UIHC nurses allowed to use first name, last initial on badges; stickers still banned

IOWA CITY — Following outcry from hundreds of nurses and staff demanding more privacy in their patient interactions, University of Iowa Health Care has updated its photo ID badge policy allowing employees to share only their first name and last initial.

Until now, UIHC policy required employees to maintain photo ID badges with full first and last names visible. And administrators in September responded to a protest against that policy — involving 500-plus UI nurses and staff who covered their last names with stickers — by circulating “key reminders” of the ID badge policy.

Beyond just the full name and photo requirement, UIHC administrators in their recirculated guidance reiterated the mandate that employees keep badges clear of all personalizing pins and stickers.

“Badges, including the badge holder and hang tag, must be free of stickers, pins, and other adornments,” according to the employee reminder, barring lanyards as well. “Full name, title, and location must be fully visible.”

But this month, following sustained employee outcry about threats to their personal safety — from Facebook stalking to patients showing up at their homes — UIHC announced a policy revision.

“Changes in workplace safety are shaping policies and practices across health care organizations nationwide,” according to a UIHC statement provided to The Gazette about its professional appearance and photo identification badge policies.

“In response to evolving safety concerns, UI Health Care is providing an option to its employees to show only first names and first letter of their last name on identification badges,” according to the UIHC statement. “This reflects work that has been underway for several months to review our current practices, align with national trends, and incorporate both staff and patient perspectives.”

The new UIHC option for staff ID badges was communicated internally Nov. 6.

But, officials said, “It will take time to fully roll out these changes.”

“A phased approach will allow us to implement a temporary solution while we establish a schedule to issue new badges to those who opt in to the changes,” officials said, noting that patients will maintain their rights, despite the badge change.

“Patients have the right to know the names of those on their care team and will continue to have access to the care team’s full names through their medical record, including visit summary as well as appointment reminder messages.”

Stickers still banned

Despite the policy change allowing employees to share only their last initial on badges, UIHC has not revised or repealed its prohibition on stickers and personalized pins.

“On the whole, the union is happy with the result of UIHC’s decision,” said Hannah Bott, lead organizer with the Iowa division of SEIU Health Care Minnesota & Iowa — a union representing more than 4,000 UIHC nurses and staff.

“We see this as a significant win for worker safety and privacy in the workplace,” she told The Gazette. “However, there are parts of our demands which were not addressed, namely the demand to return to allowing hospital staff to display stickers and pins on their badges and to use non-university issue badge reels.”

UIHC nurses and staff for years had been attaching stickers and pins to their ID badges — not just to protect their identity, but to express themselves and even connect with patients on a personal level.

So when UIHC began enforcing its no-stickers policy following a May protest in which 500-plus nurses and staff used union stickers to cover their names, Bott said workers were forced to remove pronoun stickers, pride flags, personalized badge reels, and Daisy Award pins — given to nurses in recognition of “extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care.”

“Patients, and of course then also by extension LGBTQ staff, feel like this is an antigay retaliatory measure — like overreach by the government,” Bott told The Gazette last month. “And in the current climate that we're in, that makes a lot of sense that folks now are being told they have to remove their pride flags from their badges, their pronoun pins and stickers.”

Some staff reported an impact on morale and on patients, with Bott sharing an anecdote “from a patient in the LGBTQ clinic who said that this made him feel really unsafe about pursuing care at the university.”

Despite those concerns, the university has not changed its prohibition of stickers and pins on badges.

“We are frustrated with hospital leadership’s decision to ignore this portion of our letter as it means most importantly that staff are still unable to display Daisy awards, union badges, and pride and pronoun pins/stickers,” she said. “While we see this as a win for privacy, there is still more that needs to be done to maintain staff satisfaction at this critical time.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com