Is it legal to have RN's use full name on badge?

[nitrorocket]

I work in a hospital where we have our first and last name on our badges. Patients look up our legal records, and try to look us up on facebook. Isn't this a HIPAA violation? That is invasive to our personal lives which has NOTHING to do with work.

The way I see it is that patients have no right to know or first and last names. That is unsafe to us, and our families, I have many mentally instable patients!

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

In 21 years of nursing, two cases of nurses that were stalked by MDs (attempting affairs, marriage on rocks, etc.), and a few cases of fellow nurses stalking nurses. Or estranged husbands/boyfriends stalking nurses. No patients stalking nurses.

Not my current workplace, but a small community hospital. One of my married male coworkers (former home hospice nurse - scary), started making moves on single staffers shortly after he finished orientation. He kept trying to go home with them or make plans with him, to get them alone off work. No one was even remotely interested and working with him on night shift started to get creepy. It was a small unit with generally only 2 RNs at night as staff, and in an isolated part of the floor.

A few weeks go by, and his turn to float to an undesirable unit came up. Others had covered him, but that shift no one offered to do so. The other two nurses had been there, and one was charge. He got angry, threw his keys at us, tore up his ID and nursing license and left the unit/hospital. His wife called us later, saying that he had guns in his car and threatened to come back and shoot the staff/facility and then kill himself. We went into lockdown (with our security -what a joke), until he was caught.

YOW! Freaks everywhere, I say. And see, this is what I'm talking about: the incidences of stalking or general creepiness had zero to do with name tags, it had to do with deranged people already knowing who their targets were.

I worked with someone once who told me how she had been stalked by some creep, and how she didn't want to wear a name badge, etc.....but the thing is, the creep was a weirdo who was NOT a patient, so didn't even know of her name tag. He was a creep she met in a social setting. So....again, no name tag issue, creepy people are everywhere!

[CopperEmerald]

I've been stalked by a patient.

That said, I have also worked for a facility where a patient followed a nurse home, threatening her and her family. Granted, he followed her, that could happen to anyone. Then he was readmitted to the hospital and guess where he was placed? Her unit. That's inexcusable. Perhaps if employees felt that their facility would do the (at best) minimum to protect them, they wouldn't want to cover their names. In the meantime....my last name will stay covered. It doesn't make me any less of a nurse, or any less accountable for what I do. My patients have more than ample opportunity to see my name in all the paperwork they sign.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Nurses licenses have always been available to the public. The public has the right to know and report their caregivers.

When I was in school....eons ago...we had an entire semester about legalities and ehtics of nursing and included was the states nurse practice act.

It's sad that more nurses do not know what the legal implications of their job.

Or may not be paying attention, or have SS syndrome.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

YOW! Freaks everywhere, I say. And see, this is what I'm talking about: the incidences of stalking or general creepiness had zero to do with name tags, it had to do with deranged people already knowing who their targets were.

I worked with someone once who told me how she had been stalked by some creep, and how she didn't want to wear a name badge, etc.....but the thing is, the creep was a weirdo who was NOT a patient, so didn't even know of her name tag. He was a creep she met in a social setting. So....again, no name tag issue, creepy people are everywhere!

THIS.

I NEVER had a pt or a family member stalk me. EVER.

Now, ask me about a crazy ex, then I'll have a story for YOU.

[PurpleLover]

Some hospitals here only have first names

[elkpark]

In the meantime....my last name will stay covered. It doesn't make me any less of a nurse, or any less accountable for what I do. My patients have more than ample opportunity to see my name in all the paperwork they sign.

Fine -- as long as you understand, keeping your last name covered on your badge doesn't make you any safer, either. In the example you give, you note the individual followed the nurse home -- you don't say anything about him/her finding the nurse because of knowing her last name. Anyone can wait in a parking lot and follow any of us home from work -- whether or not they know our last name has nothing to do with that.

Sure, bad things happen to nurses sometimes. Bad things happen to lots of people. Nurses do get stalked -- but not at a significantly higher rate than people who aren't nurses (and at a significantly lower rate than some other professions, professions that would never consider attempting to conceal their last names from clients). I'm puzzled by this weird faith so many nurses have in the totem power of the badge -- that not having your last name on your badge will somehow protect you. I am (have been through most of my long career) a single woman living in a city. There are lots of things I think about and do all the time, day in and day out, to attempt to minimize my risk of being a victim of crime and/or violence -- but, IMO, whether or not I have my last name on my badge at work is so far down that list that it's not even worth talking about. And, also IMO, not having my last name on my badge would seriously diminish me as a professional.

[NICURN29]

I feel like people don't understand what HIPAA actually is. It's not an across-the-board privacy act. It involves PHI, and my last name is a nurse is NOT PHI. Now, my medical history certainly is...but patients should not have access to that anyway! It bothers me a bit when people try to stretch HIPAA to covers things unrelated to the act.

[klone, MSN, RN]

And psych patients are EVERYWHERE.

That made me laugh. So true.

[caliotter3]

What is SS syndrome? Want to know if I need to make another visit to the doctor!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Special Snowflake

[817nurse]

The way I see it is that patients have no right to know or first and last names.

Patients DO have the right to know the first and last names of nurses who provide their care. It's about legality and professional accountability. If you want to work at a place that leaves your last name off your badge, McDonalds and Walmart are hiring.

[brownbook]

I don't even want to know why....but where I work they suddenly made us return all our ID badges (with our first and last names) and provided new badges with first name only. I spent quite a bit of time getting the font right, printed my last name on plain paper, and glued it to my name badge.

Just ridiculous.