit Nurse Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 10
| Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? Yes, that clears things up a great deal! Thank you! As for us, we don't have quite so many ranks but it would depend on which state your in. Bascially, we have the following. PSW - Personal Support Workers. Equivalent to your Home Health Aide. Some places called them NA [nurses assistants or nurses aides]. These are mainly in nursing homes. EN - Enrolled Nurse. Equivalent to your LPN/LVN. I have been told though that these give out medications and are on the floor most times [please correct me if I've been misinformed]. ENs here work on the floor as well but we can only give out certain meds. While we monitor IV bumps, we can't actually give meds via that route. Most ENs work in hospitals here. RN - Registered nurse. Very smiliar to yours but we have 3 years of Bachelor of Nursing and a one-year Graduate Nurse Program before we can qualify as an RN. Generally, they are ENs with more responsbility with meds. CN - Clinical Nurse. Similar to your NP but in a more administrative role at ward level. Some CNs do still work on the floor but most will be in charge of rostering, education etc. DON - Director of Nursing. Basically, these nurses take on administrative roles at a hospital level and are in charge of all the nurses in the establishment. We don't have Nurse Practitioners at present but I believe we are moving towards that trend in the very near future.
__________________ Ching-Ling Lim => EN Level 5] ================== My resume - http://kimba.ggenesis.net |
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10-12-2006, 07:18 PM
| #4 (permalink) |
| Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 4
| Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? Very interesting information. Thank you! I suppose what is really interesting, as I think about it; the fact that each of us are in one country, but our states has different codes and regulations, we have that here, as well---yet the people that we are and the people that we care for are all the same. Wouldn't it make life much easier to fall under one united category and regulatory body per discipline, nation wide? (I'd like to say 'world-wide' but I'm not sure we're quite there yet with the powers that be! Sad, though. There's no reason, in the healthcare environment, that we shouldn't be "one for all and all for one.") And to all of Australia, we're sorry for your loss. Steve Irwin was our sweetheart, too. |
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10-12-2006, 09:24 PM
| #5 (permalink) | |
| Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 179
| Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? Quote:
Cheers | |
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10-12-2006, 10:25 PM
| #6 (permalink) |
| Production Unit Nurse Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 10
| Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? Yes, I mentioned that in my previous post. I'm in Adelaide.Please don't get me started on Steve Irwin ...  I'm probably going to be unpopular for saying this but not everyone here thought the same way about him as the rest of the world does. I'll shut up now before I start to offend anyone.
__________________ Ching-Ling Lim => EN Level 5] ================== My resume - http://kimba.ggenesis.net |
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Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? 
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10-30-2006, 04:44 PM
| #10 (permalink) | |
| Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 179
| Re: What do the abbreviations stand for? Quote:
Medical Abbreviations Dictionary, Medical News, Medical and Pharmaceutical Searches Common medical abbreviations http://www.jdmd.com/glossary/medabbr.pdf | |
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