Wearing name badges in care home

[FrangiePangie]

AIBU to think that it should be mandatory for people who work in care homes to wear name badges. I've just put my mum in one and no-one has them on. I asked why not and got excuses like they'd forgotten, theirs was broken or they'd lost it. How on earth is someone in their 80's with poor memory going to remember peoples' names?

Yanbu at all

I hope your mum settles in well

I would move your mum cos the excuses would raise concerns about other issues they don't think are important.

I do think 'Badges' are a bad idea as the close contact could cause an injury, but embroidered on their uniform would be a good idea

There is an argument for not wearing name badges at all actually. Or any uniform. Makes it more homely. But if they are supposed to be wearing them and are not then I would be concerned.

I do think 'Badges' are a bad idea as the close contact could cause an injury, but embroidered on their uniform would be a good idea

I've yet to come across a company that would pay to have names embroidered on uniforms. Getting new u Igor. When yours is worn out can be a pain in the arse.

As for badges. It depends on the setting. I've worked in dementia homes where we couldn't wear anything at all on our uniforms, pens, fob watches, nothing. Because the service users sometimes grab at our uniforms and pull things off. It's only when other staff notice your fob watch in someone's bed they you even realise it's missing.

They'll remember names by chatting to the staff, getting to know them.
Could be agency staff.
Do you really think an employer who pays minimum/low wage is worrying about making sure all staff badges are up to date?

Name badges are not important. However if the staff are lying to you that is a massive red flag.

There are care where the staff even wear pyjamas on night shift. Making the residents comfortable is key, the formality of a badge isnt really necessary.

In schools name badges are a safeguarding requirement. I should have thought the same applied in a care home.

Whilst I understand your concerns there are a lot of care homes in which badges wouldn't work, the homes I've worked in we weren't allowed anything in our top pockets or attached to our uniforms due to the risk of it being pulled off, accidentally caught or snagged or something.

But if it's mandatory and part of their uniform in that care home and the staff aren't complying then I'd suggest raising it with the senior or manager.

For what it is worth, the clients I looked after never used our names anyway, or would just ask us what our names were. Sometimes they'd remember, sometimes they'd forget. When we would go in we would announce who it was and what we were there for ("Morning Doris it's Honey, can I just check/do x,y,z" for example) It was mainly relatives that wanted/needed to know our names and we had a staff board in reception with all pictures and names on.

In schools name badges are a safeguarding requirement. I should have thought the same applied in a care home.. I have NEVER seen a teacher wear a name badge in all the years I both attended school as a pupil and have had children go through the system

The excuses would bother me

As PP have said there are valid reasons for care home staff to not wear badges. But if there was a policy of not having them they should've explained this to you and the reasoning.

When I worked in care we had lanyards with a quick release, so if it was pulled it came apart.
Pin on badges were a big no no.

I do think 'Badges' are a bad idea as the close contact could cause an injury, but embroidered on their uniform would be a good idea IIRC in my local hospital nurses/HCAs etc have it embedded in their tunic - almost looks like a sticky label but it's part of their uniform.

It might just be me but I would struggle to read a name badge unless it was pretty big and I think most elderly people in care homes are older than me. I realise that there are younger people in care homes but for the elderly I'm not sure they would work particularly well.

I'm a student nurse. On placement I wear a name badge as is university policy. However when caring for someone they can easily be grabbed and can potentially damage fragile skin. I have found that they don't look for a badge, they don't look at uniforms...it could be due to eyesight problems.

I have never had a resident look at my badge. But I always introduce myself sometimes I introduce myself every few minutes. Hello my name is ... is my mantra.

My name is, I'm a student nurse and I'm here to help you ... I'm here to help you get showered. I'm here to help you have something to eat. I'm here to help you take some medicine.

I'd be more worried about them not introducing themselves.

Sometimes as we get older we don't look at badges but at faces. A warm smiling face is what you need to be looking for.

Badges aren't a great idea.

I looked after one lady as strong as an ox she didn't mean to hurt you but if she wanted a hug she would grab you, she regularly broke the pin on the badge as well and if you didn't realise at the time she could be in bed with an open name badge

Also a lot of them can't read the smaller print. I was called john for at least a year because one thought that's what my name badge said

I have also worked in a care home (and as a community carer) and would agree that pin badges would be a definite no-no due to the risk of injury. In the same way that carers should not have long nails or be wearing jewellery.

Embroidered uniforms might be nice. I can see how they would be especially helpful for dementia patients, but as someone has already said, I've never known a care company who will pay for more than absolute basics. It's fairly common to even have to argue for residents to be allowed more suitable (and more expensive) incontinence pads, enough latex free gloves (again, more expensive than the standard ones), etc. etc. I even bought one lady shampoo & bubble bath as she had no relatives or friends to buy them for her and the management of the home "had no money for luxuries". To me clean hair & skin are not luxuries! This was in a BUPA home too.

Iron-on badges wouldn't be a safety issue, and would be easily and cheaply replaced on new uniforms.

I think it's a good idea especially for residents who have difficulties with their memory; but as others have said, the more important point here is that, if they're supposed to be wearing them, then they should be wearing them and not making excuses as to why they're not.

On the point of teachers wearing name badges - at both DS2's secondary school and DD's primary school, all staff wear lanyards with ID cards attached.

A sort of name badge without being an actual badge.

I've worked in a home where name badges were brought in and made mandatory due to suggestions from residents and families - great idea in principle for enabling residents with memory loss to address us by our names, and visitors to know who we are, however when in close contact with someone doing personal care they weren't so practical, and potentially harmful in a conflict situation with pins and the like. Magnet ones not much better - one of mine ended up in a toilet - where it stayed! In my experience care homes are sniffy about paying out for uniform (usually get one provided, if you need more because you work more hours, you pay for it, you also provide own trousers and shoes which must conform, and if you wear your uniform out, most won't replace) so embroidered names would be unlikely. We then moved to photo card ID clipped to your uniform, which was fine until you had to move it into your pocket to do close contact care and forgot it was there!
If it is mandatory in your home then you have every need to ask, but bear in mind that many homes insist you replace your badge yourself if it is lost or damaged - even if it is done in the course of your work.
But in answer to your question, no for practical reasons they shouldn't be mandatory, any care worker, especially with a new resident should be realising their name isn't going to be the residents top priority and announce themselves -
I'd tap on a door and say "Hi there Frangiepanie's mum, it's oldandjaded, may I come in with your clean laundry....."
Hope your mum settles in well

YANBU -

BTW - neat handwriting plus a sharpie would suffice - cheap and safe.

They'll remember names by chatting to the staff, getting to know them.

That won't work with anyone who has short-term memory loss, with the number of different staff that will be on duty at various times. There isn't much 'chatting' goes on in Care Homes either, I'm afraid. No time for that.

From reading posts here it seems like it makes much more sense to have a policy of staff introducing themselves and what they're doing at every interaction

Staff are often assigned names by residents.
They can't reconcile more 'modern' names being real so name badges wouldn't help.
Keeplooking, good staff will chat as they spend time with residents as they care for them. It settles people and makes them more likely to comply with the upheavel that personal care involves iif you are frail and in discomfort.

I also think the message should be given loud and clear to staff in whatever capacity dealing with the elderly that many elderly are deaf and will smile and agree to whatever as it's easier and less embarrassing to say 'Sorry what was that' constantly.
My elderly grandaunt had no idea what she was being asked for much of the time in hospital. She smiled sweetly and nodded. They thought she was a sweet old thing but most of the time she was clueless as to what they were saying.
It's only a little thing to consider and so basic.
Sorry rant over- I was upset for her.