Me, Myself, and HIPPA

[goodknight]

I need advice from all of you that are more familiar with HIPPA than I am.

I just started my first clinical rotation and have a few questions.

How much about my patient can I say to my family? When they ask how my day went can I say "well, i had a 70yr old w/ pneumonia who was here on vacation, and ended up in the ER. It was really interesting cuase he had no breath sounds on the right and tons of crackles. And he had a really interesting scar from heart surgery."

Is that too much info? I like to be able to share my experiences with my family since they are supporting me through school.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Jessica, AASNS

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

The problem with telling family members or friends stories, even without identifying information, is that the interesting ones (generally the unusual cases) you most want to discuss then may be passed on (not maliciously, by the family member or friend who has no ethical obligation to keep the information confidential.) If it reaches the circle of the patient in question, someone may put 2 and 2 together.

The less said, the better. It's amazing what a small world we truly live in.

[NurseFirst]

The problem with telling family members or friends stories, even without identifying information, is that the interesting ones (generally the unusual cases) you most want to discuss then may be passed on (not maliciously, by the family member or friend who has no ethical obligation to keep the information confidential.) If it reaches the circle of the patient in question, someone may put 2 and 2 together.

The less said, the better. It's amazing what a small world we truly live in.

Yup, that's the problem. I was just thinking that the "interesting" cases are often the unusual cases, as you've said; I know that I had a *very* interesting case and wanted to talk about it--but knew that since it was so unique, if anyone knew the pt involved, they would recognize who it was immediately.

OTOH, a young boy died after receiving an allergy shot in an allergy clinic; I knew about him because he was connected to a group of people I know. I mentioned this in class and it turns out that my instructor already knew about it. As far as I know, she has no official connection with the allergy clinic...

NurseFirst