Patients and nurses baffled by new doctor terminology
A new survey has discovered that both nurses and patients find it difficult to identify doctors and their grade from their name badges and titles.
Researchers have called for a review of the terms used to describe and label doctors after the survey, published in BMJ Quality and Safety, found that patients and nurses struggled with the terms. 114 patients and 67 nurses were given 11 name badges reflecting current training grade job titles used by doctors, to see if the terms were understood.
Titles included ‘medical student’, ‘foundation year trainee 1’ (FY1), ‘foundation year trainee 2’ (FY2), ‘core trainee’ (CT), ‘specialty trainee’ (ST), ‘consultant’ and ‘general practice vocational trainee scheme’ (GPVTS). Also used in the study were name badges featuring titles used before the Modernisation of Medical Careers initiative in 2009, to see whether terms such as ‘house officer’, ‘senior house officer’, ‘registrar’ and ‘consultant’ were better understood.
Colleague confusion
Interestingly, the majority of the participants identified the medical students incorrectly, with seven out of 10 thinking that an FY1 was a student, whilst 68% thought an FY2 was also a student. A further 44% were unsure whether these titles referred to a doctor or student. Over half of the patients believed a CT was a medical student, with 38% thinking the same of an ST. The names most recognised by patients were ‘consultant’, ‘GP trainee’ and ‘medical student’.
Nurses had similar problems, with 40% not knowing that FY1 and FY2 indicated trainee doctors, while half didn’t recognise a CT as a qualified doctor. The old system however proved much more popular, with 40% of patients and nearly 90% of nurses ranking the doctors correctly by their titles. In contrast, with the new system, only less than a fifth of patients and approximately two fifths of nurses understood the grade.
Researchers told the Student BMJ “The findings suggest that the current system in place around the UK has made it much more difficult for healthcare professionals to identify their doctor colleagues.”
The emphasised the need for a review, stating that terminology used should be simple and include ‘doctor’, ‘senior’ and ‘junior’, with titles kept short so that big, bold font could be used on name badges for easier reading.
