How do you protect your identity?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Med Surg, ER, OR.

Just curious what methods you all use in order to protect yourself while at work?

I'll start:

I try to keep my last name secret to my patients and block out my last name on my badge as well.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ER, OR.

Also when your patients ask you about your last name, how do avoid that situation? Any other security tips are greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I have a very unusual last name. When I was a staff nurse in an inner city ER, I (like everyone else) had only my first name on my name badge. Nowadays, I'm an advanced practice nurse and I have both my first and last name on my lab coat. I haven't found a problem. Other ways to protect yourself:

1. Most threats come for co-workers no patients. Don't reveal too much to co-workers while at work. Don't discuss your family, what kind of car you drive, where you live.

2. Don't have personalized license plates: 'traumrus, ER nurse, ER RN", etc..

3. Have an unlisted home phone number. I do give folks my cell number but I can always turn it off. My family has my home phone number.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

My hospital only puts our first name on our badges. Our white coats, scrubs etc...are also required to have our first name only, followed by title. Patients often ask me where I live. I just say the name of my town and leave it at that sometimes I just say "in a house". You can't be too careful these days, there are crazy people everywhere. As mentioned, including co-workers. When I worked on the floor I kept my cell number private.

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Our first and last names are on our badges, along with title. I introduce myself by my first name, but I too have an unusual last name and when patients see it, they frequently know my family. And it's never been a bad thing, as I have a good family ;)

Have never had any issues with my name being "known" to my patients.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
Our first and last names are on our badges, along with title. I introduce myself by my first name, but I too have an unusual last name and when patients see it, they frequently know my family. And it's never been a bad thing, as I have a good family ;)

Have never had any issues with my name being "known" to my patients.

Yet.....be careful, er on the side of caution, be safe

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I worked ER for a long time, and it was always policy for last names to be hidden. In the early years hospital policy had our last names on the badges but department policy had us put tape over the last names. Later the badges were changed to only have last initials. My number has always been unlisted.

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Specializes in Cardiac/ED.

Protect your license information as well...I was recently talking with a nurse at a local hospital that I have clinicals at..(I'm a student nurse) who recently had been contacted by the police. It seems someone had been posing as her and working as an RN. It turned out that the poser was an LVN and wanted the extra money, so she picked a nurse that had a similar appearance and somehow got her license info...I guess they at one time had worked together at another facility.

So heads up...more than credit card info can be stolen.

P2

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Specializes in Cardiac Care, ICU.

My hosp. puts first and last names on name tags but I put a sticker over mine (I have an unusual name too). Security isn't a huge issue where I live but that was a little disturbing hearing about the lpn using th rn's licence info. How did they catch it?

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

Where I work they require us to show our original license each time we renew and of course when someone new is hired. I think it's a great practice. I was told by my employer to never make a copy of my license.

BTW: Anyone can get your license number just by going online to the state BON website and clicking on license verification.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Just curious what methods you all use in order to protect yourself while at work?

I'll start:

I try to keep my last name secret to my patients and block out my last name on my badge as well.

I cover my last name, too.

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Yet.....be careful, er on the side of caution, be safe

Oh, I hear ya.....it's just that there's very little I'm going to DO about the identity thing. Our full names are on our badges, and we are expected to have those tags fully visible. And if a patient can't read my nametag, I'm not going to say, "too bad"....I'm going to tell them what's plainly visible on my chest to someone else.

And thus far, no problems, nor any with my co-workers that I'm aware of. Maybe I live in a nicer area than I thought :)

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