Semi-private

[SCRN1]

How many of you still have semi-private rooms where you are? Does anyone know why it's not a HIPPA violation?

Most hospitals where I live have all private rooms, but the one where I currently work has private and semi-private. I haven't met one person yet who actually wants to share a room, but they don't have a choice lots of times. Of course the patient in the other bed and their visitors can hear everything being said and I sometimes wonder how much medical information patients aren't telling us because they don't want some stranger to hear. Then you always run into someone asking questions about the other patient you aren't allowed to tell and have to explain patient confidentiality to them.

One night, I had a patient call to say that the other patient (confused) was trying to climb into bed with her. I can only imagine how she must've felt being asleep and then awakened by someone she didn't know doing this.

[Sunflowerinsc, ADN, RN]

I see from your profile that you are only 44. I was sure you were describing something out of the 50s. I can't believe that hospitals were still like this in the 80s.

Believe it!!!!!!!

[puggymae]

I live in a rural area that is also poor. Change comes slowly here. I have been an RN for 24 years (and believe me it is not the years, it is the milage that does me in). I have seen LOTS of changes in nursing, hospitals, doctors, patient acuity.... I just hope the next 24 are as exciting!

[Cattitude]

what i'm saying is; people freak out a little too much about hipaa. yes, respect patient's privacy, don't discuss their conditions, but don't obsess!

oh yes because before hippa weren't we all blabbing away about our pt's to ayone that would listen?

jeez we're professionals, respecting privacy was being done before hippa. now they're just trying to scare everyone.

one of my pt's was recently hospitalized in a semi private room. he said the dr. came barreling in the room and told him "you've got full blown aids" (he's hiv and knew this for years). my pt. said he told the dr. "you have the wrong room" . dr. apologized and lowered his voice.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

I see from your profile that you are only 44. I was sure you were describing something out of the 50s. I can't believe that hospitals were still like this in the 80s.

I remember doing clinicals in a "new" VA hospital in 1982 which had 4-6 bed wards! The hospital was about 10 years old at the time.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

We have a bigger issue on my unit...the building is so old that the doorways are very small. A pt cannot take a walker into the bathroom with them unless they are able to turn sideways and shuffle in. Now doesn't that sound like a JCAHO issue? Hello, patient safety?? We were told that it can't be fixed d/t structural issues. Funny, though...both of the floors below us have been remodeled to have bigger bathroom doorways. One is mother/infant, and they have VERY nice bathrooms down there (showers and everything!). The other is ortho, and I guess it was a big problem for them (obvioulsy) that the doorways were so small, so they just widened them. Hmmmmmmmmmmm...(sorry, I guess that last paragraph was a smidge off-topic :monkeydance: )

The acessiblity and safety issues with that are probably far more serious than potential HIPAA viloations from having semiprivate rooms.

[miko014]

The acessiblity and safety issues with that are probably far more serious than potential HIPAA viloations from having semiprivate rooms.

I think so too. But guess what we keep talking about? We've been having a ridiculously high acuity lately, too, and they haven't been bothering to make sure that we have a charge nurse without pts. Which basically means that there's nobody there to help if we are all busy (= big safety issues there, too). So we know we're going to get busted when JCAHO decides to pop in for an inspection. Maybe that's what needs to happen, since the management won't listen to us. It's all about the $$ to them!

[SK-222]

I think a semi-private would fall under the "accidental disclosures" clause in terms of HIPPA. I think the most appropriate action in such a said situation would be, if in a semi-private room situation, if the other patient has visitors, etc., it would seem very appropriate to ask them to leave the room for a few minutes if the patient was that concerned. The local facilities to me are all private rooms now. Some are very small, with little more room for anymore than a bed, but private nonethless.

Also, my understanding is HIPPA is enforced on a complaint based system. I am not aware of any fines or cases to date - anyone else here hear of any???

[jjjoy, LPN]

While most folks would prefer private rooms, aren't there some benefits to shared rooms?

As the nurse, if your patients are sharing a room, it's easier to keep an eye your patients, as you can see that a roommate is awake and alert or getting pale or disoriented while taking care of the other patient - as opposed to having to walk up and down the hallway, looking into each room to make sure each patient isn't declining in status, especially if you've got fresh post-ops or other situations you need to frequently check on.

A roommate can also get a nurse's or nurse assistant's attention and ask a question instead of having to put on a call light and someone having to make an extra trip to see what they want (or speak through an intercom to a voice a the desk).

Patients can also see that you are busy and do have other patients to care for instead of just seeing you appear for few minutes and then disappear, figuring if that's all the time you spend with each patient you must not be that busy.

And having only 3-5 rooms to look in on versus 6-10 would save lots of walking in many cases.

There are definitely drawbacks and inconveniences to shared rooms but there are drawbacks and inconveniences to private rooms as well.

I particularly like what some ICUs have done with sliding glass doors in addition to curtains between beds so they can have more privacy when needed.

[jo272wv]

most of the rooms on my floor (med-surg) are semi private but by next november our new tower will be complete and ninty percent of the rooms will be private. Most of the pts now want private but can not afford the extra cost that they have to pre pay to get one but then again, we only have two complete private and six private but shared bathroom. we have a total of 21 rooms that hold thirty pts.

I agree hippa will eventually focus on getting rid of semi private but will take time and years.

[perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN]

I remember doing clinicals in a "new" VA hospital in 1982 which had 4-6 bed wards! The hospital was about 10 years old at the time.

The VA hospital I did clinicals at... just 3 years ago, they still had "wards" there, several rooms w/ 4-6 beds each. It seemed kinda strange to me. We only did clinicals on the mostly-ambulatory surgery unit, which is a different situation than usual hospital units, but still a little weird I thought... I am sure the rest of the hospital was not like that.

My hospital renovated a few years ago and now most of the rooms are private- there are a few that can be doubled, used for siblings or when we're full for same-diagnosis patients. I always feel bad for the rotavirus families that get stuck two-to-a-room in like March when we're slammed with them... not only your own kids very smelly diapers and vomiting but some stranger's too. Those families are never very happy and I don't blame them.

[MomNRN, BSN, RN]

All of our rooms are private!

[JBudd, MSN]

I see from your profile that you are only 44. I was sure you were describing something out of the 50s. I can't believe that hospitals were still like this in the 80s.

Believe it: I had 4 bed wards in Denver in the 80's. County prisoners were in with everyone else, with a leg shackled to the end of the bed, I would have to climb over the chain while the patient sat in a chair to make the bed. Had my son in 1990, San Francisco Kaiser, we were lined up in the "recovery" room, nearly 20 of us. Had privacy to push the kid out, that was the only time!