There have been lawsuits and stories galore about HIPAA violations related to healthcare practitioners taking pictures of interesting wounds, markings, tattoos, etc. on patients, and when patients found out, they became upset and sued for violations of their privacy. If you are a patient with an interesting medical case, there are two ways it can go: you want to hide under a rock and just get treatment, or you may be interested (especially at a teaching hospital) in having your case discussed at multiple levels and allow pictures of every step of your case so that others can learn from what you experienced.
I understand both sides, which is why most hospitals, if not all, have releases that patients can sign for medical use of photographs (as part of the medical record) so that patients are aware pictures may be taken, but they are being used for medical educational purposes. Patients have the ability to approve or decline the use of pictures, and it gives them that power of decision over their body, in a time when they can feel helpless, which is crucial for them.
Recently there has been a new trend that I have seen at my own hospital, but heard about from various nurses throughout the country, and it is the reverse: patients (or their families) taking videos and pictures of healthcare providers, during routine care and/or family meetings without telling them. During family meetings, especially if a patient is in a critical care unit and family members may be making decisions for a loved one who cannot make decisions for themselves; they may be stressed during the conversation, worried if they are making the right decision and wanting to remember every word of the conversation to relay to other family members to explain their decision making process, but does that give them the right to secretly record our conversation?
I don't think there is anything to hide, but I can also understand how healthcare providers might feel worried that if they are recorded, or videotaped, that this somehow might put them in a position for a possible litigation later on, especially if the outcome of the patient isn't what their family hoped for (and we all know that healthcare providers do the best they can, but we cannot save everyone.)
As for being videoed during routine care of a patient; I don't see what the benefit is for the family, or for the patient. I don't videotape my mechanic when I get an oil change, I trust that they are the expert: they remove the old oil, put new oil in, and my engine is happy and healthy. Granted, I don't have a great relationship with my mechanic, but videotaping their every move would be weird, and I wouldn't blame them if they declined to be videoed.
Maybe that is a bad example, but as a nurse, I form a relationship with my patient and their family members (or at least I do my best to have a trusting relationship) so I think it is even more of an offensive request to videotape me when I am performing care.
Are they wanting to do it to make sure that I am doing things properly? Will they compare and contrast how each nurse cares for them/their loved one? As we all know, there are variations in nursing care, due to personal style, but that doesn't mean that one way is wrong and another is right, the end result can be the same, even though two nurses might go about care in a different way; to an untrained eye, or someone who has no idea about current evidenced based practice or hospital policy, they might think small variations are important, that aren't.
I know some nurses double glove all the time, for no particular reason other than that if they are, for example, removing an IV, they like to take out the IV and pull in into the top glove to throw it out and remove the risk of dirtying a bed. Other people don't do that, but it doesn't mean the nurse is not removing the IV correctly. Those two scenarios look very different to a layperson.
Nurses normally explain what they are doing with a patient either before or during the process, to not only empower them with knowledge, but to make them more a part of their care; doesn't a family member videotaping this make it seem disingenuous, invasive, and distrusting? Where is the trust and the relationship formed with families/a patient when they tape my interactions?
We give patients the power to approve use of pictures of their medical cases as a part of their medical records, but we have had cases of "secret" videos by families, that we found out about afterwards, but were never asked if it was OK. Where is our power to say no when someone is secretly videotaping us? There is no form that has to be signed, as healthcare practitioners to allow families to record us, and if we allow it, do we then have to worry about possible litigation after the fact, even if they were intended just for informational purposes?
Technology is a great mobility for information and keeping people connected electronically, but there are times we need to leave technology at the door, and connect as humans.
