In today's world of social media and internet access anyone can find a nurse by searching his/her full name.  Unfortunately, code is currently written to allow ER and Mental health employees only to omit their last name from their badge.  My question is this....If it is necessary for those departments to limit to just first names why wouldn't it be necessary for the rest of the departments to do the same.  ER feeds all other departments and mental health patients come to inpatient floors to be medically cleared before ever going to inpatient psych facility.  Floor nurses have been "friend requested" on social media by previous patients and have been threatened with the fact that they have the nurses full name.  Granted most of these patients are mentally unstable which leads me back to my original question.  Why not allow a nurse to feel just a little bit safer in an everchanging and sometimes dangerous medical environment?