How do you sign your credentials?

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Hi!

Question: if you have your BSN, do you always sign RN, BSN after your name? Do you nec. include BSN?

Thank you!

Specializes in critical care.

Do you guys initial with credentials? I do. IXRN.

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Specializes in Nursing Education; Leadership/Management.

It is only appropriate to use your nursing credentials in a professional setting. You wouldn't use them to sign a check, pay a bill, etc.

According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC):

The preferred order is:

Highest earned degree

Licensure

State designations or requirements

National certifications

Awards and honors

The education degree comes first because it is a permanent” credential, meaning it cannot be taken away except under extreme circumstances.

The next two credentials (licensure and state designations/requirements) are required for you to practice.

National certification is sometimes voluntary, and awards, honors, and other recognitions are always voluntary.

Examples of credentials are:

Educational degrees include doctoral degrees (PhD, DNP, EdD), master's degrees (MSN, MS, MA), bachelor's degrees (BS, BSN, BA), and associate degrees (AD, ADN).

Licensure credentials include RN and LPN.

State designations or requirements recognize authority to practice at a more advanced level in that state and include APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse), NP (Nurse Practitioner), and CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist).

National certification, which is awarded through accredited certifying bodies includes RNBC (Registered Nurse-Board Certified) and FNP-BC (Family Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified) and the CNE (Certified Nurse Educator) which certifies academic nurse educators.

Awards and honors recognize outstanding achievements in nursing such as FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing).

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My full credentials are only put on my email signature. If I have to sign or initial something at work, I usually leave out the RN or BSN part unless it's necessary to include. I have a non-nursing masters (MPH) and that's included on my badge. I don't ever sign with it. I never understood why a person with a graduate degree in nursing (PhD, DNP, MSN) would also include their BSN in their signature along with their graduate degree credentials. I think it's obvious that you have a BSN if you hold a higher degree in nursing. I don't see too many other professions including their bachelor credentials in their signatures- not sure why it happens so much in nursing. Personally I don't see why it's such a big deal. My two cents

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On my email signature and official things I use the whole thing: MSN, RNC-OB, CBC but signing documents as a nursing instructor I sign: MSN, RNC. An MSN and BSN are very different with state requirements when it comes to being a faculty member, that's the only reason. When I'm working on the floor as a staff nurse I sign: RNC or RNC-OB.

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Specializes in Med/surg.

I just put RN on things.

What is funny is when i sign a check and accidentally put RN.

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