Last Name on ID Badges

Specialties Emergency

Published

For YEARS we have had only our first name on our hospital badges (only in the ER and Psych floors), the rest of the hospital uses full names. This week we were told we MUST wear badges with our first and last names because it is against the law! (Note the Dept. of Health was visiting) Is this true??????

Specializes in BICU, ER, SICU.

The hospital I work at gives us an option if we want our last name or our last initial. I have my last initial only.

In 40 years of nursing , mostly in ED, where patients are at their worst, I am sure I have ticked off one or two (LOL)...Have yet to have anyone look me up....All they have to do is pay five bucks to get their medical record, and Bingo! there is your name in all its glory. Obviously it is a non-issue for me, altho my hospital leaves off the last name for ED badges. The rest of the nurses have both names on their badges. My state does mandate that we are readily identified as RNs, however.

Specializes in Emergency Dept, M/S.

Well, during my short ED career so far, I've had one patient a few weeks ago that was repeatedly pawing at me and asking me for my last name while triaging and getting vitals on him, because "you're just so darn cute..blah, blah, blah". I even happened to be in the same hallway a couple hours later as he was being d/c'd and walking out, and again he stated something about "there's that cute nurse...." to his friend. This really creeped me out, and I don't know if he ever would have tried to look me up had my last name been on my badge, but you can be darn sure I'm glad it's not.

I am a professional, but also a single woman who lives alone, and while I have no home phone (just a cell) so obviously no phone listing, providing my last name would make it easier to find someone. If there is ever any issue with my nursing, I'm sure the hospital would be glad to provide my last name and other necessary information to the appropriate people.

for years we have had only our first name on our hospital badges (only in the er and psych floors), the rest of the hospital uses full names. this week we were told we must wear badges with our first and last names because it is against the law! (note the dept. of health was visiting) is this true??????

walk the units in my area hospitals and you'll be heard pressed to find employees displaying their id badge. even though it's mandatory by law, most obscure it, hang it backwards, or do whatever hides it from view. reason: fear. coworkers, patients, and visitors alike won't hesitate to report someone to the health department or hospital administration; anonymously. false and malicious reporting is rampant. unsubstantiated claims ruin careers everyday. someone is always working an angle.

so, the big dumb martyr in me, i had all my scrub tops monogrammed with my... first last, rn. very simple, no elaboration. now the sight impaired have less trouble reading it, the memory impaired (like me) don't need to repeatedly ask, and hospital staff know who i am. frankly, i think it should be mandatory of all staff. everyone deserves to know who everyone else is. as for the evil-doers working an angle... we simply need to address the errors of their ways.

:clown:

Specializes in Emergency, outpatient.

Worked in SC a long time...It is the Lewis-Blackman Act, specific to SC, giving the public the right to know who is treating them and what they do. Our facility even asked us to stop using the pull-down string clips because the tags would turn around. I agree with that, but I had the problem of having to scan my namebadge to get into the ED from triage. Clip, unclip. Clip, unclip. Arrghh.

I worked a shift at a prison, and they covered my last name for me. "This is prison" they said, and I believe them.

Now I work in Hawaii, and they gave me a nametag that has only my first name on it, my last initial, and RN. I plan to use the stringy thing for the scanners. I guess if they want to find my name, they can access the medical record. :coollook:

Specializes in Emergency Room, Specialty Infusions.

I use to work the ED in Tennessee. We had our first and last names with our picture and credentials on our badge.

One day I got a call at home from a man who said I was his nurse a week ago and he wanted to ask me out for a date. I was incredulous! I asked, "How did you find my phone number?" He replied, "Oh, I called Human Resources and they wouldn't give it to me (Duh!) so I went through all the phone books."

The next day I went to my Manager and Human Resources and told them what happened. After that, staff didn't have the last name on their badges. But, I wondered why they did not implement the no last name policy eight years prior? A patient that one of the RN's had in the ER was found in her house naked and hiding behind a couch.

I now work in Canada. We have our first name, our picture, our department and our professional title(s).

I also learned my lesson. No name in the phone book....ever.

Specializes in ER.

There are safety issues in nearly every occupation. However, I have always felt that the pt has a right to know who is caring for them. My last name has always been on my badge. Yes I have had pts that were verbally threatening, but they could just as easily watch for me in the parking lot after work and they don't need my last name for that. I am certainly in the minority in my department, since there are only two of us that display our last names.

This does lead me to another question...why is a RN or LPN allowed to leave her last name off, but not an MD, DO, NP, or PA? Kinda makes me feel less important:( "oh you don't need to know her full name, she's just a nurse" And let's face it, the doctor is much more hated than the nurses anyway! LOL:chuckle

We are not required to have our last names on our badges working in the ER. (I'm glad about that) There's really no reason a patient would have to know your last name and agree it could be a safety issue because of some of the wackos that come in. When I have had patients that gave me the creeps, I've also had security take me to my car after that shift. :uhoh21:

I use to work the ED in Tennessee. We had our first and last names with our picture and credentials on our badge.

One day I got a call at home from a man who said I was his nurse a week ago and he wanted to ask me out for a date. I was incredulous! I asked, "How did you find my phone number?" He replied, "Oh, I called Human Resources and they wouldn't give it to me (Duh!) so I went through all the phone books."

The next day I went to my Manager and Human Resources and told them what happened. After that, staff didn't have the last name on their badges. But, I wondered why they did not implement the no last name policy eight years prior? A patient that one of the RN's had in the ER was found in her house naked and hiding behind a couch.

I now work in Canada. We have our first name, our picture, our department and our professional title(s).

I also learned my lesson. No name in the phone book....ever.

Physicians have probably had their life threatened when a loved one has died..but most physicians also have an unlisted home phone number for that very reason.

I do not think that nurses are more at risk than any other profession for something bad happening to them...however, it does surprise me that other professions are required to use their last names, and hospitals foster the "hiding" factor with nurses, when the public has a right to know who they are and who is treating them.

Social Workers...are not permitted by law, in most states, to hide their last name...can you imagine how many angry parents they have when they have taken people's children away.

Attorney's...when they lose a case, are at risk.

Judges...when they sentence people to jail/prison.

Police Officers....who are required to fully identify themselves, write tickets and arrest people.

Teachers...when they give bad grades.

Probation/Parole officers...and ALL they deal with is criminals....yet every person that is on probation/parole, knows the first and last name of their probation officer.

I agree with posters who said you can't claim to be professionals, and at the same time, "hide" at work.

My hospital has recently changed hands and now all the nurses have to have their last name on the name tag... except for the ER nurses... how nice for them. In my opinion, this IS a safety issue for the nurses and an invasion of privacy. Do we as nurses not have any rights anymore? Do people not realize in this digital age how EASY it is to steal a nurse's identity with just the name? We might as well have our social security number on our badge too. Having access to our full name is like an open door into our lives. Nurses can still be "professional" and have privacy too.

With the resources available online now, you easily can find a person's phone number and address if you know their first and last name and general geographic area. I work in an ER where I have certain patients that I don't want finding me. Unfortunately, for some of my co-workers, they have had former patient's show up on their doorsteps. As far as going to medical records and finding out who cared for you, with me I sign my name First initial and last name followed by credentials. This is how I was taught to sign records in nursing school and it makes it hard for you to be tracked by those unsurly patients.

My name badge doesn't even have my real name on it, it has my nickname. If you would actually call me by my real name, I probably wouldn't answer you because I have been called my nickname almost all of my life.

Last name on the tag or not, if a violent patient wants at me that badly, finding me is as simple as waiting between the hospital and the employee parking lot.

I'll be happy to put them back in the hospital.

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