Hello, my name is...’ NHS ‘patient-friendly’ badges - with pronouns

[Pronoun]

My manager is getting us new name badges for NHS work. The ‘hello, my name is’ campaign is meant to be for the benefit of patients; some are marketed as being specifically dementia-friendly.

I was surprised to see that there is the option to include pronouns on the badges. As these are meant to be for patient benefit, I feel a bit uncomfortable with these. My feeling is that people just want to know your name, to have a proper, friendly introduction, and to be treated as a person, so they don’t feel like an anonymous ‘case,’ or struggle to know who has been looking after them. I feel these pronoun badges run the risk of making interactions about the HCP rather than centring the patient. Am I wrong to feel this way?

Oh good god NONONONONONOOOOO...

This is fucking ridiculous!!!!

And spectacularly tone deaf, if it's for dementia patients.

That badge has far too much information on it. For someone with poor eyesight/ESL/under stress etc there's just too much to plough through in order to to dis cover the info they need: who the person is and what their role is.

All that badge needs is

Steve Pirelli
Assistant Administrator

But then I'm assuming that the purpose of the badge is to help the person facing Steve.

@margaretjohnson

On the contrary, I think this is an excellent idea. Patients don't have to acknowledge them, and I don't suppose many will even notice their names. However, if they do notice it then it will help to normalise not assuming pronouns and may also help NB NHS workers feel valid, as opposed to simply ticking a 'prefer not to say' box that completely ignores their identity.

I was idly googling if it was possible to have my pronouns on my name badge when I came across this thread. I'm a non binary NHS worker and I find it pretty stressful to have to ask 20 different colleagues every day to use my preferred they/them pronouns. So I figured a badge might be a more efficient way to let people I work with know without subjecting them to a long conversation. As you can imagine, this whole thread was fairly disheartening to read but I thought your response was amazing. So much so that I genuinely created an account to say thank you. So thank you. You give me hope that it might not be this difficult forever.

eeeee hinny, divva ye know whether you’re a fella or a lass? Well I never..., I should be looking after you rather than you looking after me... are you here by yourself? Is there someone with you? Shall I fetch your mam
Sorry I'm going to channel your granny from now on when I see these. It'll at least be bloody hilarious and what can the badge owner say? I'm just a dotty old lady.

YANBU. This is taking the emphasis away from the patient and is certainly not dementia friendly

I am so glad I am retired. This is all about the attention seeking, me, me, me culture.
Whatever happened to prioritising the patient's needs?

" I'm a non binary NHS worker and I find it pretty stressful to have to ask 20 different colleagues every day to use my preferred they/them pronouns."

I am sorry that you find this stressful but I find it difficult to believe that you are in a position to overhear ,on so many occasions per day, people talking about you. The whole point of third person pronouns is that the person being talked about is not present.

If you work closely with patients you really have to try not to be so self absorbed.

@margaretjohnson

On the contrary, I think this is an excellent idea. Patients don't have to acknowledge them, and I don't suppose many will even notice their names. However, if they do notice it then it will help to normalise not assuming pronouns and may also help NB NHS workers feel valid, as opposed to simply ticking a 'prefer not to say' box that completely ignores their identity.

Why is it so important that 'NB NHS workers feel valid'? Seriously, no one cares about feckin pronouns. If you can only find validation from someone referring to you as 'they' in your absence, then you might need to look at other areas of your life. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but honestly this is just such bullshit and I'm tired of it.

How does it benefit the 80 year old dementia patient that you are caring for to have 'my pronouns are they/them' on your name badge? It defeats to object to be honest because it will probably just cause more confusion.

Unfortunately a terrible tragic accident befell my lovely badge proclaiming my name on the day it was bestowed on me by my manager.
It broke very badly under someone’s shoe, it was beyond repair.
Obviously I was very upset.
I was forced to place it into my locker until such time as the Trust could employ the repair shop to work magical restorative measures.
Thus far, name badge remains in my locker.
Lucky I have an official formal Trust name badge with my picture on for such identification purposes.

@334bu

" I'm a non binary NHS worker and I find it pretty stressful to have to ask 20 different colleagues every day to use my preferred they/them pronouns."

I am sorry that you find this stressful but I find it difficult to believe that you are in a position to overhear ,on so many occasions per day, people talking about you. The whole point of third person pronouns is that the person being talked about is not present.

I'd rather know that NHS workers were collaborating with other staff about the health of their patients rather than challenging 20 colleagues every day about their choice of pronouns. Maybe focussing on patient welfare instead would be more constructive?

334bu
You must be challenging to work with.

Surprisingly no.

However, I think you might have misunderstood I do not work in the NHS. I was quoting another poster but haven't as yet worked out how to bold quotes

Oh sorry. I did misunderstand. I scrolled back and realised you were quoting.

@Al1Langdownthecleghole

Oh FFS this isn't what my name is is about.

Dr Kate Granger founded the campaign to make it easier for patients.

Her point was that it is easier for patients and family to hear and understand "my name is Hannah" because it has distinct sounds.

"I'm Hannah", by contrast is more difficult to hear.

Pronouns don't help patients or careers. They are all about the member of staff.

Very good point. My friend Ange introduced herself to a guy saying 'I'm Ange'.

He said 'Hi Mange' 🤣

I always say 'my name is...' when I'm on the phone to someone new at work, as 'I'm...' can often cause confusion.

@334bu

However, I think you might have misunderstood I do not work in the NHS. I was quoting another poster but haven't as yet worked out how to bold quotes

Put an asterisk fore and aft. Or carets to get italics.

Kate Granger was an amazing woman. Her campaign reached so many people. She was a personal hero of mine, one I was once privileged to meet. This makes me feel sick. The whole point was about making the message for patients as simple, plain, and comprehensible as possible. This does the diametric opposite.

The idea was brilliant and caring - really for the benefit of the patients. This is just an absolute bandwagon jumping nonsense for the benefit of those who choose to announce it - so are they the ‘caring’ types you want in the ‘caring profession’?

Can you just put ‘guess?’

Towards the end of her life, MIL was hospitalised a few times. Almost never could they manage to call her by her preferred name, the middle one, but instead her first name which she'd never used because she disliked it.

Has the NHS got that sort of thing sorted out properly yet?

^Thank you^ * very much* Errol.

But how does that help the pronounly-challenged?

And so if a female patient decides that they want intimate care performed by a member of the same sex, what happens when someone with a ‘her’ badge rocks up exactly? Or will a patient be offered a chaperone based on the sex or gender of the nurse/carer?