Am I the only one that is bothered by this? I see so many healthcare professionals, nurses, aides, etc. who, either intentionally or unintentionally, wear their name badges backwards. It bothers me both as a co-worker and when I am the patient. I know that some people do it because they don't want people knowing their names, but honestly, how are you supposed to work with someone or be cared for by someone who you don't even know by name? I don't think that last names should be displayed on a name badge, especially in this crazy world that we live in today, but I think that to display your first name, job title, and photo ID should be required. In most facilities, this technically is a requirement, yet still, half the employees will have their name badge on backwards. Call me paranoid, but if someone comes into my room when I'm the patient and wants to do a procedure on me, I want to be able to tell right away who they are and what their job title is. Ditto when a co-worker shows up to take one of my patients somewhere or to assist me with the patient's care.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I think last names should not be on the badge but especially in cetain areas like the Emergency Department. Police can give their last names becasue they carry guns.
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
There are exceptions to everything. When I worked at the jail, I covered my last name with a little bit of masking tape. There is no inherent "right" for a pt to know a nurse's last name.
Since 1/1 2011, state law in PA + healthcare licensed granted = must wear name badge
All badges must contain:
A photograph taken within the last four years;
An employees’ full name;
The title in which the employee is licensed or certified --block type and shall occupy a one-half-inch tall strip as close as practicable to the bottom edge of the badge
The name of the health care facility or employment agency.
the employee's title shall be as large as possible
All Pennsylvania health care employers will need to comply by June 2015
The regulations contain a “religious” and a “safety” exception to the requirements. The religious exception pertains to employees who refuse to take a photograph as it would constitute a violation of their religious beliefs; the covered entity may allow an employee to wear an identification badge without a photo. The employee, however, must sign a notarized statement and wear an identification badge containing all of the remaining information, in addition to the employee’s height and eye color.
With the safety exception, the last name of the employee may be omitted or concealed when delivering direct care to a patient who exhibits symptoms of irrationality or violence. Health care facilities must prepare written
policies that indicate how they will address this exception and continue to ensure that such employees are adequately identified on their ID badge.
AMA news article:
New Pennsylvania law requires physicians, nurses to wear photo IDs .
States are working to guarantee that patients know whom they are seeing and are not deceived by health professionals who misrepresent their training.
...The Pennsylvania law is one example of how states are working to ensure that patients know whom they are seeing and are not misled by health professionals who misrepresent their level of training. At least two states -- California and Arizona -- have enacted laws requiring that any advertisements for medical services include the health professional's title and license type.
Illinois adopted its Truth in Health Care Professional Services Act in July, requiring health professionals to post their license when seeing patients in their office. They also must wear a visible badge stating their license credentials during all patient encounters....
Disclosing who the doctor is
..Though many hospitals in the state require name tags, they are often hard to read, with small lettering and abbreviations for degrees that some patients can't decipher, said Scot Chadwick, vice president for governmental affairs for the Pennsylvania Medical Society. "The genesis of it has been the increase in doctorates being offered and obtained by nonphysician health care providers who use the term 'doctor' in referring to themselves," he said. "That has led to a growing concern about possible patient confusion."
Dr. Brod has received inquiries from physicians across the country who are interested in supporting similar legislation. "We're hoping that this serves as a bellwether for other states," he said.
I work in surgery so the only time I come out of the "dungeon" is to interview patients or speak with family members. I always make sure my name badge is flipped to the correct side before I interact.
This is especially annoying when you are a new employee and you need to learn the names of a million other nurses and aides on the unit and their badges are flipped! I forget names so easily and I need to hear everyone's names at least twice before I remember it and it's embarrassing when I've forgotten the name of someone I was introduced to the day before and can't quickly glance at their badge.
I take my name badge off multiple to scan into various rooms in the hospital. I try to check to make sure that my badge is facing the right way, but sometimes I'll look down to see that I've replaced it backwards on accident. I've gotten much better at remembering to have it face outwards.
By the way ... I would never have my last name on my name badge! I've had computer savvy patients ask if I'm on Facebook or ask where I live. I like to keep my professional and personal life seperate.
Specializes in Oncology, Med/Surg, Hospice, Case Mgmt..
Sometimes I wear my badge upside down, just for the fun of it. Just kidding.
Dude, seriously. I don't want the stuff hanging the heck off of me. I don't even like the stethoscope around my neck, and I use that sucker a lot. Pockets are good.
Embroidered is cool though. I think I'd prefer that. Badges and tags hanging off you; what an annoyance. Plus, if you clip to a pocket it can disconnect and get lost. Lanyards can break--and once again, you have the annoyance, even somewhat discomfort, of having something around your neck. Some of us are more sensitive to these kinds of things than others. Besides not wearing rings during work, b/c it's impractical and can carry germs, even after scrubbing, when I'm not working, I still take my rings off at night. Can't stand things rubbing against me. Same thing with earrings--even if they are posts.
First things I take off at home are shoes and bra. I'm just really skin sensitive. I'm one of those people that have to NOT have my covers tucked in--whereas my spouse prefers having it tucked it. I absolutely HATE the rubbing against my feet.
Wonder how much it would cost to get the embroidery on all your tops and jackets?
I completely agree with you. I detest wearing anything around my neck. I hate it. I don't even wear necklaces. I always wore my hospital badge clipped to my pocket, but they do fall off easily that way.
Sometimes the badge is backwards because, I'll admit it, I hate the picture! Ughhh...I always hate the picture on the badge and I don't want people staring at it. When I am your nurse, I tell you my name first thing when I come in your room at the beginning of the shift. Remember it. That should be good enough.
As far as 'who' you are dealing with, RN, LPN, Tech, Lab, etc. At our hospital everyone wears different scrub colors. If your an RN, white shirt/navy bottoms. If your LPN, white shirt/maroon bottoms, etc. Our ID's flip every which away also, but if your a patient you generally know who is who by the color that they wear. This doesn't help with knowing the persons' name, but it does help with knowing 'who' is 'who'. :)
This has happend to me many times as i run around like a chicken with my head cut off all over my unit. To mention having errr large assets its bounces and flips over constantly. I always introduce myself at the begining of my shift before sundown haha (I work nights). I will say that there is NOTHING more annoying as after a labor intensive round to have a co worker say OMG you name tag is back wards. Considering I'm considerate to my patients rest time and dont put all the lights on uless its needed it IRKS me....like oh IM SORRY I forgot my people have night vision...lol. We have one bitter RN on our unit who makes it her duty to point this out constantly. Its not as annoying to me anymore considering she does it to us all.
What I meant and probably didn't do a good job of communicating, is that I hate it when people intentionally turn their badges backwards, which I see a lot. Like a PP pointed out, I know you're proud of your kids, pets, etc. but I don't need to see a picture of them! What I would like to see is a head and shoulders picture, a first name, and your job title. We all have the problem of badges flipping around accidentally, and there's not a lot you can do except keep flipping them back to the right side.
As far as the debate over whether last names should be shown or not, and my employer is one that makes us have it on our badges, I still don't think that patients need to know our last names in the healthcare setting. Someone compared it to being a teacher, but it's a little bit different, because it isn't appropriate for students to call their teacher by their first name, so of course they have to divulge their last name. Ditto a doctor. However, when I am one of a team of nurses in a specific unit, it's easy enough for a patient or family member to inquire on the unit if they need to know more about me for any reason, good or bad, and then it can be determined if they really need to know my last name or not. Some people are just nosy, and with the internet, it would take them about five minutes to find a person's house, marital status, etc. even if they're not (as I'm not) on Facebook. I don't feel that anyone ever has the right to delve into personal information on a stranger that way, but since it happens, it should happen as little as possible, so unless there is a pressing need to divulge your last name, then why put more people at risk? I have taken care of some really creepy patients/family members over the years, and when I was younger and a bit thinner, I would get hit on from time to time, sometimes aggressively enough to make me very nervous, and the idea of going home after work and finding some patient's father or brother sitting in my driveway is not my idea of a good day, KWIM? Safety first. If someone has a legitimate need to know a staff member's last name, they can take their request to management and go through the proper channels and censors.
My badge flips all of the time and I turn it several times a shift. Thankfully, my last name isn't on it! I worked in a different facility back in the 90's and had a stalker for quite awhile. How did he know where I lived..... first and last name on my id badge. Why would a nurse want their first and last name out there when we take care of so many different pts and families? First name with last initial along with a pic should do just fine.
At the womens prison it was your last name with first initial. Really, like that's not a safety issue. My last name is very uncommon so I would be easy to find and pay back from some preconceived wrong.
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CrunchRN, ADN, RN
4,555 Posts
I would have too!