Accused of HIPPA

[arodgz]

I work in a nursing home and today I had a residents family member (niece specifically) ask me if we put an IV on residents in nursing homes,if needed, because resident did not want to eat. I informed her that we pay alot of attention to the residents intake and charted meal percentages and that if we noticed he is not eating we will notify our nurse and she might contact Dr for options. I went ahead and let my nurse know what I told her and she said shes the niece that I was not supposed to release that info. to her because she does not have POA and to be very carefully with what I say. I was just sharing information about how we track residents diet, I didnt see nothing wrong. Am I wrong?

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

Your information was pretty general and appropriate, but it might be better to stop with your own role. Explain how you watch the patients, count calories, notify the nurse of poor intake, etc...but stop short of explaining what the nurse will do (or might do).

And it's HIPAA (I might as well tell you, because you're going to get told by someone).

[arodgz]

Ok and what do you mean by its HIPPA, what is?.. explaining what the nurse will do?

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

First of all, its HIPAA. Secondly, is sounds like it was general information you were discussing, it was not treatment prescribed specifically for this resident. You weren't releasing any information pertinent to this patient at all. Why is the niece even asking if she knows you're "not supposed to tell" anything anyway?

In the future though, I'd definately curtail conversations with this woman. And always always keep it in the back of your mind when you are discussing ANYTHING regarding a resident. Defer to your nurse and don't feel bad at all if family persists and you stand your ground

[arodgz]

Thats exactly what I told my nurse that I did not specifically say anything.. I even pointed out to her that I didn't even know his care plan so even if I wanted to I couldn't of said anything.. Yeah I will probably not be assigned to that hall for a while.. we rotate a lot in my facility

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

Ok and what do you mean by its HIPPA, what is?.. explaining what the nurse will do?

Noooo, just that the "spelling" is HIPAA (AA) instead of HIPPA (PP)

[NewGrad2014]

Unless there was more to the conversation, that is not a violation of HIPAA. Your information was very general yet you still responded to her question and helped to educate her. Maybe this nurse has had previous experience with this family and her warning was more to give you a heads up on inappropriate questions that may be asked and knowing boundaries when it comes to giving out information. I don't think you did anything wrong at all :) to not respond in some way to a family member would not promote a very good relationship.

[T-Bird78]

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIthe, not HIPPA. Just an FYI. You released no information about the pt, just general care given to all residents, so no HIPAA violation.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

It is not HIPAA. What is HIPAA....The Privacy Rule

[klone, MSN, RN]

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIthe

HIthe?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Ok and what do you mean by its HIPPA, what is?.. explaining what the nurse will do?

No, the law. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The abbreviation is HIPAA, not HIPPA.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

What you said is definitely not a HIPAA violation. In case you are wondering, it could have been if you told the family member what the resident's meal percentages were or what other diet treatments are in place. From a nursing perspective it can be a bit frustrating when someone (tech, aide, transport, etc.) tells a patient/family we may do A, B, and C. Well, if we only do A, they can be upset that we are not doing B and C, and accuse the nurse of "not doing everything."

This does not even sound like what happened here. I would tell the family "we track the residents' diets. The nurses monitor this and will contact the doctor for future changes. I will have the nurse come in and talk to you more about it." Appropriate response, you recognized the question of the family member, you didn't give away any confidential information, you did not step on the nurse's feet (not that you really did in the first place).