A nurse email signature starts with the name and the credentials after it, in the order the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) publishes: highest degree, then licence, then state designation, then national certification, then honours. Below that go the role, the unit or employer, and one work contact. Nothing about a patient belongs in it.
This page gives three nurse email signature examples (an RN on a ward, a nurse practitioner and a nurse manager), the order in a table, and a checklist for what to leave out. In October 2026 we read the ANCC page on displaying credentials, the ANCC page on certification credentials, the ANA position statement on credential order, the NMC Code and the NMC page on searching its register. We have not read any US state board of nursing, and boards differ. Where a rule is not on those pages, the nurse email signature advice below is layout advice and says so. General information, not legal advice.
A nurse email signature in five lines
- Line 1: name, then credentials in the ANCC order.
- Line 2: your role in plain words, such as “Nurse Manager”.
- Line 3: the unit, clinic or hospital.
- Line 4: one work contact, a unit line or a shared mailbox.
- Keep out: patient details, a personal mobile, and a licence number unless your employer or board asks for it.
The credential order in a nurse email signature
The ANCC order, as its page lists it, with the examples that page gives:
| Order | Category | Examples on the ANCC page |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highest earned degree | DNP, MSN, BSN, ADN |
| 2 | Licensure | RN, LPN |
| 3 | State designation or requirement | APRN, NP, CNS |
| 4 | National certification | FNP-BC, MEDSURG-BC |
| 5 | Awards and honors | FAAN |
| 6 | Other recognition | EMT (a non-nursing credential) |
The ANCC says the degree comes first because it is a permanent credential, while licences and designations are required to practise and certifications and honours are mostly voluntary. The ANA position statement, approved on 11 December 2009, recommends the same shape, and the ANCC page refers to it. The ANCC adds that several nursing certifications may be listed by relevance to your practice or with the most recent first, and that non-nursing certifications go last.
Two limits. First, this is a convention from a credentialing body. It is not a law, and your employer or state board may ask for something different. Second, the ANCC page says you cannot use an ANCC credential if the certification has expired or you did not pass the exam, so check a certificate is active before the letters go in.
If you work in the UK, the NMC pages we read set no order for letters after a name. The Code does say that published material about your professional services should accurately reflect your skills, experience and qualifications (clause 21.4), and that you should use written and digital communication, social media included, responsibly (clause 20.10). The page shows the Code as updated on 10 October 2018. The credentials in email signature article compares how other professions handle the same question.
Nurse email signature examples
All three signatures use made-up people and employers. The letters are typed into the name field, because emailfooter has no separate credentials field.
Example 1: a nurse email signature for an RN on a ward
An RN writes mostly to colleagues, pharmacy, families who have the unit’s details and occasionally to patients. The degree, licence and role are enough. The unit line is the ward’s phone, so a call reaches whoever is on shift.
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Example 1: BSN, then RN, with the unit phone and no photo. The hospital and person are made up.
What to copy: the shared unit phone in place of a mobile. What to change: the unit name. A narrow department name can tell a stranger something about a patient, and the doctor email signature article explains that point.
Example 2: a nurse practitioner email signature
A nurse practitioner writes to referrers, pharmacies and patients. There are three credential types here: a doctoral degree, a state designation and a national certification. The order follows the ANCC table, with APRN as the state designation and FNP-BC as the certification.
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Example 2: degree, state designation, national certification, in that order. The clinic and person are made up.
What to copy: the order, and one clinic line. What to change: the designation. Your state board decides which titles you may use and in what form, so ask it. We did not read any board’s page.
Example 3: a nurse manager email signature
A manager writes to staff, suppliers, recruiters and other units. The employer’s identity carries weight here, so the hospital logo stays. The social icons on this one are the engine’s defaults for the drawing, and for a real signature we would keep just the hospital’s LinkedIn page or none.
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Example 3: degree, licence, national certification; a direct line because managers are called. The hospital and person are made up.
What to copy: a direct number only for people whose role is to be reached. What to change: if your unit has a policy on managers’ phones, follow it.
Who should not use RN yet
In a student nurse email signature, RN is not yet earned. A student nurse or a new graduate waiting for registration should not write RN. The NMC Code asks nurses to make sure published material accurately reflects their qualifications, and the ANCC page ties its own credentials to an active certification. Our suggestion for a nurse email signature at that stage is to write “Student Nurse” in the title line and the university name in the company line, then add the letters when the licence or registration comes through. The student email signature article has layouts for that stage.
Licence numbers, PINs and registers
A nurse email signature does not have to carry a number. We found no page requiring a licence number in an email signature, but we did not read every board. The NMC register page says the register shows who can practise as a nurse or midwife in the UK, or as a nursing associate in England, that more than one person may share a name, and that a registrant should give their PIN when asked. The page does not say a PIN belongs in an email signature.
So the sensible approach, which is our own, is this: leave the number out unless your employer or board asks for it, and be ready to give it when someone asks. A number in a signature is copied into every forward.
Lines to keep out of a nurse email signature
- Anything about a patient. No names, no ward bed numbers, no times. Those belong in the message body, handled under your employer’s rules.
- Your personal mobile. The unit line reaches whoever is on shift when you are not.
- Your rota. “In Tuesday to Friday” goes stale and tells strangers when you are away.
- Quotes and awards badges. Honours go in the credential string, as the ANCC order says, and not in a picture.
- A promise of a reply time. Shift work makes it untrue.
Notices about confidentiality are a separate decision. The healthcare email disclaimer article covers wording, and your compliance lead decides whether you need one.
Setting up a nurse email signature across a unit
Left alone, every ward ends up with its own version. With emailfooter, the admin sets the layout, logo, colours and company line once, and each nurse edits their own name (letters included), title and, where the phone rule allows, a number. Employees install the result in their mail app by following the steps shown. emailfooter does not push signatures into mailboxes, so each person has to do that step.
Before you save, run this short check on your own line:
- Are the letters in the ANCC order, or your board’s order if it differs?
- Is every certification active today?
- Does the role say what you do, and the unit say where?
- Is the contact a number or mailbox that works when you are off shift?
- Would a stranger who got this message by mistake learn anything about a patient from the signature?
The job title guide covers the wording of the role line. A nurse email signature that passes all five is ready.
Frequently asked questions
What should a nurse email signature include?
Name with credentials in order, role, unit or employer, and one work contact. Leave out patient details, a personal mobile and a rota.
In what order do credentials go in an RN email signature?
The ANCC order is highest degree, licence, state designation, national certification, then awards. An RN with a bachelor’s degree would write “BSN, RN”.
Should a nurse email signature include a licence number?
We found no page requiring it, but we did not read every state board. Add it only if your employer or board asks.
Can a student nurse put RN in their email signature?
No. RN follows licensure or registration, so use “Student Nurse” until then.
Should a nurse email signature have a photo?
It is optional, and it can fail to load. If your employer has no policy, we would leave it out and let the text carry the facts.
Keep reading
- Credentials in an email signature: degrees, licences and the order to list them: Credentials in email signature blocks: which degrees, licences and certifications to list, what order to use, and four worked examples with sources.
- Doctor email signature: credentials, practice details and privacy: A doctor email signature should name the clinician and the practice, and little else. See three examples (GP, specialist, clinic) and what to keep out.
- Healthcare email disclaimer: what a footer can and cannot do for privacy: A healthcare email disclaimer can warn a wrong recipient but cannot protect privacy. What HHS and the ICO say, three clinic footer wordings and safeguards.
- Job title in email signature: how to write it clearly: How to write a job title in email signature blocks: eight bad titles fixed (long, inflated, abbreviated, two roles), plus rules for departments and pronouns.
Make every signature in your company match
emailfooter is a free WordPress plugin. You design the signature once, and each person adds their own details and installs it in their mail app. Prefer not to run a website? emailfooter Managed is the same software, hosted for you.