Nursing oxymoron help?

I am confused! There was an article in the local newspaper, with the headline,

鈥淢ount Saint Mary Professor earns Doctorate in Nursing鈥?br>
How is it possible to have a doctorate degree in nursing? Does that mean your new title becomes
鈥楧r. Jane Doe, R.N.鈥?!
That sounds stupid! Any help on clearing this up would be great!

You can earn a doctorate in almost any field: education, fine arts, literature, chemistry, anthropology.... you name it. that makes you a "Doctor" in that field.

Nurses can earn doctorates, but that doesn't make them PHYSICIANS.

The nomenclature is confusing, because there is more than one meaning to word "doctor".

Jane would most likely be Jane Doe, R.N., PhD. If she calls herself "Doctor" in a medical setting, she is at risk for accusations of "practicing medicine without a license". Most likely, Jane will find herself an administrative or teaching position.

If she wants to be a physician, she'll have to go through medical school like the rest of us did.

......if she/he wishes to refer to themselves that way, it wouldn't necessarily be incorrect......a minister with a Doctorate in Divinity is referred to as "Dr.", a pharmacist with a Doctorate in Pharmacology is frequently referred to as "Dr." and etc, etc.......don't confuse the term or title "Dr." with the degree of Doctorate in Medicine, or Doctorate of Osteopathy(M.D. and D.O., respectively) which legally allows the person to practice medicine and write prescription treatment for illness....generally the nurse's name/title with a doctorate is written Jane Doe R.N. Ph.D......(hopefully this makes it a little clearer for you).................

Pangolin is absolutely correct. An RN with a doctorate (PhD in nursing) has to ensure being addressed as "doctor" only in classroom/academic settings. In the clinical setting, that would indeed cause undue confusion and mislead patients and families who are unfamiliar with the hospital staff, although the hospital staff do know each other pretty well...

A doctorate in nursing (PhD) is really purely academic because the clinical equivalent is Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), an upgrade from ARNP, masters degree. Terminal degree is a relatively new thing in nursing, although very important, as there are nursing researchers and academics who help provide nursing "evidence-based practice". Doctorates in nursing are relatively a new phenomenon in comparison to other allied health fields. It is much much newer than the PharmD requirement and a bit newer than the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), as I understand it.

Of course her new title would be Dr. Jane Doe, R.N.

Why does that sound stupid? What about all the people that are Dr. Jane Doe, PhD?

M.D.'s are only one type of doctor.

Professors of nursing in my university all have their doctorate in nursing. You can have a doctorate in nursing research or in clinical practice.

Not an oxymoron. Nursing has several doctoral degrees. The most familiar to other professionals is the PhD. Other PhD folks include psychologists, physicists, cellular biologists, nuclear physicists, and so on. Other "doctors" include dentists, osteopathic physicians, podiatrists, veterinarians and chiropractors.

Why is it that people seem offended when a nurse happens to have a doctorate (PhD, DNP, EdD, DNSc) and is addressed as "Dr. Smith"? It's a totally sexist notion that nurses can't be "doctors".

FYI - the MD degree was not the first doctorate degree - check it out.