Show drivers license to patients in home health

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Is it normal in home health to be required by your employer to show your drivers ID to patients at each visit? Seems unsafe

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That is what your employee ID was designed for.

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Does the company not have employee badges or what is the possible rationale for this?

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So the employer wants you to divulge your address to the clients? The perfect way to put you in more harm's way than is required for the job. If you can forge an employee ID, you can forge a driver's license. So there is no valid reason to use it.

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Specializes in NICU/Mother-Baby/Peds/Mgmt.

Yeah, that's a big "hell no!" from me.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Nope, nope, nope. So much nope. I would insist on using name badges only.

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.

I cant imagine whos bright idea this was. There is no way i would show my DL to any patients. Most of the pts I saw I didnt even want to show my badge. Nope, wouldn't do it.

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Your employer should review. It is not legal to ask you to present your driver's license to patients.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Patients have a legal right to your full legal name, and with that your address is not hard to get, so I'm not really sure what the issue is. I would agree that offering up your drivers license without being asked for any ID is a bit silly, but if a patient wants your name and address then this is information they can get either fairly easily either way.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Check your states department of health (or agency who licenses home health agency) + board of nursing regulations.

In 2013, PA state passed the Health Care Practitioner Photo Identification Badge law requiring EMPLOYER to issue photo ID with "recent picture", specific font size + practitioner type listed for all direct care staff: PHYSICIAN, REGISTERED NURSE, LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE, etc. Law enacted as public has the right to know name of professional staff caring for them. In 35yrs in homecare, never showed drivers license nor would I.

https://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/BoardsCommissions/Documents/SN - HCP Photo ID Badge.pdf

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3 hours ago, MunoRN said:

Patients have a legal right to your full legal name, and with that your address is not hard to get, so I'm not really sure what the issue is. I would agree that offering up your drivers license without being asked for any ID is a bit silly, but if a patient wants your name and address then this is information they can get either fairly easily either way.

There are a lot of things that are fairly easy and yet people don't do them because of the fairly part.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Home Health forum

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