how do you introduce yourself to patients?

[panamama]

i just had minor surgery and it was the first time i've spent any substantial time in a medical setting since beginning to explore nursing as a career. of course, i was much more observant now that i may be making my way to the field myself! i noticed some things and wondered your take on it, as nurses...

the anesthesist (sp?) took me from the waiting area to the op room and asked me all the history questions and took my BP...but never introduced himself. i don't have any idea if he was a doc or nurse (not that it matters)...or even what his name was. in fact, no one introduced themselves and there were 5 people in the room, counting my doc. i found myself wondering who was what? nurse, LPN, CNA, MA, PA, other? they were all very nice and attentive...it was just curious that no one told me their names or roles or anything.

i thought back to the first surgery i ever had and remembered very clearly that not only did each person tell me who and what they were, but they made it a point to tell me what exactly they would be doing as their part of the procedure. of course, i was i think 20 or 21, alone, scared to death (it was an unexpected urgent surgery), and it definitely showed...so maybe they were just trying to make me feel at ease(?).

so nurses...how do you introduce yourself to patients if at all, and does it matter?

[perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN]

I always say "my name is ___ and I'll be your/your child's nurse tonight".

[leslie :-D]

i always always always introduce myself.

leslie

[chadash]

I always give my name and position (usually standing...) and even give an idea of what to expect that shift. Been in hospitals that have white boards for staff to leave name and job on: this is great for the patients.

[Annor]

I say to all of my patients..."Hi my name is Ronna and I am Dr Cooper's nurse"

and then I take it from there.....

[nursecave]

i always come in and say "hi! my name is amy and i will be your nurse today. congratulations on the birth of your baby." and then i give them a brief overview of things that may happen or other people who may be involved in her care (ex. "my cna is ...."or "the anesthesia dept. will be stopping in to see how your spinal or epidural went" or "your dr. and the baby's dr. both will be in to talk to you" etc....)

it really helps build a rapport if you introduce yourself and explain the routine. it also helps with infant security.

[RunnerRN, BSN, RN]

We wear scrubs with our hospital's name and "RN" on the left breast. This has helped the confusion of wondering who is a nurse, now that everyone wears scrubs. I write my name on the white boards in the morning, and introduce myself "My name is X and I will be your nurse while you're here." There are some nurses in the dept who, even though the patient is going to be "theirs" they say "My name is X and I'm one of the nurses down here." Drives me nutty :)

[panamama]

well....i'm glad to know it wasn't just me being overly observant or whatever since i am interested in nursing now. i just thought it was really weird that they didn't introduce themselves. i mean, i of course already know my doc, but not one of the others. he has 2 offices and i always go to the other one, not the one where the surgery took place...so i didn't know anyone on this staff. but, as i said, they were still all very nice and attentive. the only thing that really bothered me was that the anesthesist (sp?) never said much about starting. he just said, AFTER giving me the local, "oh, good, you're not squeamish about needles!" then he put the tubes up my nose and i was out like a light. i've never had that happen before. usually they say "you're going to feel a little prick." or "you'll feel cold running up your arm" or to count backwards or something! oh well...at least it's over.

[tofutti]

I always notice when health care workers fail to intruduce themself too and it baffles me. I wonder why the employer didn't teach it, why their professional school didn't teach it, and why their momma didn't teach it.

It's something I will always be sure to do, too. Good reminder. :)

I'm just a student but I did take a cna class and that was the first thing we had to do after knocking is introduce ourself by name and title. If you skip that you fail the skills test.

Tofutti

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Um...that is about the rudest thing and my major pet peeve when in hospitals or even the docs office.

First think I do is smile and "Hi....my name is Michelle, I will be your nurse tonite until 11pm" Then a general..." How are you doing?" Since I work LTC, I don't need to introduce my self to everyone all the time...except those who don't remember. I also introduce myself to the other people in the room.

[*CJA*]

We were taught to introduce ourselves by shaking hands if possible and saying our first AND last name - it's professional and it presents a professional attitude.:)

[justavolunteer]

I'm not a nurse, I'm 'justavolunteer', but where I am, EVERYBODY is supposed to introduce themselves. I usually say something like "I'm -------, I'm a volunteer & I'm filling water pitchers for pts tonight". Sometimes, I do forget to introduce myself (everybody does). If a pt. is sleeping, I usually just set the pitcher down quietly and try to remember the intro part later when they're awake.

The nurses & CNA's also have a marker board by each pt. where they write their names.