Last Name on ID Badges

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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 Psych, LTC, M/S, Supervisor, MRDD,.

I worked psych in a very tiny town and I live 1 block from the hospital. Our hospital allows us to leave our last names off the badge if we work in psych or ER. I never really thought of it as an issue until I had a psych pt try to track me down. Most of the pts we had were safe and just needed help getting over a bump in the road....but every once in a while you get an obsessive borderline type that believes you are destined to be their best friend--no matter what.

I do agree that If someone wants to kill you, beat you up, or just stalk you they'll simply wait in the parking area for ya and follow you home. I still never hold back from using my last name but I think it should be the nurses choice and his/her comfort level...

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Our badges have our first name and last initial on them when issued. almost everyone, including me, covered our last initial with a sticker or something

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Our badges have our first name and last initial on them when issued. almost everyone, including me, covered our last initial with a sticker or something

You're afraid of people knowing your last INITIAL??? How do you get through a shift and deal with clients with that level of fear and insecurity?

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Specializes in Psych.
In the state of Nevada, the Board of Nursing requires that badges worn by nurses must show the first name and last initial only. The hospital cannot override that requirement.

I'm in Nevada and our hospital gives us a choice. However, all the ER RNs choose to cover their last name or have it excluded from their badge. JACHO just visited and didn't have a problem with it. Granted, it does not keep you safe from a hard core stalker. But it is very convenient for mini stalkers and those who are just a plain nuisance (ie the frequent flyers who will come in and try to ask for you by name...."can I have nurse betty ann white please......she is soooooo nice." We've got alot of staff so if you try to ask for someone by name you'll get the "which one?" question. I personally have been stalked and it may seem silly, but I just feel a little bit better with my last name off of my badge. If someone in the ER really wants to question my credentials, they need to get their medical records or possibly they are not that sick in the first place if they want to question everyone who treats them in an emergent situation.

D

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Times change, areas of the country are different. If someone wants to display their first and last name, that is their option. For myself, I prefer first name only with title (RN, BSN, etc). I am in the southwest, where identify fraud is extremely high. If someone has my first and last name they can obtain my license number from the state board, online. Now they have my place of work and enough personal info to steal my credit.

I also have a spouse in law enforcement, as do many other nurses I know. I have different set of concerns from other nurses, in that aspect. Nurses at my hospital have been stalked to their homes by patients. It happens.

Doctors where I work tend to have a professional identification and a personal one. They are able to use their practice address (the ER is contracted by an emergency medical group). Married female doctors can use their maiden name and married name.

Sure, a driven nut case will be able to find anyone, eventually. If they go to medical records, they are going to need to fill out a form identifying themselves. One nurse that was aggressively stalked and was able to keep that information away from one psych patient.

Protecting yourself does not mean you are any less professional any more than locking your doors makes you a whimp. I am not afraid at work all the times, I am careful. I have no problem giving my full name to the little old lady who asks, just as there is no way I will give it to the obnoxious drunk who is hitting on me.

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Specialty Infusions.

One of our ER Nurses asked not to have her last name of her badge. Reason being, her husband a police officer had people out there that he had arrested and harbor ill feelings towards him.

Some maniac who wanted to "get back" at the police officer would go for the family.

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