Are you aware of how you conduct yourself in public?

[rkitty198]

Hello

I was wondering if as nurses, if you are aware of how you conduct yourself in public?

I run into prior patients and family members all of the time, of which I never say hi unless they say hi first due to HIPAA and I live in a pretty large city too.

We work very hard and deserve to go out and have a good time, but I think we need to be careful on how we conduct ourselves. Does anyone else agree?

Case in point:

A nurse who I will call E was out one night. E got totally drunk, knowing he had to work the next day at 7am-7pm. He was at a bar and almost got into a bar brawl with another group of individuals. When E showed up for work he was very hungover. E then went into his patients rooms and found out that one of them was a guy/girl that was involved in the "almost bar brawl" with appendicitis. The patient did not want E to care for him/her, not because of the brawl, but because he knew how drunk E got the night before. The patient went on to tell the story to the nurse that was taking over his/her care and was saying things like "how could E go out and get so drunk the night before he had to work?"

Putting this story aside....

Has anyone changed how they are in public?

Has anyone had a situation in where they ran into a former patient?

[EarthChild1130]

I have become more aware of my surroundings as a result of becoming a nurse, only because I work in mental health and have been in some hairy situations on the unit and at my current job...so I'm more aware of where I park, where I walk, who gets on and off the elevator, etc...

And I run into patients ALL the time, usually at least 3-4 times a week. I work in a county outpatient mental health clinic in a TINY rural coastal Oregon town...so they all know me, and come up to talk to me LOL...hubby and niece just go to another aisle while I talk to my patients! :)

[HippyGreenPeaceChick]

Showing up for work hungover is not the way I do things. But I seldom ever come close enough to drinking enough to get a hangover to begin with. In a group outing I am always the one designated to the safe driver. I do not know why, I just always get chosen. But then I can always have even more fun when I am sober, actually. That's ok also, I guess.

As far as running across patients that I have taken care of in the Hospital. Well though it has happened there has never been an issue there. I greet them pleasantly and vice versa, We chat nice and kind to each other, we part with me telling them I hope all continues to be well, or something like that. Never a problem.

As someone said earlier am I a Saint, I also will reply Heck No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I hide things very well. We are human and I can have a lot of fun, In fact I do have a lot of fun. I just do not need alcohol to loosen up my behavior.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

In my experience, I've had many more former patients and/or family members approach me in public than vice-versa. People will walk up to me in Gottschalk's or Target and go "Hi! I remember you, you were that NICE nurse I had when I got my gallbladder out/was in for chest pain/had my baby". etc. Truth be told, I usually don't even recognize folks unless I can visualize them in a hospital gown!

[BEDPAN76]

Ok here's another funny one. Rewind back to 1979. I am with 2 other travelling nurses on an assignment in a tiny town out west. Hospital way under 100 beds. Anyway, one Sunday afternoon we realized we were all off. Went to the movie theater (probably the only one in the entire county! ) The movie playing was Cheech and Chong "Up in Smoke". It was hilarious! But within hours, it was all over town that the 3 nurses from "back east" had seen "that drug movie". Oh well... :hehe::hehe:

[HippyGreenPeaceChick]

That is an Olde Comedy Classic And I always loved Great Uncle Tommy.

[rn undisclosed name]

Nothing has changed. I'm really not into drinking anymore. Been there done that when I was younger. I much prefer to go out and have a good time and be able to function the next day. Once you've had a hangover it's not rocket science to realize it's not a good way to be. I guess I just don't understand why people get regular hangovers. I for one don't like being sick. I don't know I can go out and have a good time without drinking.

I've never ran into a previous pt but did see a psych pt from my nursing school days. I don't believe she ever saw me but I would never go up to her and say anything. I don't work close to home and so that is probably why I don't run into many people when I am out and about. I live in the suburbs and work in the city. A lot of our patients travel to us from pretty far away so the chances of me running into them is pretty slim. I have run into coworkers more so than a patient. I guess that is a benefit to not living close to where you work. I have seen various nurses - nurse at peds office while shopping and at a weight watchers meeting, my ob nurse, etc. I haven't ever said anything to them though we did recognize each other (or so it seemed).

I have coworkers who go out all the time but they're pretty young compared to me. I don't understand them coming to work hungover especially in this profession. It's just plain irresponsible. I think you need to be as close to 100% in this profession. If you're not you're going to miss something that is potentially critical.

[Scrubby]

To be honest I couldn't care less how the public perceives me when i am OUTSIDE of work and having a good time. Seriously....nurses go out on the occasional bender, and I'm one of them. My mates and I have a regular friday night drinky session about once a month at the pub right across the road to my hospital...I couldn't care less if someone recognised me..my goodness is the world going to end or something if people learn that nurses are just like other people and like to have fun?

[I_LOVE_TRAUMA, RN]

I work at a huge level 1 trauma center. We have a bar on the corner of the block. It has become so popular for all of us, (nurses, doctors, and others) that they have designated an area that has a sign that says, "Nurses Parking Only," after a horrible shift we all go there. When our unit goes out together I think it increases comradery. We also have regular outings to other places, like comedy clubs, and bowling alleys. Our entire team gets along like a family, we are medical staff at work, and then we are also friends doing what we like to do. We are only nurses for 40 (or in my case closer to 60 hours) a week. Unless I have to be at work the next morning I don't even think about being a nurse. Of course we all drink, but we are a trauma team so we always make sure no one winds up in that department at the end of the night, but why shouldn't we go out and have fun? We give our all to our patients and families, and many of us are in school too. I agree with what some have said, we need to act like adults outside of work, not nurses. And like another person has said, I get really mad when my hubby tells strangers/neighbors/etc that I am a nurse. I never get sloppy drunk, but some do, and have always shown up for work the next day, I have always been able to focus.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

Roy- yes, asking someone how they or a family member is doing in public is a privacy violation. Practice says to wait until they say hi to you first- otherwise acknowledging that someone was a patient could be giving information to people they are with or people in the surrounding area that the patient did not want others to know (ie. that they were a patient, sick, whatever, in the first place).

You mean even patients like Mr. Smith who was my patient in the ER while his wife was up on Tele with a bad case of Afib with RVR? That despite the fact that I worked heaven and earth to try to get the two of them to atleast have roooms assigned on the same floor (can't have a male and female share the same room - against policy)....

By the way, you're "assuming" that I said "Hi" first.

They said, "Hi" first... (and got my name wrong while they were at it but that's ok)

..... but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't 'stare at them with a sense of puzzlement', before they said "Hi".

You're welcome to go ahead and sue me under HIPAA violation, please....

According to my training I was taught under the hospital I work for to not say hello to a former patient or family member unless they say hello first.

Maybe not necessarily a HIPAA violation.

Yes and no.

It depends on the situation. I certainly wouldn't ask a former patient about his/her current status unless warranted.

I've always treated people just like I would like to be treated myself.

I certainly would not want a nurse who took care of me, lets just say if I had a severe case of scabies (really severe :chuckle), infected, oozing, crusty lesions- and he/she came up at the local grocery store and was saying "hey how are you doing, you feeling okay, how did that cream work out?"

Okay an example stupid and to the extreme, but hey it could happen!

It could only happen if the nurse was extremely incompetent.

The vast majority of nurses DO NOT seek out their "former patients"; much less divulge private information in public.

Are you, "Allowed" by HIPPA to talk about a pt at the nurses station? No. Why not? It's a violation of that pts privacy. If you walk up to a pt in the middle of the store and ask, "how they are feeling" then you are divulging that they were in the hospital which is a violation of HIPPA in-and-of itself.

Really? I didn't know that!

Can you quote the specific "regulations" from HIPAA* that prevent me from doing so? Such as the actual law itself?

cheers,

Roy

*: It's "HIPAA", not "HIPPA", by the way.

[FlyingScot, RN]

The vast majority of nurses DO NOT seek out their "former patients"; much less divulge private information in public.

Roy

I hate it when people come up to me in WallyWorld and say "hey aren't you the nurse that took care of me in such-and-such ER". I'll have to be honest here. If I don't know them or don't want to know them (if you get my drift) I totally lie and tell them that it must have been somebody else. "I've got one of those faces" "It must have been my undiscovered twin" etc.

[StreetRN]

I think this person's bad behavior reflects his lack of character. I would be interested in knowing why this person chose nursing as his profession. As nurses, we are held to a higher standard. The U.S. general public has voted us #1 trustworthy far ahead of physicians and other professionals. We are supposed to teach patients how to manage their life issues,chronic illnesses, addictions and stressors. How do we effectively teach what we do not practice? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a cold beer, a fine wine and Jose Quervo, but all in moderation.

[habanero]

Too many people have taken HIPAA way out of context. Saying Hi and asking how are you doing is not divulging any medical history (which is what HIPAA was meant to protect). In our small community, not saying HI, would be considered rude. When people call to the hospital you can divulge that a person is a patient unless the patient requested they be a no-post. You can post their name on the door if you want because this is not health information but rather just demographics. So just acknowledging them in the supermarket or anywhere else is not a HIPAA violation. We have taken HIPAA way too far and it has caused a lot of grief for many patients and their family members.

As for changing my behavior, I am a Christian and do not go out to bars or get drunk. However, if I wanted to I believe that would be my right as long as I am not coming to work hungover or still drunk and putting my patient's at risk. I do believe that we should not do things where we break the law and we should conduct ourselves responsibly. I wonder if this would even be a question if we were lawyers or bankers.