I work alongside this nurse in a 2 RN ER and to my eyes, she is one of the worst gossips I have ever met. I tolerate her because I have to if I want to continue working here. (And all in all, I really like where I am working so it is usually no big deal.) But a few days ago, I think she really crossed a line and it has stuck in my craw since then. I really want to call her out on it to the point that I want to report her to the state for violation of confidentiality.
A woman came to our ER via EMS who was the sole person in a one car MVA. She had bumps and bruises and a minor head lac. The attending MD ordered his routine labs, among them, an ETOH level. Her ETOH level came back at roughly twice the legal limit.
A police officer was in the ER doing the accident paperwork. As he was leaving, my 'partner' asked him about what he was going to do about her blood alcohol level. His reply was, "What do you mean?" She told him that her B.A.L. was 0.15. His reply was, "Well I guess I am going to have to arrest her for D.U.I. " Upon hearing that, I was absolutely flabbergasted.
I have always felt that as a nurse, my prime role is to be a patient advocate. In NO WAY do I see my role as an agent of the state. Unless I have objective evidence that a patient intends harm, or is a potential threat to themselves or others, any circumstance that brings them to my care is irrelevant and nobody's business save for those directly involved in their care. In that light, I just can't believe what that nurse did to her. I am so upset about this. That nurse could very well have ruined that woman's life from a legal perspective. At the very least, it will cost her about $5,000. How is that being a patient advocate?
Where I work we have been told we can be held personally liable if we know someone is intoxicated, we let them leave and they cause an accident. Sorry, but I would've told, especially if she was able to drive her own car.
Bottom line, I don't agree with what she did. I am NOT an agent of the state. That is what the police are for. I am a patient advocate. I AM A NURSE!!! I still feel that what my partner did was COMPLETELY out of line. I just can't reconcile what she did. On a professional, legal, moral, medical level, anything, I just don't see it.
just wait until you let somebody like that go without reporting them and they leave again and then the next time you see them it's because she hit and killed a child, then you let me know how you feel. I'll be damned if I am going to let a drunk and driver go without saying something, Hippa or no Hippa, there is a right to report your patient, she was a danger to everybody on the road and maybe to whoever was waiting for her at home.
just wait until you let somebody like that go without reporting them and they leave again and then the next time you see them it's because she hit and killed a child, then you let me know how you feel. I'll be damned if I am going to let a drunk and driver go without saying something, Hippa or no Hippa, there is a right to report your patient, she was a danger to everybody on the road and maybe to whoever was waiting for her at home.
Had this patient walked out to the parking lot with keys in hand, that may have been an appropriate time to contact the police in the interest of protecting the public safety. We have had visitors on our unit who appeared to be impaired and refused the offer of a cab ride home. We contacted security to follow them out to the parking lot and call 911 if they got into a car. The police were happy to follow them home, and intervene if their driving warranted it (speeding, swerving, etc.) It is not a perfect solution, but is within the bounds of the law, unlike offering up unsolicited medical information about someone else's patient, which is a clear violation of patient confidentiality.
It seems like you still have a problem with inappropriate gossip. I deal with that in my position all the time. Be strong and tell her that you are not comfortable with the way she talks about others. It is unprofessional to trash talk anyone. If that doesn't work you could always be the comedian: "We're not gossiping, we're networking!" :) Hope the situation gets better for you.
She had no right to access or share any information related to a patient not under her care.
My opinion of HIPAA is that it is over inflated bureaucracy at its best. It protects people who least need protecting ie... drunk drivers, drug users. These people cause harm to our society every day and the law actually helps them get away with it. I stand by my previous post saying that she did the right thing. You have to be willing to stand up for what you believe is morally right no matter what it costs you.
My opinion of HIPAA is that it is over inflated bureaucracy at its best. It protects people who least need protecting ie... drunk drivers, drug users. These people cause harm to our society every day and the law actually helps them get away with it. I stand by my previous post saying that she did the right thing. You have to be willing to stand up for what you believe is morally right no matter what it costs you.
So you would have no problem with a nurse not involved in your care disclosing your HIV status to a stranger? How about the results of your pregnancy test? How about your genetic markers for breast cancer?
We don't get to pick and choose the situations in which we follow HIPAA and those in which we flaunt it.
If you don't like the legislation (and a lot of people don't for valid reasons), then work to CHANGE it. If you stand up for what you believe to be morally right at the expense of another person's right to privacy, don't belly-ache when you lose your job and license.
anniev
79 Posts
HIPPA regulations ? The law is above this?