hidden cameras in patient's rooms allowed?

[Shell5]

Does anyone know if it is legal for patient's families to have hidden cameras in patient's rooms? What are the legal implications there?

At our facility there is a sign posted in the front lobby that states you could be recorded. I was just curious. I don't think we have them because we have a lot of thieves in our facility and it is sad. And no, I'm not doing anything wrong. It's just that there are soooo many people where I work that seem sue happy and I feel nit picked to DEATH.

Also, another ? about this particular patient whose family wants extra 1hr rounds done on them by the nurse and CNA. We have to initial a special sheet on this person where we and the CNA checked on them every 30 min and we have a lot of other patient. Our facility policy is q2 hours and to me that is not right. Everyone else gets q2hr rounds. This doesn't seem prudent to me because I could just be asking to be set up. What do you think?

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Yes, ours do record. Due to a situation recently, I asked to make sure. Not sure how long they keep the recordings for, but if there is any suspicion that a lawsuit may be in the future, I'm sure that they would hold on to those particular recordings for an extended period. Our hospital has a very good legal team, and is very used to dealing with suits. We are known for being a great hospital, but that also means that people want to sue every time we can't magically cure a chronic disease!!

Hopefully they keep the records for at least two years (I think 2 years is the statute of limitations for personal injury suits in most states).

[jillnortan]

X-nurse meaning I quit nursing on very bad terms. They shouldn't have assumed every person has the same lack of connections. Not all Whistle-blowers are the same. Some generate more internet traffic than any hospital out there.... We won't be playing their games in court, we're going to take it to the people. It doesn't matter how Big healthcare thinks it is in the U.S. Surveillance is coming to hospitals weather they like it or not. It's not the nurses that we want, it's the intentional medical miss diagnosis', insurance manipulation and deleted documentation.

[PetiteOpRN]

We have cameras going in all of our rooms (displayed at the front desk). Patients are not told of the camera and do not sign any consent. They are there to protect patients. They have also cut down on doctors throwing things at staff.

At the desk, they can watch all rooms simultaneously (but very small and hard to make anything out) or they can zoom in on one room. So at any given time, you may or may not be being watched. Most doctors and staff members use it to glance at the room to get an idea of what's going on before they go in,or to try and figure out where someone ran off to.

If it's a quiet day and the room is empty, I'll grab a few other people, silence the pagers for 30 seconds, and we'll have a dance off for the people at the desk.

[Poi Dog]

If it's a quiet day and the room is empty, I'll grab a few other people, silence the pagers for 30 seconds, and we'll have a dance off for the people at the desk.

This is what my noc crew like to cut loose to:

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

The only cameras we have are for epilepsy pt, on 24 hour EEG. They only record the pt visually, unless we step in front of the camera. The cameras pick up all audio too.

The camera helped us figure out that a nurse's actions lead to a pt coding.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

Has anyone heard of eICUs? They are not hidden cameras in the traditional sense, and they are intended as a second pair of eyes for HCWs in the ICU setting. The remote workstation is manned by an experienced ICU nurse, and it gives access to all the monitors and the camera. It is a two-way relationship, in that the on-site ICU nurse can contact the remote ICU nurse for assistance and vice-versa. Studies show that eICUs can improve patient outcomes.

Some ICU nurses have embraced the concept while others have not, creating barriers to implementation in some facilities.

I don't know if the patients have to sign consents prior to being placed in these remotely-monitored rooms.

We have eICU at one of our smaller local facilities and I find the whole thing creepy.

I am not sure how I feel about cameras in patient rooms, if it's only video I would mind a lot less but I have real conversations with my patients and I would feel uncomfortable having anyone and everyone being able to listen to those.

We have security cameras in just about every area of the hospital that are watched 24/7 and my only annoyance there is when I am walking around lost, I wish security would call and guide me to where I am going rather then sit there and laugh (I know they are) whenever they see me walking the halls.