Personal Address Disclosed to the public? what does this mean?

Nurses General Nursing

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I hold an RN license in several states as my husbands job keeps us forever moving, I see that it says our address is disclosed to the public? when I look up my licensure from outside my account it does not show my personal address? so what exactly does this mean? The area I work in currently is Psych and we do not even have our full names on our badges- is it possible these patients can find out my home address through the board of nursing? this would be unsettling. Can someone explain to me what this means? thanks (:

When I asked the Board about this because of problems I was having, I was told that if a member of the public requests my address, it is given to them. There is a procedure for individuals to have their address kept private, but when I looked at that procedure, I decided I would be a dead victim before I could satisfy the bureaucratic requirements. Furthermore, think about it a minute. All anybody has to do to deal with you is to lie in wait and follow you home from work, the market, anywhere. So what if a government agency gives them an official address? They can contact you quicker by doing the legwork themselves. Friends in certain places? There are other avenues of finding out an address, law enforcement's connections with the Department of Motor Vehicles comes to mind.

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Specializes in Critical care.
Also: Sources are 'cited' not 'sighted'. You're welcome.

Ouch, that's embarrassing. I've probably corrected someone on this very cite :cheeky: about that particular mistake.

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Some certainly can be, although I agree that most are not ...and not just psychiatric patients, but maybe that's the OP's current field and current concern.

Absolutely agree. I work in forensic psych and these patients *are* a danger, thus why they are where they are. It takes a lot of time and work to get someone deemed ready for release into the community. And sometimes, that never happens.

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When I asked the Board about this because of problems I was having, I was told that if a member of the public requests my address, it is given to them. There is a procedure for individuals to have their address kept private, but when I looked at that procedure, I decided I would be a dead victim before I could satisfy the bureaucratic requirements. Furthermore, think about it a minute. All anybody has to do to deal with you is to lie in wait and follow you home from work, the market, anywhere. So what if a government agency gives them an official address? They can contact you quicker by doing the legwork themselves. Friends in certain places? There are other avenues of finding out an address, law enforcement's connections with the Department of Motor Vehicles comes to mind.

Also, if you own property, your address can be accessed on your county's appraisal district web site.

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Yes I know health care professionals have been harmed by patients with a psychiatric diagnoses in the work place setting from the ER to med/surg to locked psychiatric facilities. I was the night shift supervisor for five years in a county hospital that had a locked psychiatric facility. I have seen the violence a seriously ill unmediated psychiatric patient can do.

I was trying to dissuade the general public, and health care professionals, perception that patients with a psychiatric diagnose are a danger when they are discharged, out in the public. That the original poster thought a patient discharged from the psychiatric facility was going to harass, stalk, harm her after they were released perpetuates this stigma and prevents people from admitting they have a psychiatric illness or seeking help.

My husband has a MSW and LCSW, he worked with the county in Adult Day Treatment, the locked psychiatric facility, and the VA on their psychiatric unit, for over 20 years. (He is also a Marine, not some soft hearted "they are just misunderstood" pushover.) He has taught me most of what I know about psychiatric illness.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

Overall, people with a psychiatric diagnosis are Less likely to become violent than when compared to the general population.

However, a decompensated, non-medicated, non-compliant patient on a BHU is potentially a higher violence risk.

And, obsessed, potentially violent patients (or visitors) & stalkers can be found anywhere in the hospitals...with or without a psychiatric dx or mental illness.

Everyone deserves privacy, but it's so hard to maintain in a digital world.

If I was cared for by a clinician and wanted to know her last name, I could just request my chart after discharge and find the full names of everyone who cared for me. Then, I could go on the internet and do a name search. Unless you have made a point of living completely off the grid, I could probably find you..and you could find me.

Since I only get one mailing from the IDPR (BON) every 2 years, I may change my mailing address for this one item to a relative far out of state.

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Overall, people with a psychiatric diagnosis is Less likely to become violent than when compared to the general population..

But do you have statistics to back this up? :yes:

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.

I also find it very unsettling to know that any patient and/or family member could so easily find your personal information. I have been threatened, as well as many of my co-workers, by all types of patients including Psych, so this is a huge concern. I think that we, as nurses/healthcare workers, should have a right to our privacy. If a patient has a grievance there are channels to go through, so the only person who would want your address is one who is going to want to do you harm. I realize that they could obtain it through other means but the BON should not be the one providing it.

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Specializes in Neuro.
I am more unsettled that a nurse who is working in Psych and is afraid the patients are somehow a danger to her!

Patients with serious psychiatric illness are not a danger to the public, including any care givers they come into contact with during their hopspitlization.

Some certainly ARE. Without divulging many details I've seen & dealt with personally on my end working in law enforcement, there are individuals facing extremely violent criminal charges but are so mentally ill that they can not be even convicted in a court of law and are ordered commitment by the court because they are deemed a danger to society and themselves. And then, after 6 months, year, two, five, the court order keeping them committed either runs out (and not renewed) or the institution/hospital deems them 'stable' enough to be back out in the community. Many reoffend & victimize people they both know and random strangers....all the time. It's a vicious cycle law enforcement and the courts deal with regularly.

While unlikely the very violent & mentally ill patients will be competent enough to track down a particular person, like an individual nurse, it is absolutely possible.

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Are the mentally ill more likely to commit violence than their normal counterparts?

Violence and mental illness: an overview

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Ouch, that's embarrassing. I've probably corrected someone on this very cite :cheeky: about that particular mistake.
That is why I don't correct often...LOL
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Several cases of patients who aattacked nurses was well publicized in the Minneapolis St Paul area. It is not just mentally ill patients, but older confused patients coming out of anesthesia. The nurses want more security, and who can blame them. Of coorifice hospital administrators say it is not in the budget. Provide RPR training to staff already working a shift, and give them an extra buck or two an hour. So the night janitor responds to RPR requested, and he gets greater job satisfaction, and earns more money. WIN/WIN

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