A person's name is likely the one word most closely tied to their sense of self and identity, often linking to their family, culture and heritage. People frequently mispronounce or misspell my name, and I repeatedly correct them (despite discomfort on both sides) because it is my name—an integral part of who I am, my identity and I demand that it be respected.
Often people belonging to ethnic minorities and bearing non-European names that may feel unfamiliar or unusual for some people to pronounce create a Western name or intentionally mispronounce their own name in order to make it easier for other people to pronounce.
This can be viewed as a thoughtful and considerate thing to do, but I would argue that we can learn how to pronounce any person's name, just as we learn to pronounce words in a language. The language will not change to suit our preferences and comfort level, and neither should a person bend their identity in order to make it easier for another person or even to avoid the annoyance of people repeatedly mispronouncing it (though I understand how frustrating that can be). Making the effort to say a person's name correctly is a matter of respect.
A recent news article reported that during an inspection carried out by the Care Quality Commission at an NHS trust, staff were asked by line managers to use ‘Western’-sounding names for work as their real names were too difficult for people to pronounce (Lintern, 2021). Rightly, the Care Quality Commission's response was: ‘This is not acceptable; individuals can only truly thrive in a work environment where they feel safe as themselves and belong rather than having to “fit in”’ (Lintern, 2021).
Encouragingly, according to the Bristol Trust's chief executive, additional equality, diversity and inclusion training is being launched for staff to ‘cover all those sorts of micro aggressive behaviours, as well as the inability to respect people's given names’.
Many readers will be familiar with the late Kate Granger's #hellomynameis campaign to remind staff about how important it is to introduce yourself to patients by name, which she called ‘the first rung on the ladder to providing truly person-centred compassionate care’ (Hello My Name Is, 2021).
Kate said: ‘I firmly believe it is not just about common courtesy, but it runs much deeper. Introductions are about making a human connection between one human being who is suffering and vulnerable, and another human being who wishes to help. They begin therapeutic relationships and can instantly build trust in difficult circumstances’ (Hello My Name Is, 2021).
In order to introduce oneself authentically and form a true human connection with another, we must use the name with which we identify, to which we feel connected, and that which we feel most authentically conveys to others who we are. No one should feel the need to change their given name unless they themselves feel another name is truer to their nature and no one has the right to ask this of a person—to do so is an utter disrespect of personhood, undermining one's individuality and threatening the authenticity of the nurse-patient therapeutic relationship.