Name Badges

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Does anyone out there feel the same as I about our FULL name being branded across our chest for all the world to see. I have a problem w/ patients looking my name and phone # up, and calling me at home about their health problems. Although I handle this professionally when it does happen, tell them this is my time away from work and w/ my family, and if they want to call me at work they are more than welcome to, and I will discuss their issues then. It is just very frustrating. I'm not sure if there is a legal issue behind our FULL name being on display. Anyone have any ideas where to find info. on this. BTW, I live in VA. Myself and my fellow nurses have voiced our concerns to administration, w/ no explination as to why they have to be there, or only first name, etc...(then again who ever gets a straight answer from those guys)

In this day and time it is scary to think that a disgruntled patient can look your name up in the phone book , then do a search on the net, and get your ADDRESS!! Does someone have to be stalked and murdered before the "rules" will change.

Thanks for listening to my gripe...

We have our full names on our name tags here in the ER.

Don't feel it's appropriate at all.

Funny thing is that the Paramedics only have to use

first names as well as the Psych workers

Administration feels that there should some

anonymity for these above mentioned departments who "deal with the public". Isn't that what we all do especially in the Emergency Room?

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

I just asked at work....we have to have our full names on our badges and they have to be displayed at all times...especially in Maternal-Child. The front is coded with pink and the parents aren't to let anyone with out a name badge displaying full name and the pink front touch their child.

We also can't "deface" our cards with stickers and pins...we use them as slides to get in and out of units and parking . If you are caught with "defacing" it will cost you $50...a fine and replacement fee!

I worked at one place where we only had our first name on our badges. The other 2 places I worked at (including the current job) have first and last. That has never lead to a patient calling me at home.

What has been a problem though, is working in homecare, calling my patients from my home or my cell phone, forgetting that other people would get my number if they had call ID. I soon had patients calling me when I was off duty. Nothing like it being 10:30 pm and having a patient call me asking about her infiltrated IV, etc. I try to be calm while I give them the agency on call number, and remind them to always call that number, as I don't take patient calls on my personal phone. I finally started doing call blocks on a case by case basis, plus we had our number unlisted. That helped. I'm in the office now, but up until my last day in the field, one patient who'd already gotten my cell number, kept calling and calling, despite my frequent reminders not to call me at home. *sigh*. I made it very clear that I would *No longer be your nurse* after such and such a date. Surprise, it actually worked!

I routinely get called at home, and have even had co-workers leave my home phone number at the client's home..........keep meaning to talk to her about that, but is a small community here and I work in Home Health.....don't really want to be unlisted as sometimes there are people I want to find me, just not my patients when i'm off duty..........don't even have caller ID available from my local phone company, lol.

Our facility requires first and last names with title, except for ER and psych, where for staff safety, it's first name and title.

Seeing that I'm literally the only person in the US, and probably the world with this name, I'm quite uncomfortable displaying my last name. We get medically unstable psych pts on a frequent basis, so why does administration demand our full names on the badges when the regular staff on that unit doesn't?

To remedy that, I've covered the first few letters of my last name on the badge. Hey, it's still there in part; let the crazies try to figure out what's under the stickers!

Specializes in Hospice and Palliative Care, Family NP.

Where I work they only put our first name and last initial. As for signing my name on any documents ie, nurses notes, discharge papers, it's my first initial last name RN. Never my full name.

Originally posted by SharkLPN

Our facility requires first and last names with title, except for ER and psych, where for staff safety, it's first name and title.

Why do they feel staff safety is only an issue in ER and psych?

So it seems that a few other of you have a prob. w/ your full name being on display. Since originally starting this thread I have spoken to our Risk Management personnel, only to be told......This is our policy, and ALL must abide by the policy. I have tried several different approaches for this problem, all to just get the same answer all over again. It IS a scary world out there, and there are plenty of CRAZY patients that wouldn't think twice before following you home. Thank God it hasn't happened yet, but access to our address is all too easy now w/ the internet in 85% of homes. Hopefully the laws will change someday, but I hate to think of what will ahve to happen before it does......then maybe I can say"I TOLD YOU SO"....lol

And deespoohbear hit the nail on the head.....So many advocates for patients, what about the ppl taking care of all these patients????Where's our advocate, when we can't even get management/Risk Management to listen to us???

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

"Does anyone else find it strange that with all the privacy issues going on with HIPAA and protecting our patients' privacy that the people who made up these laws could care less about the nurses' and other healthcare workers' right to privacy? "

Good point.

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

melsay writes: "I have spoken to our Risk Management personnel, only to be told......This is our policy, and ALL must abide by the policy. "

One more example, as though we needed one, of the facts that:

1) "policies" are made by the people who are not doing the work, and

2) these people could care less about what nurses think (or even about nurses' safety, in this case).

Good time to put some pressure on your union, I'd say. Or to organize, if you don't yet have one.

message edited by me

Interesting thoughts.....esp the one about HIPAA.

What about this one: My facility is on a big thingy about "customer satisfaction" and has a big push to the staff that if you are named in a survey by a recent patient, you earn recognition awards. What you get is based on the number of times your name gets mentioned. You get free meals in the cafeteria (actually a good thing as ours is wonderful food generally speaking), gift certificates to local restaurants, merchandise certificates, cash, etc.

Is it worth the "show off" pins you get and the cash awards to know that the patients all have your full name? My last name is unusual for this area and all the people listed in the phone book are related to me.

I have raised this issue to our safety & security people.....have not heard any answer yet.

What do you think about this? (Press-Ganey is our god)

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