I am not sure if anyone has discussed this before but I think this needs action from us all....
I just went to the Secretary of State website to find out the status of my license and realized I could type a last name of any licensed nurse and find there home address. Give it a try, I could find any of my coworkers old classmates etc... (this is in Ga., I am not sure about other states)
I dont have much of a problem with it because I am a guy and dont think I will be stalked anytime soon but for the 75% of the female nurses out there it is a tragedy waiting to happen.
As nurses, we deal with all sorts of people, both good and bad. I for one do not want my patients having my home address without my knowledge.
I am going to send a letter to the Secretary of State to ensure this matter gets resolved but this is a heads up that I may need your help.
In Nebraska, they can search using only your first name (especially if it isn't a really common name)...they can also serach and find all of the nurses in a ceratin town or county (small towns and counties...won't work for Omaha, Lincoln, etc). They list your full name, address, DOB, license number, and if you are lucky enough to be an EMT (of any sort), they list your National Registry test scores...I squeaked by with a 93% (just in case you want to know).
Bchboy, as a fellow Georgian, I'm with you on this--it's always bothered me about our state--a couple of years ago, my license renewal didn't come--I contacted the BON who said it had been sent to my last address---a tiny town I'd never HEARD of, much less lived in--I was worried that someone had changed my address, trying to fraudulently get a valid license. The BON didn't seem concerned about that possibility--just changed my address back to the correct one.... . PM me--I'll jump on that bandwagon, for sure.
You sure can in Georgia, but in SC it only lists your town. Somewhat of a condolence since if you have an odd name or if you are in a small town it won't be heard to track you down.
Recall the purpose of the BON is to protect the public. IT acts in the public's interest not the nurse's.
Some states feel therefore that it is necessary and in the public interest to post this.
Laws can be changed with enough concerted effort. If you can convince your state legislators that no useful puropse is served in posting home address and that in doing so the nurse's personal safty is in jepordy.
If no nurse in your state has been illegially harmed because the BON post this information you will have a hard time convincing them.
Since our addresses are easily obtanined though many routes finding even one nurse who has been harmed by the posting on the BON site will be difficult to prove. If that inforamtion is easily (and it generally is) obtanined elsewhere then you don't have much of a case to present. (just playing devil's advocate. I don't like it either)
I just checked for Wisconsin, not just my name but others below mine on the list. The only thing listed is the name, city and zipcode. Since both my wife and I work in a mental health setting, only our names are listed in the phone book and every system that purports to give an address only lists the city I live in, not my street address. So, anyone trying to find me has to go to more websites and hope they get successful. It doesn't bother me too much, but then again I'm a 60 year old male. I would probably worry if I was a 30 year old female.
When was the last time you googled yourself? You might be surprised.
Just as an aside. I found someone who did a product review on Amazon. I had a question to ask them. I googled them and found then in 2-3 minutes. No question that I had the right person. I contactaced them and amaizingly they never questioned how I found them even though on the amazon site you only give a user name when you review a product.
Only your name and license number with issue date, exp date are given here in NM. But like someone else stated, you can get a list in person with a valid reason of all licensed nurse with addresses.
The logic in Nebraska is that patients have a right to know who is caring for them...they have a right to know their name and they have a right to know if they have any disciplinary action against them. Therefore, they have a right to know the nurse's address so ensure that they really are (or are not) the Suzy Smith who got busted for diverting narcotics. I guess they also have a right to know that I got a 93% on my National Registry exam, while my counterpart got a 74%...those scores are really nobody's business, we all wear the same patch, but employers look at the scores when they make hiring decisions...and he is a better paramedic than I am.
here is the reply to the letter i sent to the secretary of state, it doesn't look good for us. changing a law in ga is just rediculous.
at least we can change it to our place of practice or a po box. i would just hate not to do anything about this and have someone hurt because of it. too bad hippa doesn't protect us.
thank you for contacting secretary of state cathy cox's office to express your concerns regarding the public listing of address information for registered nurses on our agency's website. please know that we understand your concerns and we appreciate the opportunity to address the issue you have presented.
in response, georgia law (ocga 43-1-2) requires the state board of nursing to make names and addresses of licensees available to the public. however, we have many practitioners who share your concerns regarding their privacy, and they are given the option to provide the board with a practice address or a post office box for the public listing. any changes to this law would require action by the georgia general assembly; therefore, if you feel that it should be changed, you may want to share your concerns with the state representative and/or senator for your district.
if you would like to change the public or mailing address information currently on file with our professional licensing boards division, you are welcome to send the new contact information to their attention, either via mail or fax, or you may update the information online. for your convenience, each of these contact options is listed below:
secretary of state professional licensing boards division
again, we appreciate hearing from you and hope this information serves to alleviate your concerns. if the office of the secretary of state can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact us.
In Indiana, not only will they hand out your street address anddate of birth, but they make money from it, too! (they charge $1.00-$2.04 per record... see: http://www.in.gov/ai/appfiles/hpb-mlvs/ or if you wanted to stalk each and every nurse in the state, you could go here: http://www.in.gov/pla/bulk/ and download the entire database, starting at $150 for the first record and $10 for each 1,000 records after that.) Now that's just creepy.
. PM me--I'll jump on that bandwagon, for sure.
flashpoint
1,327 Posts
In Nebraska, they can search using only your first name (especially if it isn't a really common name)...they can also serach and find all of the nurses in a ceratin town or county (small towns and counties...won't work for Omaha, Lincoln, etc). They list your full name, address, DOB, license number, and if you are lucky enough to be an EMT (of any sort), they list your National Registry test scores...I squeaked by with a 93% (just in case you want to know).