Will I get in trouble ? ? ?

[Congababe13]

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

[sjc11]

Thank goodness...I was worried for you all weekend! I can assure you, you have already taught one person a lesson...ME! You sound like you are well on your way to becoming a great nurse! Good luck!

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

Agree with previous posters -- great that you went in there not only with an apology, but with a way to benefit the entire program by presenting to those coming behind you so that they could learn from your mistake and prevent them from making the same type of error unknowingly.

These are the kinds of things that make you open your eyes and really be aware of what's going on around you. It's one thing for students to read about something like this in a textbook (which seems like a, "well, duh, I would never do that!" type of thing), and it's another to see that it can even happen to "one of them" in real, actual life.

Good job, and good luck!

[Stephalump]

So happy for you! I think you handled yourself wonderfully and I'm glad all ended well :)

[jtboog2003]

That's great! From reading what you originally posted and reading what you went in there and actually said, it's sounds like you heeded some of the good advice that was posted on here.

[Congababe13]

Does anyone have a few extras minutes for me to email you a letter of apology that I have written to deliver to my clinical site tomorrow? I feel like it is written well but it would make me feel better to have another opinion from someone in the medical profession.

Thanks so much in advance for any help/assistance that can be offered . . .

[stephanne]

I think the idea of the presentation is something very useful as a tool to some students who are not familiar with HIPAA and so forth.

Congrats on being accepted again, this is a great way for you to educate others.

[Graduation2016]

Awesome news! Glad you're back into the program!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I suppose you already turned you note in....but you can PM me.

I am so happy that your program let you back in......you are VERY LUCKY!!!!!!!! I know this has been one lesson learned. I have thought about you all weekend.

Es

[cathering, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

Yay good news! The presentation was a fantastic idea!

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I've seen a lot of people say cell phones aren't allowed in clinicals.. in my school, or at least for all of my clinical classes so far, having a cell phone is required. All of us students end up spread out throughout the hospital sometimes, and this is how the instructors communicate with us and we communicate with them (text).

Having said that, we'd get kicked out if we were caught taking pictures of ANYTHING related to patient care.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

That's great that you know your schools policy on cell phones, and more importantly FOLLOW it. In this case the OP KNEW that cell phones were NOT ALLOWED at the clinical site but chose not only to bring it, but then use it in the manner that she did. HUGE difference here.....

I've seen a lot of people say cell phones aren't allowed in clinicals.. in my school, or at least for all of my clinical classes so far, having a cell phone is required. All of us students end up spread out throughout the hospital sometimes, and this is how the instructors communicate with us and we communicate with them (text).

Having said that, we'd get kicked out if we were caught taking pictures of ANYTHING related to patient care.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I'm so sorry you've been kicked out of school for this lapse in judgement.. It's sad (and scary) that humans aren't allowed to make mistakes anymore. Yes, this was a pretty big mistake, but it was a mistake, none-the-less. If I were a patient, I don't think I'd feel to comfortable knowing people were snapping pictures of my organs with no thought to how it may affect me or the people around me. That, I think, is what everyone is trying to impress upon you.. you did disconnect the patient from the organ and didn't think there was any harm in it. Other people showed you that there IS harm in it, as evidenced by the harsh penalty you're paying as a result.

I wish you weren't getting kicked out of school for this-- but it does drive home how the smallest lapse of judgment can have an effect of life changing proportions.