How do you protect your identity?

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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.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
about the licensing thing: i can get anyone's license number in my state; all i need is their names! however, a license number isn't going to get you employed: you have to show your original license. my employer has a photocopy in my personnel folder, i have the original. if my license were to show up in anyone else's employment folder (read: identity theft) seems i'd have a nice lawsuit against my employer for letting that piece of paper out.

actually, the last two jobs i've had, they did not want the paper license. all they did was check my license online and verify it there.

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Specializes in Cardiac Care, ICU.
I guess I am crazy then. I have asked for the full name so that I could tell the hospital what a great job my nurses do.

You are an exception. Of course, working ICU where most folks remember very little about their stay, I have rarely been asked for my full name. I introduce myself by my first name and if some one wants to make a comment about me in their opinion survey they usually just say "(my first name) from ICU..." The few times I have been asked it was usually b/c someone had seen my name tag (before I covered my last name) and thought my last name was unusual.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ER, OR.

I am glad that I started this thread. Lots of great info on here to learn from. Last night at work was assaulted by another pt. It was a 76yo male with h/o dementia. it was not is fault he was hitting me, but as I was wrestling with him, my supervisor, charge RN,and NM were standing there just watching this happen to me. I was able to restrain him, but they did not do anything to help me. I told them to call security stat for about 5 min before they finally listened and did so. My NM actaully wanted me to let go and let him walk back to his room all by himself. I was not going to let go after him hitting me! Of all things, where this occured, was just outside of our ICU waiting room. There were about 30 people (including children) watching me wrestle with this man, and still I had no help from staff/mgt or anyone. 5 min can seem like hours when you are the only one there doing anything.

Protect yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally for any and all situations you may come in contact with. If someone is being hurt by staff or pts/family, step in and do something, or at least call and get help on the way. Listen to your gut and liste to those around you.

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Your supervisor, charge nurse, and NM sound like real winners. Just the kind of people one wants to work for and with. At least, if not before, now you know where you stand in a sticky situation. And if these persons won't cover you when you're physically being assaulted, imagine how they will back you when you're threatened by a non-physical problem.

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Sorry for the delay.

Let me ask you 3 questions.

1. Are you willing to tell this message board your entire name and your hospital?

2. Why is your screen name "anony"murse?

Because I'm here to explore issues inappropriate to be discussed in my work environment. And the reasons they are inappropriate are because if the nurse and facility were identifiable, then the privacy of the persons discussed would be compromised. And that's illegal. However, when here and using no identifiers, we can relate relevant experiences and offer relevant advice.

Surely you don't find anything odd about this, unless you are still trying to dodge the point--that we should be held accountable for our actions.

3. If a patient sees your last name and stalks you, will you want to keep your last name private after that?

Absolutely not!

By the way, women are much more likely to be stalked than men. As you know, most nurses are women. As a male nurse, I am totally comfortable displaying my last name because I am not afraid of being stalked. However, I totally respect a female nurse's desire to be anonymous.

Patient safety is important, but so is nurse safety. Wouldn't you agree?

You continue to dodge the accountability point.

And sex is no proof against stalking. Read "The Gift of Fear." I don't care how invulnerable being male makes you feel. You can be targeted and killed by a stalker and never know what hit you.

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Because I'm here to explore issues inappropriate to be discussed in my work environment. And the reasons they are inappropriate are because if the nurse and facility were identifiable, then the privacy of the persons discussed would be compromised. And that's illegal. However, when here and using no identifiers, we can relate relevant experiences and offer relevant advice.

Surely you don't find anything odd about this, unless you are still trying to dodge the point--that we should be held accountable for our actions.

Of course we are accountable for our actions. That's why we sign our names in the patients' charts, as I have already mentioned a few times in this thread.

And sex is no proof against stalking. Read "The Gift of Fear." I don't care how invulnerable being male makes you feel. You can be targeted and killed by a stalker and never know what hit you.

Well then maybe I should starting hiding my last name after all.

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Of course we are accountable for our actions. That's why we sign our names in the patients' charts, as I have already mentioned a few times in this thread.

Signing paperwork in a chart the pt doesn't have access to fulfills the facility's administrative requirements, but that's not the issue, which is making ourselves identifiable and accountable to the pt, not to the system.

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I think the degree of caution you take depends on the area you work. I used to work in psych, and I knew of two different cases where a patient or family overstepped the boundaries, just from knowing the nurse's name.

In one case, a minor was hospitalized for some time, and memorized the last names (including spelling) of every single one of his/her nurses. The pt then went home and looked them all up in the phone book, and would repeatedly call them at home and make inappropriate comments/ noises into the phone. This went on with every nurse on the unit for at least 6 months. I'm not sure why the police weren't able to stop it, but I know the nurse who experienced this, and I know she did get them involved right away.

In another case, a patient's family had questions about some aspect of the care their child received at the psych hospital. The nurse discharged the pt around lunchtime, and got off of work about 3:30. When she got home soon thereafter, the pt & his/her family were at her house, waiting for her, stating they had questions about the pt's care. The nurse's husband had answered the door, and assumed they were a neighbor, and mentioned she'd be home in a few minutes. Fortunately, everything was settled nicely in that case too. It turns out that the pt's family had taken the nurse's name off her signature on the discharge papers, and looked her up in the local phone book.

Knowing these two cases, I of course try to keep my last name concealed if possible. I also try to make my last name only very difficult to read in my signature only on the papers that go home with the patient. And every time I discharge a patient, I always emphasize the hospital phone number (and the number to the large unit I work on), stating that's where they should call if they have any further questions after they are discharged (and make sure they have their doctor's number written there also).

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Having working in a jail, hospital, and ambulatory care for a number of years, I have always displayed first and last name on my name badges. I have had one occasion when a patient called me at home and asked me on a date, otherwise no problems. Does anyone know of any evidence that nurses who display first and last name are at higher risk of stalking, harassment, etc. then those who don't? Or that as a profession nurses have a higher risk when displaying both names than other professions? I tend to think of this issue as one of those urban legends that we all pass along rather than anything grounded in reality. I don't doubt that individual nurses have had incidents, but does the evidence prove or indicate our risk is higher by virtue of being nurses?

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Specializes in Critical Care.
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 had my first name only on my badge for a while, until some other Mi*%$#$ RN got herself into a pickle and I was to blame for the short time it took to get it straightened out. Now my last name is on my badge and I'm not really worried about it.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Tele.

Don't be so paranoid. I have no issues with my pt knowing my full name. Evry weirdo that runs register at Drug Mart sees it whenever I write a check or use a credit card.

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I haven't had any trouble with identity theft, but I've had an unlisted phone number for many years after I was assaulted (nothing to do with work)

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