Identification Requests

So I talked to the recruiter again and I was told that, they want that information so they can verify it with the nursing licensing board. Which still doesn't make sense because I can give you my address and you have it, and if you go to NURSYS you can find out what the address is verify my license and whatever you need to know pertaining to my license. But my drivers license doesn't have anything to do with my nursing license. Especially if you have a license in more than one state. then you have an address there also so what does that actually prove? that is my question again?

So I had another conversation I am diving into this to find out what is the issue. They need your Front of your drivers license the back of your drivers license and your Social Security number. To submit to the job that may or may not hire you. You have no idea exactly who this company may or may not be other than what the recruiter told you. You can look the company up online but that doesn't mean they honestly want your application so you're going out on a limb there. And then I was told originally it was to verify your license. Well a front and back copy of my drivers license and my Social Security number does not verify my license in NURSYS. What does verify my license is you actually going onto the board of nursing in the state that I said I was licensed in and looking me up that verifies my license the information that they're asking for is very intrusive! anybody have an opinion?

They are probably trying to verify if you are legally able to work in the US. That kind of information is needed to prove your identity. It could be that they are verifying now to see if they want to invest the time and effort to move forward and spend countless amount of time preparing to hire you only to find out that you can't work in the US. I would just comply rather than risk the possibility of you being labeled as being difficult through the hiring process. 

It is super easy to impersonate a healthcare worker, a healthcare license is not identification. Anyone can download licensure verification. If no one along the way to starting an assignment checks a valid ID....

I'm not sure I remember when agencies started checking ID, but for many years no one did, not even during hospital orientation. At some point, I started stashing a copy of my ID with the rest of my professional portfolio ready to email to an agency or hospital.

Thanks for the answers, but rather difficult and safe than not. That would be the simple thing to do. However if I am signed into 17 agencies I don't need my face in 16 places I am not employed with. The other problem is some people use their passport for ID since it also serves as the I-9 identification. A D.L. Does not need to be submitted (front and back) to verify me. The agency can do that- each prospective assignment does not need it. 

Sure, a passport is identification. It is what I usually provide. The only real difference is that a passport doesn't have your address. Neither is really valid for ID as a copy. But it meets the agency criteria as not much else is close. It is pretty common for hospitals to ask for actual physical ID at orientation and then they make a copy.

None of that will actually stop a good impersonation of a provider. In my long career, I've encountered both travel nurses and a locums that clearly misrepresented themselves (or were laughably incompetent) and was among many that reported them to the facility. In each case, they were eventually terminated by the facility, but it took several weeks while they worked through the legal issues. Not sure if they even suffered any other penalty but that would be confidential in any case.

There are some other mechanisms for ID verification. For example, one vendor I use sends me to a third party site and verifies my ID but only up or down info back to the vendor. That sort of solution is just pie in the sky of course as there is no way to get agencies to adopt such systems universally but they are coming. Another secure type of ID just went live for me today on my iPhone. Requests for ID only validates my identity and little else. Only works with 11 state drivers licenses at the moment. I cannot even display the license on my phone, verification is only transmitted to another local device by an authorized vendor such as TSA. More future stuff that will take many years to become common.

Very hard to run a background check without a social security number. I have no idea how many travelers fail background checks, but certainly some agencies don't want the risk to their reputation of getting a facility to commit to a traveler before a background check has cleared. More paperwork every year or two. No background checks at all by agencies or BONs when I started traveling in 1995. No one asked for ID either.

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it. I also feel this is one I can imagine to understand.. I need to find out about this other ID verification tool. A passport does not have an address, correct. It does have my face however.. background checks can be done with name and birthday. A fingerprint scan is also a check to confirm identity and other things. Which I have done. SS# I don't give out. If you have not had your social manipulated or identity assumed or scammed, then yes you would give out your social to all that ask. I fall in the scammed identity stolen category, when this is explained no one understands that, and they should.