Boy, what did I start!
Just reiterating that this woman did not have her doctorate with her NP training. DID NOT. She is a registered nurse practitioner.
She had an “academic Ph.D.” attached at the end of her badge, that she was using to identify herself as “Dr. Ellie Walker” in a clinical-patient environment. This was my original concern. Why would you intentionally confuse the patient?
If she had had a DNP, I could go with that, because this would show further training in the area of “patient care” and she would merit that title. But she didn’t have that certification.
My physician originally introduced herself in this manner: “Hello, I’m Helen Crump, it’s nice to meet you; let’s find out what’s going on and let’s review your file”. Very “California informal”. When I see her, I call her Dr. Crump, which is what her staff and patients call her.
A while back, someone told me about an airline that needed a physician to care for someone who had become ill. They announced that they needed to speak to a “doctor” on board. Someone with a “doctorate” came forward. When they asked about helping and advising in the care of an ill passenger, the “doctorate” said that he was not that kind of a doctor. So they had to ask again and this time indicated that they needed a physician or a nurse to come forward. I get that this is another can of worms. Issues?