In a true-to-life case scenario, an abusive relative calls the hospital and asks for information about a helpless patient who they have committed crimes against. Why does every nursing staff not have any plan to avoid this?
If a patient has been the victim of a felony and it was an immediate relative who committed crimes against them then why should nurses ever by permitted by law to share private information with them? I am a witness to them doing this.
Sharing private information with relatives who are physically and mentally abusive should never have been legally permitted even prior to H.I.P.A.A. or at any time in history and yet some nurses only care about what is legal for them.
If a patient is in a hospital and they do not want their relative who abuses them to know they are even in there and this relative is also known to gossip with every neighbor in town, the staff can still share their private information, "because they are an immediate relative."
I would assume that H.I.P.A.A. might have helped to change some of this but it should never have been legal.
"Is there any family member you do not want us to share information with?" Why hasn't every single nurse been required to find out about this from their patients?