I was just wondering if something that seems to happen a lot constitutes a hipaa violation. For example, in my clinical rotations as a student, I would see floor nurses in the hospital who were occupied in emergency situations having to have fellow floor nurses who were NOT assigned to the patient's care team (and not the charge nurse) pass some meds to other patients for them. For example, another floor nurse would pass a prn pain medication or a breathing treatment for that nurse's other patients. Now as a prudent nurse we need to follow the rights of medication and know WHY we are giving a medication, so that means knowing a bit of the patient's history right? We cannot blindly give medications. So, is safely administering medications for coworkers violating hipaa in some way if we are not assigned to their care?
Another example, how about when fellow floor nurses ask other floor nurses to insert a foley in their patient, or to help start an IV on a patient after failed attempts?
Or if there is no charge nurse on duty and there is a possible emergency situation, is it a hipaa violation if I pull an experienced RN in the room with me to validate my assessment if I wasnt sure of something/help assist with an emergency situation? Ok and I know we would always ask the patient before if another person can come assess but what if the patient is not able to communicate. I know obviously the number one priority is to keep the patient safe but are we technically violating hipaa in the process? Sorry if this is a silly question, Im still a very new nurse and am just curious of the technicalities of this. Thank you in advance!
