I support the regulation amendment to allow just first name and last name initial on Nurse's Badges. Stalking and workplace violence in the news point to the need to protect these first line health care providers with this privacy protection

thank you

Mike Rome MSN, RN, APHN-BC

If regulations are established then name badges may be less beneficial to staff and patients. I think name badge identification should be site specific. For APRNs it is better to have last name than first name.

For  forensic patients, this is a great safety measure. I work in outpatient clinic, so patients get a card with my full name when appropriate and this change would allow me control over that information.

I believe that nurses should be able to have their first name and last initial. I worked in  the ED for many years and this was the norm for our protection. With the advent of social media, I have personally received unwanted "friend requests" from patients. I am perfectly willing to give my full name if I feel safe giving it. 

I agree to put first name and initial of last name.  

I agree with the amendment to put the first name and only last name initial on the badge.

I support the bill to allow nurse ID Badge to dispaly first name and last initial. It would protect nurses privacy. It is too easy to find out personal information about an individual with full name. This could lead to stalking, unsoliciated communication or other personal harm. 

This is a fair and reasonable change to help protect from harrassment.  With the ease of access to the Internet, patients can Google the name and often ascertain the nurse's address and more.  We should also consider including nurses in the same sort of protection which other first responders have with blocked addresses.

I agree with the amendment. There are times we are confronted by disgruntled patients and family members and this would be one way to protect our identity.

I support this amendment to allow the use of first name and only first intial of last name  on name badges for nursing staff. I have personally experienced a  situation  of someone using the information from my badge to contact my personal phone number . So I support this proposal 100 per cent.

I agree with this proposal to have some nurse identity within health care. Why does the patient need to know your last name? What if a patient gets agree or hostile and decides to look you up? A person can google or look ukkp almost anyone in this day and age. Nurses deserve some privacy as well. As you introduce yourself, you could just say "Hi, my name is Kelli and I will be your nurse today." etc.

In this era of rising workplace violence healthcare workers are at increased risk carrying out their day to day jobs.  Their privacy and protection are of paramount importance

I agree with using only first name and last name initial on ID badges in facilities. 

Fully support the first name and initial of last name.  

For the sake of networking and resumes, most of us have professional email addresses, primarily composed of our name. If patients can use that to figure out our email address, they could have access to much more information, because companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google use a single sign-in for your entire online life. This can be very dangerous. Thanks for your time and consideration.

I agree with First Name Last initial.  I get multiple facebook friend requests from patients.  I prefer my safety and privacy.

I highly support this initiative to protect nurse's privacy by limiting the amount of information provided on a name badge to the minimum necessary.  Nurses can use their well-honed assessment skills to decide with whom they share what personal information. 

I am in support of name tag regulation. I feel it is easier for predators to search staff and find where they reside. I have had at least two incidence where staff members were contacted by previous patients and stalked. It may not resolve all issues but it may keep the identity of the nurse somewhat harder to decipher. 

I support this given the privacy and saftey concerns for nurses working in all setting.  Having your full name on public disply in the heath care setting is not only dangerous but also a saftey issue.  We are not putting patient names on full display in the common area's of hospitals are we?

I respect the need for improved security and protection of our nursing workforce. Sadly the risk of patient or family injury seems to be increasing at volitile moments of care delivery. I do however think the public has a right to know the name of the professional staff caring for them and I strongly encourage the board to reach out to our counterparts in medicine, pharmacy and therapy. If we go down this path then what does that mean for them. I think we need to continue to have our last names on formal identification badges. 

Absolutely not! We are professionals and hiding our identity from our patients only interferes with establishing interpersonal relationships which are the foundation of good patient care. Perhaps some units in hospitals would make such a decision, but that should be a facility decision, not a regulation across Virginia nursing practice. I do not see why the State Board of Nursing would need to write regulations controlling nursing behavior at this level.  This level of regulation is a waste of taxpayer money.

In today's day and age and how easy it is to access personal information about someone, this is a necessity.  If a patient has access to the nurse's first and last name (if it's somewhat unique) they are able to know almost everything about him/her within five minutes simply by using a free search engine. This puts the nurse at risk for stalking, physical harm, and slander.  Patients are protected in so many ways and nurses are often left vulnerable and exposed.  This is necessary!

I agree with first name only.  Currently the first name overshadows the last and staff call each other by the first name.  To keep the first name makes it easier for all.  First name protects the safety and privacy of the staff. The full name makes it easier to locate the nurse and may encourage violent acts by disgruntled patients.

I agree with limiting the information on badges.  This is particularly improtant in clinical areas with high risk populations (neonates, pregnancy, emergency departments, psych units).  Retaliation is high and can be very threatening.  

Seeing as how the patient's after visit summary and receipt contains the provider's full name, just addressing the name badge might prove futile. Patients can retrieve the provider's name on most practic's directory, website, medical record and numerous other places.

I beleive the propsed regualtion amendment to use first name and last intila on a nurses ID badge is a great idea in this social media world. This would indeed assist in protecting a nurses privacy and add to the personal safety of the nurse.

I support this amendment.

Nurse's privacy should be maintained, through limited disclosure of last names.  However, the patient's right to knowing who takes care of them should be maintained through the use of initials, so that they may identify between nurses of the same first name.

I worked in a prison in another state.  First and last name was on our ID badge.  It was evident that prisoners looked us up and knew more about us that they should.  When I worked in Long term care, Hospitals, Home care, my full name was on my Id badges. There were times I was not comfortable with patients/ clients knowing my last name.     I would prefer, just my first name ,only,  is printed on my ID badge.         

I support the request.

As a bedside RN who has been contacted inappropriately  by families through social media, I am in support of this amendment. 

I'm in full support of an amendment to allow use of first name and last initial on a name tag for nurses in all practice environments.

I support this amendment. Working in the hospital, one comes in contact with all patients. Mental health issues are not just seen in psychiatric care. They are seen throughout the hospital because these patients have medical issues that require treatment in addition to they psychiatric problems. I personally have had issues with patient's getting my name off my badge and looking me up in the phone book or online and calling me. They were inappropriate calls to the point of sexual advances. I had a coworker several years ago that was stalked by a former patient who had her full name from her name badge and looked her up and found where she lived. Unfortunately, in today's society, one needs to be more vigilant about their safety. Violence can happen anywhere. We are not able to tell when a patient comes to the hospital for care if they are going to be someone that could cause harm. One way to protect health care workers safety is to remove last names from name badges. This prevents patients from being able to threaten, harass or stalk an employee. Please consider the safety of health care workers when reading this bill and do the right thing for us. Remove last names from hospital badges.

I support.

Nurses care for and deal with many types of people and some are not so nice. Not always the pt either. Family members can be the worse with unrealistic expectations and will read your name badge, write down your name, and yes some have gone as far as seeking you out at your home. Nurses need protection and our last names do not change how we deliver pt care. This amendment will provide nurses with protection from those we need it from.

Only having first name in ID badges is and excellent idea. 

With technology and the ability of social media, the use of last names on name badges for bedside nurses is dangerous and foolish. 

I fully support having first name, first initial of last name on name badges.  I work in Corrections and have a different easily recognized last name and have had previous offenders call my name in public.

With the increase in violence against nurses and widespread access to social media, I fully support use of first name and last initial on name tags. I have seen instances of patients/families looking up nurses on social media.

I support the use of first name and last initial on nurse ID badges.  I have had patients contact me after obtaining my first and last name from my employment badge; for some clinicians, it could lead to very concerning/unsafe interactions.

I support the amendment that would allow nurses to have their first name and last initial only on their ID badges. It is a safety concern that is very prevelant in the age of internet.  I have myself had a patient try to contact me on the internet and on the phone when I did not give out the information to the patient.  Understandably, if there was any issue where my full name was proven needed, than that information would have to go through the hospital and the appropriate channels.