Do you think I could get kicked out?

Nurses HIPAA

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So I went to clinical prep yesterday and my husband accompanied me up to the unit. As I did my prep he sat by me playing on his iPhone. Anyway someone(s) told my instructor that he was there and that I was supposedly showing him stuff on the chart ( which I was not, I repeat I WAS NOT!!!!) I did not know that I was not allowed to have someone with me. So I now have to go in front of the professional conduct board and I am terrified they will kick me out of the program. I have been an AB nursing student And have never done anything unprofessional!! I am freaking out...and crying a lot because I didnt know I was Breaking the rules. Any advice or anything would help!!

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
so i went to clinical prep yesterday and my husband accompanied me up to the unit. as i did my prep he sat by me playing on his iphone. anyway someone(s) told my instructor that he was there and that i was supposedly showing him stuff on the chart ( which i was not, i repeat i was not!!!!) i did not know that i was not allowed to have someone with me. so i now have to go in front of the professional conduct board and i am terrified they will kick me out of the program. i have been an ab nursing student and have never done anything unprofessional!! i am freaking out...and crying a lot because i didnt know i was breaking the rules. any advice or anything would help!!

​you're kidding, right? especially the part about how you didn't know you did anything wrong?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
everyone makes mistakes now and then. i am sorry that you have to deal with this kind of stress. just like everyone else said, there is nothing you can do about it now, but to accept and admit your fault and make sure you plead your case that you will not ever do it again.

don't worry, the board will make the right decision, just make sure you get your point across to them. don't beat yourself up for it, and learn from your mistakes. your drive and willingness to become a nurse and to help others in need will not be overlooked. be positive because you can't change the mistake, however, you can definitely learn from it. prayers to you!

​you're kidding too, right? you have to be!

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
don't beat yourself to a pulp. you admit you made a mistake. i am sure you learned from it. sounds like it was innocent that he showed up with you but (as you now know) should have been placed in the lunch room or somewhere where patient info wasn't within view (supposing he was sitting right next to you while doing your prep). as others have said be honest, tell them you have learned from your mistake make sure to have put something together to show this won't happen again. like, how you will make sure for future preps you will either be driven there and left by yourself or just drive yourself. take care!

i don't think the op is in any danger of beating herself to a pulp. she still doesn't seem to understand the magnitude of her mistake, and for that alone i'd vote she be dismissed from the program were i on the board.

Specializes in Mental Health, Hospice Care.

Dude....you really messed up. The most important thing is to "own it", tell the board you made a horrible mistake, one that you will learn from and become better because of it....it can be a great experience in a weird way, just humble yourself and take it like a pro and not a kid....I am a nursing student too, I feel for you....thoughts of peace to you.....

i am curious how this will play out!

what do you think should happen to you?

whether it was your husband or some other non-clinical staffmember , like a visitor . you allowed an unauthorized person to sit next toyou. this person was with in view of patients records. this show lack ofjudgment and critical thinking skill which are vital to the job you aretraining for. you are dealing with people and there are no room for mistakes. (when you're in an unsecure location with people walking around you have to be really careful about privacy--it is your responsibility to maintain patient confidentially at all time.)

the bigger picture is- your program director should informthe clinical location of the possible breach. which in turn : the board of directors and legal department should benotified. there is a possible hippa breach- and they have to inform the appropriateauthorities and the patient. this could cost the clinical location money. ibelieve the starting amount for any breach is $5,000 plus the patient can sue. plus this patients will tell friends - which by word of mouth will damage the reputation of this location. this is big. nowif they are fined or not , you have placed your clinical coordinator andcollege in a difficult spot. clinicallocations trust these training college to insure that all rules are followed. idon't think you'll hear quickly it may take a week. but the clinical locationnow is in a position of not being able to trust your current program. this maycost you, you may not be welcomed back there .now your college has 2choice - 1- do they have another locationto send you and can & will they trust you unsupervised. 2 if they don't have another location for you - they can either dismissyou, or give you a falling grade for your clinical. if it comes to that have them dismiss you. if you fail your clinical no other program will admit you. if they can'ttrust you at clinical site - you can't in the program. hard lesson to learn either way. with knowing all the problems you justcreated - do you honestly think you should be allow to stay? let us know how it plays out.

Specializes in LTC.

So like.what happened? OP gonna come back and tell us? I'm curious to know. And dudes..it's HIPAA...

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Unfortunate mistake. They will probably kick you out. Big misjudgement , but we have all been there at one time or another.

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

At this point I don't know if it serves much purpose to keep coming up with alternatives for what to do with the OP's husband. It happened and if they OP is fortunate enough to keep her place in school, she definitely will not make the same mistake again.

As for the issue of being kicked out...you said your husband was by you. You state that you did not show any information to your husband. The problem is, 'the board' could say that if he even glanced over at you he could have seen PHI, and that could be a major violation of HIPAA and other privacy statues (leaving the school and the hospital open to huge penalties). The fact that he was seen there with an iPhone (or whichever device you said it was) makes it look even worse. Unfortunately, not a good situation for you...

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
When i was in school, we went the night before, there were NO instructors present.

I my case there was...always (and if the instructor was late for some reason, we could not access chart/computers/etc. until they arrived). They also took attendance at these sessions, and if you weren't there, it would count against your clinical time total...and if you were short of the predetermined goal time, that was the end of your time at this particular school. This is how it was at my school...either way though, I don't think it matters to the situation.

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
I'm sure you were acting in all innocence and weren't showing your spouse anything he shouldn't have seen. However, it's understandable that OTHERS looking him next to you fiddling with an iPhone while you pore over confidential information could get the wrong impression.

That is an excellent point. If I am a pt taking a walk in the hall and I see a student with my open chart and someone next to her with a smartphone...I think a reasonable person might think something very inappropriate is going on.

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

OP, you really, really need to delete your email address in this thread...now! Between your screen name (which I am guessing is the initial of your first name, your last name and the year you were born in) and your email, there is just way too much personal information out there for people to see.

First, I'm sorry that you are in this situation. I remember not knowing if I was going to be kicked out of school for being late on my make-up clinical day. I ended up being kicked out, but allowed to come back the following semester. It was entirely my fault. There were my mistakes that I made. By golly I have learned. Those 3 days of not knowing were some of the worst I have experienced. I feel for you

The thing in your situation is that you must learn to take full responsibility! You need to approach any time you are on clinical grounds as if you are a working nurse. Come prepared and come wise. Nurses carry loads of responsibility. The last thing your directors are going to want to hear are excuses of not knowing better. YOU NEED TO KNOW BETTER. Patient privacy is about as big as it gets

Own up to your mistakes. Apologize. Assure and then re-assure them that it will never happen again. Do some HIPAA research and show them all of the things that you HAVE learned and discovered since the incident. Make them confident that they can trust you as not only a student but also a nurse.

Best of luck and keep your head up

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