I have given up on taking affront to or trying smart remarks when asked if I am a nurse. I just smile and confidently inform the patient/family that I am indeed the nurse for the day (have to admit I still THINK those remarks). It's taken me 25 years to reach this point though. I just assume that most patients and families dont have a friggin clue what goes on inside a hospital (esp the ICU where I work) unless they have had a loved one critically ill before.

Its all perception- and we are perceived in the general public as bimbos (female) or gay +/- underachiever (could have been a Doctor afterall). In Nursing school I had only one freshman classmate give me a hard time about gay VS hetero due to choice of Nursing- the rest took it in stride or stayed silent.

Gender bias and assumptions are so ingrained that people just assume I am a Doctor when I go into a room or ask me to "go get the nurse" for them. Beat...beat...beat...Oh...thats you- ok well here's whats wrong.... and I take care of it. Takes a little longer to develop trust with some patients and families sometimes.

Changing the name of nursing will not solve a thing - unless its part of an overall program to change the publics perception of nursing which is really the issue as I see it.