a couple of weeks ago i was discharging a patient, a fellow nurse. when she saw that i signed my full name followed by rn on the paper she said i just sign my initials followed by the rn. she said she didn't want all of the crazy people she dealt with in er to know her full name. is this legal? can we really get away with only signing our initials followed by lpn or rn?
Oct 17, '02
Wow! I never considered the possible outcomes of patients having my full name, kind of creepy.
I don't know if initials would be apropriate, though.
Everyone I work with signs their entire name plus credential initials.
Does anyone know the legality of using only initials?
Oct 17, '02
It might be a state law... where I am I have to sign first initial, full legal last name which is 16 letters! Now I wish I had never hyphenated when I got married LOL.
Oct 17, '02
I only sign my initials in places where initials are designated, such as on an MAR. I always sign my full name...never thought of it as a big deal...then again, I don't deal with the crazies in the ER. :chuckle Anyway, if they want our full names, can't they just read them off of our name badges?
I do home health and have to schedule my own visits. I make all those calls from my cell phone. That way, patients who have caller ID won't be calling me at home. It only happened once, but I learned my lesson. I can always turn my cell phone off. You know, I feel bad saying that...obviously our patients need us...but I also have a life of my own.
Oct 17, '02
We sign our full name on discharge sheets. But we don't wear our full names on our IDs...that would be way to scary for me...I have heard too many stories about patients tracking their nurses down!
Amanda
Oct 17, '02
Well, I believe my signature would hold up in court and that all of my supervisors and coworkers could recognize it. However, I don't think any of my patients would be able to decipher the garbled mess of vowels that occurs in my last name the way I sign it!
Of course, I've been b*tching about it being on our name tags since I started there.
Heather
Oct 17, '02
I believe that just the first initial is fine anywhere. You are already identified in the patient's chart numerous times. If you have a signature legend in the chart, and you have signed it, that identifies you well enough. It's not so much that the patient knows who you are...it's more so that you are identified in the medical record. My thoughts...
Oct 17, '02
If anybody can actually decipher my handwriting well enough to figure out my name, then they are members of a very select few
.
Oct 17, '02
I was always told by compliance people you need to write your name as it appears on your license. I hate my last name being on a name badge. I have had home health patients call me at home.................grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr . Just looked my name up in the book.
renerian
Oct 17, '02
We sign our names with the first initial and last name, then RN, etc...however, vouching only for myself, I attempt to make my last name as illegible as possible...
Our name tags have first name, last initial, and title.
Guess you could always put the two together to get someone's full name, eh?
Oct 17, '02
inital of first name then full last name along with lpn.,
Oct 17, '02
First initial, then last name, but very unreadable.....lol.We only have out first names then title on badges....
Oct 17, '02Occupation: Level II Nursery RN Joined: Aug '01; Posts: 265; Likes: 3Wow! I never considered the possible outcomes of patients having my full name, kind of creepy.
Oct 17, '02Occupation: Retired RN, and other stuff Specialty: 22 year(s) of experience in Most (except psych and babies...) ; From: US ; Joined: Jun '00; Posts: 486; Likes: 624If anybody can actually decipher my handwriting well enough to figure out my name, then they are members of a very select few
