Last name on ID badge?

[ravenpuff]

I just got my ID badge for my new job at a hospital and it says my first&last name because that's what I initially opted to do. But now I'm thinking I should've just gone with my first name...

Thoughts on full vs first name on ID badges?

[LL143KnB, BSN, RN]

What do you mean get your parents house?

She stated that they had a unique last name and the sister was living with the fiance at the time. So if an irate pt were to look up the last name using the internet or phone book then they would reach the parents instead of her.

[sharpeimom]

At the mental hospital I worked at for years, we wore embroidered long or short sleeved polo shirts that had:

1. name of the hospital

2. sharpeimom,

3. RN MSN

That was it and we had no choice. No last name or last initial. That was fine with me! Not because I'm suspicious or paranoid by nature but because either my dad, two uncles, or some cousins were instrumental in the commitment process that landed them there. Almost all were lawyers, but a couple were social workers. I look a lot like my dad and bear a family resemblance to the rest and, more than once, a patent has asked me, "Are you related to ___? Creepy!

[pookyp, LPN]

She stated that they had a unique last name and the sister was living with the fiance at the time. So if an irate pt were to look up the last name using the internet or phone book then they would reach the parents instead of her.

Oh I see. Thanks.

[klallen]

What are you attempting to hide? We know or patients' full names and can easily glean sensitive info such as their home addresses, workplaces, phone numbers and personal health histories. A doctor who tried to hide his/her last name would be laughed at, but the rest of us seem to want to hide our surnames (and be viewed as accountable professionals at the same time).

Just because you don't want your patients to know your last name does not mean your trying to hide something. I have tape over my last name on my badge and so dose many of my coworkers. I work on a neuro floor and tend to have a good handful of patient that can get violent, we even had to all take a self defense class. There have been more than a few patients and patient family members that have threatened us and we even had one patient tell a nurse as they were threatening the nurse they wanted the nurses last name. We have had patients follow nurses to their car and tell other nurses the make and model of the car. So I feel better and more safe when my patients don't know my last name. The least amount of personal information my patients know the better. They don't need to know that stuff about me. As for us knowing their personal information it's our job they come to us to get care. I'm not looking to do anything with their personal information that would harm them.

[floridaRN38]

We have both at my hospital. And we just put a white sticker over our last name.

[OhioTry]

My ID badge contains my full first and last name, which are both unusual in a WASP-y, multiple last names sort of way. My first name is hard to pronounce, so I go by a nickname 95% of the time, so I had to tell people that. It was a bit annoying, and some people prefer to use my middle name (not on the nametag) rather than my normal nickname, which is a shortened form of my first name.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Just because you don't want your patients to know your last name does not mean your trying to hide something.

Yes, you do want to hide something: your last name. :)

[Taiin]

The nursing home I work at has first names only for nurses and CNAs on the name tags. I think it is because there were a few members of staff who each picked up some tenacious stalkers (family members and/or friends of residents) in the past. Though the lack of a last name won't really be much help if someone is that determined to stalk you.

I'd wear whatever my institution mandates. Likely the hospital job I accepted will have a last name on my tag, which I am OK with.

[SuperRN_1]

I have my first and last name on my work badge. I didn't get a choice if I wanted to include last name or not. I don't like patients knowing my last name.