Will I get in trouble ? ? ?

Nursing Students General Students

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  1. Did this violate HIPAA ?

    • 43
      YES
    • 15
      NO

58 members have participated

Hello,

I am a 2nd yr nursing student, I graduate in May. I had an OR observation

yesterday and was able to watch an endo lap chole. I may add that I was very

excited as my goal is to become an OR nurse.

When the gallbladder became visible on the monitor I took a picture of it with

my cell phone. The picture only included the endo monitor with NO identifiable

info on it. Is this a HIPPA violation? I was excited and didn't think anything

about taking a pic of the gallbladder on the monitor. The nurse seen me take

the picture and immediately told me that was not allowed and that I needed to

delete the picture, which I did.

Upon returning to the floor my clinical instructor had received a phone call from the hospitals edu department letting her know that they need to see me and to bring my phone. I went and explained what had happened, show them my phone to prove that the pic had in fact been deleted and I was told that was okay, I' not in trouble.

Today I get an email from the Head of Nursing at my school saying that I need

to come in and see her in the morning before I go to class. Can I be kicked out

of the program for this? She stated in the email that it was a HIPPA violation

but everything I can find states that it's not a violation as long as there is

not any identifiable information related to the patient.

Does anyone have any suggestions and/or advice about this situation or how to

handle my meeting at school tomorrow morning? Any information or suggestions

would be greatly appreciated . . . I did not mean any harm; I was just excited

to see the gallbladder come up on the monitor :no:

Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.
Interestingly enough she was actually allowed back in to school, as well as the three others expelled. Just thought it was an interesting case to follow. Update: Taking a Photo with a Placenta Won't Get You Kicked Out of Nursing School - Forbes

Of course that was different in the fact that the instructor knew she was taking the pictures and in this case the instructor did not know, nor were the nurses happy about it happening.

What a bizarre article title... As though anyone could take a picture WITH a placenta... Placentas do no have photographic capabilities. I'd expect better from Forbes.

As an aside, OP, you stated that you had your phone in your scrubs pocket because you didn't bring anything else with you. Did the OR allow you to wear your own scrubs? In every OR I have been familiar with, it was necessary to change into hospital washed scrubs in order to enter the OR setting. If so, that phone should have been left with your change of clothes.

Even if this is not a HIPAA violation, it was very likely a violate of hospital policy and I would bet my right arm that it's a violation of your school's policy that governs the use of electronic devices. When I was in school students have been sent home from clinical for using their cell phones (in any capacity) on the clinical floor.

It sounds like you have learned from this mistake, so I sincerely hope that you are only reprimanded and nothing worse. But I hope this lesson serves you well in the future.

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

So, how did your meeting go this morning?

I hope you weren't thrown out of the program!

If you are a 2nd year student and don't know that you can't do this I am shocked. I'm just finishing up my 1st semester and I know better. They told us at our orientation for nursing school not to even take a picture of the sign outside the hospital. They also told us that 2 students from my school were expelled from our program for posting a picture of a placenta on our SNA Facebook page. Ill be shocked if you aren't expelled. Sorry , I know it sounds trivial... But would you want someone taking pictures of your insides while you are passed out? Don't think so.

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Right off the bat if it's typed "HIPPA" instead of "HIPAA", I am already questioning the validity of the official point they are about to make on the subject!!

This nursing student screwed up.

No doubt what this student did was arguably unethical and probably a violation of school and/or facility policy. This student may have even violated a state privacy law.

IANAL, but there are a lot of nurses and students in this thread who think they understand HIPAA who clearly do not. About 80%...

I see the typical emotional but ignorant reaction: "that FEELS like a privacy violation, therefor HIPAA violation!" At least Google "Protected Health Information" and educate yourself. You'll quickly understand that this is NOT a HIPAA violation because there was no PHI, no ability to identify the patient from the picture.

Specializes in Loving everyone.

Hello,

Thanks to everyone for their comments whether positive or negative. Our nursing program does NOT want us to have cell phones at clinical. They are suppose to be left in our cars or secured in some other way and we can only check them at lunch. Everyone DOES take them to clinical though because where I'm at for clinicals you must take a shuttle to the hospital from your car and no one has time to do that during lunch and the majority of us have kids. I was wearing my own scrubs not OR scrubs, I didn't have my clinical bag because I knew that I would be in the OR without a place to have my things throughout the day. I have a degree in psychology and I know the importance of protecting a patients information, this is or wasn't the same thing. I was disconnected from the patient in this situation.

In regards to "I should have known better because I'm a 2nd year student" is really irrelevant, HIPAA has not been drilled into our heads from the beginning.This was a common sense issue not a HIPAA rule that I should have known. It is not a HIPAA violation by the way but a violation of privacy. I'm NOT a Nurse, I am a student and A EXCELLENT CARE TAKER ~ but I have and will make mistakes.

I was standing in the corner of the OR for hours, I could not even see the patient, and the only thing I could see is the 5 monitors that were showing the inside of the patient's stomach. I'm not denying that I made a HUGE mistake but I am saying that this mistake should not define who I am, what kind of Nurse I would be, or be an indication of my judgment as a professional. I didn't try to hide taking the picture as there was a RN and X-ray tech standing right over my shoulder ( btw-the nurse was taking pictures out of a product catalog and texting it to her friends for orders) .

I'm a nerd, I love medicine and biology, I have a microscope at home, I want to be an OR nurse . . . I was in awe! After staring at the monitors for a long time, I separated what I was seeing on the monitors from the patient. I wasn'tthe nurse in the OR; if I was I would have been doing my job.

So my appointment was yesterday not today and I did get removed from the program. I had two meetings yesterday and one with the VP of Academic/StudentAffairs today. The VP set-up a meeting for me on Monday with herself, the Dean and the dept head so I have no idea what will happen then. I'm in the process of writing an apology letter to all involved. I do in fact believe that there should be some type of probation or disciplinary action but having said that I believe that removal from the program is a little harsh. I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest as I want this more than anything. I have spent the last 31 months of life fighting everyday to be good enough to make it to the end. I have watched my friends fail out all around me and I'm actually passing and making it but I had to go and do something completely thoughtless to mess it up.

Could those of you that don't think I'm a horrible person please send any extra Ju`Ju that you may have my way ~ I need all of the help I can get right now . .. This is absolutely the worst feeling in the world !

Specializes in Loving everyone.

The Head of my Nursing Deptartment spells it this way . . . The one who wants me out of the program.

Right off the bat if it's typed "HIPPA" instead of "HIPAA", I am already questioning the validity of the official point they are about to make on the subject!!
Specializes in HIV, Psych, GI, Hepatology, Research.

Best of luck

No matter what happens

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

LOL, you probably shouldn't correct her though!! I'm very glad that they are giving you another chance. Keep in mind that they have drafted their policies for a reason--ie: keep the cellphones OUT of there!!!

The Head of my Nursing Deptartment spells it this way . . . The one who wants me out of the program.
Hello,

Thanks to everyone for their comments whether positive or negative. Our nursing program does NOT want us to have cell phones at clinical. They are suppose to be left in our cars or secured in some other way and we can only check them at lunch. Everyone DOES take them to clinical though because where I'm at for clinicals you must take a shuttle to the hospital from your car and no one has time to do that during lunch and the majority of us have kids. I was wearing my own scrubs not OR scrubs, I didn't have my clinical bag because I knew that I would be in the OR without a place to have my things throughout the day. I have a degree in psychology and I know the importance of protecting a patients information, this is or wasn't the same thing. I was disconnected from the patient in this situation.

In regards to "I should have known better because I'm a 2nd year student" is really irrelevant, HIPAA has not been drilled into our heads from the beginning.This was a common sense issue not a HIPAA rule that I should have known. It is not a HIPAA violation by the way but a violation of privacy. I'm NOT a Nurse, I am a student and A EXCELLENT CARE TAKER ~ but I have and will make mistakes.

I was standing in the corner of the OR for hours, I could not even see the patient, and the only thing I could see is the 5 monitors that were showing the inside of the patient's stomach. I'm not denying that I made a HUGE mistake but I am saying that this mistake should not define who I am, what kind of Nurse I would be, or be an indication of my judgment as a professional. I didn't try to hide taking the picture as there was a RN and X-ray tech standing right over my shoulder ( btw-the nurse was taking pictures out of a product catalog and texting it to her friends for orders) .

I'm a nerd, I love medicine and biology, I have a microscope at home, I want to be an OR nurse . . . I was in awe! After staring at the monitors for a long time, I separated what I was seeing on the monitors from the patient. I wasn'tthe nurse in the OR; if I was I would have been doing my job.

So my appointment was yesterday not today and I did get removed from the program. I had two meetings yesterday and one with the VP of Academic/StudentAffairs today. The VP set-up a meeting for me on Monday with herself, the Dean and the dept head so I have no idea what will happen then. I'm in the process of writing an apology letter to all involved. I do in fact believe that there should be some type of probation or disciplinary action but having said that I believe that removal from the program is a little harsh. I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest as I want this more than anything. I have spent the last 31 months of life fighting everyday to be good enough to make it to the end. I have watched my friends fail out all around me and I'm actually passing and making it but I had to go and do something completely thoughtless to mess it up.

Could those of you that don't think I'm a horrible person please send any extra Ju`Ju that you may have my way ~ I need all of the help I can get right now . .. This is absolutely the worst feeling in the world !

So sorry to hear you were removed from the program. However why have they set up a meeting for you on Monday after already having two meetings??? Are they trying to add insult to injury? I mean really...I feel so bad for you. I wish you the best of luck, maybe they will change their minds with the letter of apology.

Specializes in Loving everyone.
So sorry to hear you were removed from the program. However why have they set up a meeting for you on Monday after already having two meetings??? Are they trying to add insult to injury? I mean really...I feel so bad for you. I wish you the best of luck, maybe they will change their minds with the letter of apology.

I appealed the decision through the VP and after she talked to the nursing program today the meeting for Monday was set-up . . .

Specializes in Loving everyone.

Yeah ! I have NOT corrected her, lol !

I sooooo hope that they give me another chance.

The VP said that to me today, she said " I bet you never make that mistake again "

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