APRN Designation

A question for Erin Cusak:

Q: At the recent TNP conference we heard that we needed to sign with APRN designation.   Does this mean that we also need APRN on our name badge/ lab coat?

A: The APRN designation you’re talking about is a rule and not a new law from the 86th Session, so it is not in the recap.

 There are two different laws/rules that apply here that we discussed at the conference and during Tuesday’s webinar:

• §221.2 on APRN Titles and Abbreviations. According to the new rules, a Texas licensed APRN shall, at a minimum, use the designation "APRN" and the APRN licensure title, which consists of the current role and population focus area granted by the Board (example: APRN, FNP-BC).

• SB 1753 (84R), which took effect on 9/1 of this year, also requires all health care providers working in a hospital to clearly spell out their license type on their photo identification badge. In your case, you would need to spell out “nurse practitioner” on your name badge to clearly identify your license type. See the bill and bill analysis here. 

So if you were a hospital NP, you would write your name on your name badge as in the example below.  For all other signatures where you use your credentials and titles, you just need to follow Texas rules and do not need to spell out “nurse practitioner.”

Jane Doe, APRN, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner

Hopefully, this answers your question!

Erin Cusack
Director of Government Affairs
Texas Nurse Practitioners
4425 S. MoPac Expressway
Building III, Suite 405
Austin, TX 78735
512-291-6224 (ext. 202)
512-781-0053 (cell)
erin@texasnp.org
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