Does your hospital or facility badge include your credentials?

[icuRNmaggie]

In my current staff nurse RN position my badge says Maggie and underneath my name it says nurse in lower case letters. Not even RN, just 'nurse'. We have several excellent night shift LPNs on Med Surg and my badge is identical to theirs. I don't mean to sound elitist it's just that we are in different roles.

(Please don't dogpile on me for mentioning the LPNs ok? They are my buddies. This is about badges not who is a better nurse.)

At first I thought 'whatever.' The hospital management made a statement that they are opposed to having "cv information" on hospital id badges.

My credentials are BSN, CCRN. My department is MICU.

I'm curious if this is happening in other hospitals because I just dont get it. I dont want the badges to say AA or AS RN, that is unnecessary. But RN would certainly be reassuring to the pts. If I'm sick I would be thankful to see that CCRN or CEN or CNOR on my nurse's badge. It represents competence and a commitment to continuing education.

Any thoughts?

[jd2nurse]

It's an interesting pamphlet. But it's also funny that AACN doesn't even follow its own rule. I just took the PCCN and went through a question book written by them. In the book, they cite their credentials as in the below photo.

[klone, MSN, RN]

That's pretty funny!

[laKrugRN]

I agree, your badge should say more than just "nurse" in lower case. At least RN! And I do not blame you one bit for wanting BSN on there as well. It is not an "I'm better than you" thing at all! And I wouldn't want to come off that way either, but I hope my badge says BSN, I want a little recognition for the 5 years of torture haha (5 years since I transferred schools, tacked on a year..yippee)

[Surprised1, MSN, RN]

The only credential my badge includes is the RN designation. It has my photo, first and last names, and the name of my unit. I also have a hang tag that says RN.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

The trend for a while was for facilities to have the badge say "Maggie, nursing staff". That way it included RN's, LPN's, and CNA's. All who have a derivitive of "nurse" in it. The intent was to purposely let patients believe that anyone in scrubs with "nursing staff" on their badges was actually an RN. The trend has shifted away from that BS, I believe strongly that a large part of it was because of the backlash from nurses who earned those coveted initials and wanted the world to (rightly!) know it.

[kool-aide, RN]

Mine says:

Kool-Aide, ASN, RN

CCU

With a red hanging tag with"RN" in big letters

My hospital also places certifications on our badges, I just don't have one.

[TLSpaz, ASN, RN]

I haven't read through all of the posts, so forgive me if I am repeating something but in my present state, the Nurse Practice Act requires name badges to specify RN, Registered Nurse, or Registered Professional Nurse; LPN or Licensed Practical Nurse.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I definitely think badges should have R.N. or L.P.N./L.V.N. Those are titles earned and licenses you're working under.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

My scrub top has RN on it in big white letters (navy blue top) and my ID has my picture, my full name and RN as well as the department I work for. We also have laminated cards that attach to the ID that hang just below the ID and it says RN in huge blue letters on a white background. The only people with anything other (Such as BSN, or any credentials) are management and department heads.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

What does this have to do with name badges?

My guess is this person subscribes to the belief that Obama (or liberals in general) want to 'equalize' everyone.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Our manager wanted all of our credentials listed on the white boards of patients' rooms.

Our badges are first name, last initial and title.(ie: BSN, RN-C) then in big letters RN, LPN, EMT.....whatever. The "C" is the indication that one is certified.

We have currently had an "issue" where people where getting new badges to reflect what they may have as far as education, but not necessarily pertaining to their job in the faciity. A member of the housekeeping staff is a paramedic. Now his badge reflects "Paramedic" as opposed to what he actually does at the facility. So now, there is a general "EVS" (enviromental services) and a general "nurse" and a general "technician" for each badge.

Hence why alphabet soup goes on the patient white boards in each room. That way, the patient can reflect on the highly educated staff who is caring for them. (

Certifications are awesome, and I think that they are such a great way to really concentrate and excell in a practice. However, most patients have said "I would just assume you ALL would be proficient in this specialty, or why are you here?"....Interesting observation...

[BluTXRN]

Completely agree with MunoRN. Our badges have employee picture in scrubs, first and last name with title under it. CCRN, PCCN, etc means nothing to most people but those titles do give patients questions to ask about the meaning. "RN" is good enough for me and I wear it proudly. Frankly, how do those extra letters mark us as extraordinary bionic nurses? They don't. It's simply...perception.