Guest Editorial About Nurses' Titles Garners Appreciation

Thank you so much for your opinion piece about title terminology in a recent issue of the Oncology Nursing Forum (Boyle, 2011). I could not agree with you more about the distress that comes from mislabeling nurse practitioners as mid-level providers (MLPs) or physician extenders. Frankly, it bothers me to type the words! However, I would like to suggest that the reason social workers and pharmacists do not suffer the same inequity of position or title is that neither could be considered a primary care provider. In our current and future healthcare environment, it is not only possible for NPs to serve as independent primary care providers, it is likely they (we) will. This is disconcerting at best for our physician colleagues.