Last name on badges?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Peds., ER.

I have worked in several different facilities and have several different experiences with last names on name badges. In a recent post regarding color coding scrubs r/t hospital role a reply was posted which made reference about a stalker. At the ER I worked the LVN's rotate working the front desk and check patients in. This means interaction with EVERY ambulatory patient (angry about wait times etc...). Several times I had angry individuals (not angry at me but the situation which brought them to the ER) reach across the desk to get a "better" look at my name. My entire name is on the badge. I even had one lady call me at home. I had to change my phone number and am no longer listed (thanks crazy stalker lady).

This could have been avoided if my last name were not on the badge:twocents:. What are your feelings about this?

Specializes in medical assistant.

I totally agree with this. At the hospital I work at we have first name and first initial of last name on our badges.(Laura A.)

There are a few other looooonnnng threads about this topic already here, if you want to review what others have discussed about this.

Specializes in LTC, Acute Care.

I like the idea of first name and first initial of the last name. That's how my name tag was when I worked in the jail. Not that my identity was so much of a secret because I live in "Mayberry" where people know your family just by looking at you. At my current place of employment the first name is displayed in big bold letters with our full last name right below it.

All the patients have to do is wait to hear your last name out of someone else's mouth on the unit and they will know your last name, whether it is listed on the badge or not.

Specializes in LTC, Acute Care.
All the patients have to do is wait to hear your last name out of someone else's mouth on the unit and they will know your last name, whether it is listed on the badge or not.

This is true. I guess the best thing to do is either have an unpublished number or only use a cell. But then there's the issue of someone being able to find you on google and get directions straight to your front door. Sick world we live in and too much personal info available to weirdos.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Peds., ER.

Sometimes I wish I lived in the fifties when you could leave your keys in your truck and your front door unlocked and not worry. THANKS AGAIN WIERDOS!!!:chair:

First name last init on front with title. Full name on back which i whited out. On psych it just makes sense to cover the name. (Our VAMC police chief hates the name covering..)

Specializes in dialysis (mostly) some L&D, Rehab/LTC.
All the patients have to do is wait to hear your last name out of someone else's mouth on the unit and they will know your last name, whether it is listed on the badge or not.

We have first names only and no one ever calls out our last name...why would they?:nono:

This is true. I guess the best thing to do is either have an unpublished number or only use a cell. But then there's the issue of someone being able to find you on google and get directions straight to your front door. Sick world we live in and too much personal info available to weirdos.

You're right, but did you know you can go to Google & Whitepages.com and follow several steps to opt out of having your information displayed? Shame to need to, but nice to know we can.

Specializes in Psychiatry.

I have my first and last name on my badge. I have no choice, it's the way our hospital issues them.

I haven't heard of any employee having problems because of it.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I once worked in a psych unit that required first and last names on badges. All staff covered up their last names with tape . . . easy to remove if mgmt does rounds . . .

And we did this because pts that we knew were sex offenders moved into close neighborhoods and would call staff at home . . . I didn't care if I was disciplined or not.

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