My name is Susan and I am part of your OR team

[SharonH, RN]

I was watching one of those shows on TLC about obese people where they exploit the participants under the pretense of "education". One of the ladies profiled was going into surgery to have a panniculectomy. In pre-op, a lady in scrubs walked up to her and identified herself by first name only and told her she was a part of the OR team and that she would be with her during the surgery. She was very polite and friendly, she then proceeded to check her name bracelet and review a checklist with the patient but I ask you what was wrong with that picture?

[nyapa, RN]

I think she should have identified her role and profession. But I would never give my whole name. In fact, our hospital identification badges display the name we prefer to be called by, but our full name is written extremely faintly.

I had the experience of a patient who jumped over my back fence and was sitting under our tree at night time. He had a reputation for being extremely violent. After that we made our phone number silent so that it wasn't listed in the phone directory...

[Katie82, RN]

Each time we come into the room, we are supposed to greet the patient and let them know what we have come to do. (ie. "I have your 2pm medications here- Zofran and ketorolac.

Have to be a little careful how much information you share in front of a roommate, could be a HIPAA issue. I hate what HIPAA has done to our ability to communicate with our patients.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

When I go to holding to meet my patient, I always say " Hi, I'm WitchyRN, and I'm the nurse that will be taking care of you in the room today". I usually just use my first name. I agree that Susan should identify herself as a nurse both for the patient's benefit and the benefit of the profession. Sometimes, I feel invisible over there!