Another run of the mill "did I violate".

[hhnurse0407]

I've been a nurse for 6 years and never had a breech that I know of. I always try to be extra careful. I work as a home health nurse and we regularly keep each other up to date on patients in our area as we all can cover each patient in our designated area. One of our patients was our property manager and was with us several months ago. I never saw her and never talked to her at that time. Today and I saw her and said, "oh, I saw you were on with our company." other than that she divulged what she had done and how she was doing etc etc. A friend of our family was in the room at the time. I didnt say anything about her health status and just nodded my head as she told me how she was doing but of course I worry about hippa because its still all fuzzy to me. Did I violate?

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

It sounds like she was happy to share. I actually have cared for neighbors and former teachers and it is a challenge. I now work several towns away, which has simplified things!

But it is up to the patient to initiate that sharing, not the nurse.

OP: yes, you did violate HIPAA. However, it seems like this incident has probably resolved itself without consequences, unless said patient decides to file a complaint. You'll most likely be fine, so don't beat yourself up...however, learn from this mistake, because the next patient may not be as forgiving.

I agree with Inori: the best way to handle seeing patients on the outside is to let them acknowledge you first. And let them set the tone for how they want the interaction to proceed. You may feel like you're being rude by doing this, especially if you developed a close relationship with the patient during the course of their care--you probably don't want the patient to think you're blowing them off.

But patient confidentiality comes first and foremost. In public, they may ignore you. They may just want to say "Hi" and leave it at that. They may or may not tell others who you are. Or they may want to give you the full in-depth update. But it's THEIR call, and you have to make sure you don't misstep, even in the name of good manners.

Hang in there :)