Is it legal to have RN's use full name on badge?

MunoRN, RN · Dec 12, 2014

Patients actually have a legal right to the full name you are licensed under, that's a requirement of the license. We are a publicly licensed profession, and the ability for patients to review our license and submit complaints against our license is a basic premise of our accountability as a licensed professional.

Editorial Team / Admin · Dec 12, 2014

As an employee, HIPAA does not apply to you; it only applies to patients. Additionally, some states require both first and last names to be on identification badges. Patients have a right to know who is caring for them.

dishes, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2014

Identification with the nurse's full name allows patients to hold nurses accountable for the care they provide, I don't see how this is a HIPAA violation.

caliotter3 · Dec 12, 2014

There has been controversy in my state because patients have been able to find the nurse's address from the Board. (Don't know if this is still the case.)

dishes, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2014

@caliotter, I don't understand why the BON posts the nurse's home address as it is not considered public information, whereas the nurse's workplace address, along with their name and licence are considered public information.

caliotter3 · Dec 12, 2014

In my state it was (or is) the home address that was (or is) public information. I was told by someone at my Board one time about an elaborate procedure where a nurse could have her/his address "hidden" from the public.

nitrorocket · Dec 12, 2014

Boy, nursing seems to get more ridiculous every day, we must be the most abused profession I can think of! And on top of it all we don't even have privacy.

Time we start standing up for our rights, we don't have many...

britpanda · Dec 12, 2014

In my state (Florida) you can change the address listed on the BON to your practice location (which is listed online) while maintaining your correspondence address (not listed online) as your home address.

If you own your home, however, most people can search the county's property records to find your address if they were so inclined. Unfortunately, where there is a will there's a way.

klone, MSN, RN · Dec 12, 2014

Boy, nursing seems to get more ridiculous every day, we must be the most abused profession I can think of! And on top of it all we don't even have privacy.
Time we start standing up for our rights, we don't have many...

Would you expect a physician to only go by a first name? Of course not. Nursing is no different.

Are you a nurse? If so, how is it that you could have such a non-understanding of what HIPAA is?

nitrorocket · Dec 12, 2014

We as nurses, if our "license" is on the line, should have hospitals that provide not only the resources we need, but the time to perform cares appropriately. Most facilities do not.

Our names should not be displayed for all freaks to look us up. Only if they file a formal complaint with the hospital should our name be disclosed.

MD's and RN's are a COMPLETELY different, we don't prescribe as well as many other things.

Health care workers seem to have the short end of the stick in almost every way. Its a shame, for these reasons I see many leave the field. Not cool.

MunoRN, RN · Dec 12, 2014

Boy, nursing seems to get more ridiculous every day, we must be the most abused profession I can think of! And on top of it all we don't even have privacy.
Time we start standing up for our rights, we don't have many...

We're "abused" because we follow the basic ethical premise that we should be accountable for our practice rather than being immune from any sort of oversight through anonymity? It's a pretty basic part of our obligation to patients, if that seems excessive maybe this isn't the right profession for you.