Hello everyone. I am a new nurse in my first psych nursing role. I would love advice about how you approach answering phones in psych nursing. I have only experienced this a few times so far. I currently get the caller's name, relationship to the person they are seeking, then check the chart to see whether the patient has listed them and what information they can receive. If they are approved, I confirm the patient's presence and transfer the call. If not, I say something to the extent of "I am sorry, but due to privacy laws I cannot confirm or deny the presence of a patient in our hospital."
What else do you say? What do you say when the other person gets upset/angry?
I know this should be a simple thing to do, but I am so worried that I am going to accidentally break confidentiality and I want to have a plan for how to approach phone calls. I also feel as though it is impossible to verify the true identity of the caller and I am afraid I will transfer a call from someone who is claiming to be someone else. Thank you to everyone who comments.
In my facility, we assign a 4digit numerical code to each patient upon admission and they are allowed to share that code with close family members only and caseworkers, who are written on a Phonecall&Vistation list. If callers cannot provide the patient's code when they call and/or their name is not on the patient's phonecall, i simply respond..."I'm sorry. Unfortunately, due to privacy laws, I can neither confirm nor deny any patient that is present in our facility. Have a great day!" and hang up before they have a chance to rant & rave at me on the phone. It's not necessarily the most compassionate approach.. &, although, i do feel sympathy for their situation-not being able to get in touch with their sick loved one, I have also learned (the hard way) those laws and policies are in place for a reason. I used to excuse Biological parents "oh shoot, I forgot the code!" or "I forgot to my name on the list! I'm her dad/mom!" which happens quite often...that was until I made this same exception one evening for a Bio Father who came for visitation to visit his 15y/o daughter(patient). After escorting them to the visitor's lounge on our unit, I pulled the patient's chart out in order to document the visitation..almost immediately after opening her chart, I discovered (caps lock note taped to front of pt's chart from her therapist) that the father had allegedly sexually abused the patient for yrs and he was court ordered to have NO form of contact with the patient until CPS could complete their investigation into the allegations. Good news, nothing inappropriate or negative happened during their visitation *phew*.. both were smiling and laughing and hugging before his departure.. bad news, I like quadrupled the length of my ToDo list- incident reports, phonecalls to the pt's legal guardian, therapist, CPS caseworker, and physician, had to notify my supervisor who was none too thrilled I allowed that to happen, and my whole unit had to have an impromptu 2hr meeting that week about the importance of HIPPAA (fun stuff...not at all dreadfully boring way to spend 2 hrs.)! Im just glad they didnt go to the extremes and report to BON...bc that def little couldve snowballed into disciplinary action on my license. Anyway, HIPPAA is all sorts of tricky and complicated to work around in our field where communication is key to health promotion and family&friends are an essential aspect of maintaining recovery. Your priority is your patient's overall wellbeing and your license in every situation.. so, if an angry/frustrated family member calls and refuses to accept your very professional, legal, and direct approach (your statement above) about protecting pt privacy, then refer them to your supervisor or pt advocacy for further assistance.
Also, dont worry about getting a call and having to decipher "How do i know if this is actually her/him"... we can only do so much to confirm identity over the phone unfortunately.. nothing seems to be fool proof anymore! Last month, I had a 16 y/o female getting mult. calls daily on the unit from her "brother" who was confirmed on the phonecall list and knew the pt code. The staff and i started noticing her conversations sounded very flirty (giggles, pet names "baby," giddy) with her "brother." Then, during another phonecall with her "brother", we overheard her making sexualized comments and moaning. I stopped the phonecall. I then went into her chart, reviewed her psychosocial Hx, and found that she did indeed have a younger brother by the same name...too bad he was 2y/o. Turns out "brother" was actually 'boyfriend' (shocker!) lol
Scenarios, such as above, are a constant problem throughout my Psych Facility. It's almost impossible to prevent.
Patient always has a right to refuse a call.. and should be encouraged to do so if he/she feels the caller is a trigger or a threat to her safety in any way.
Anyways, dont stress about HIPPAA.. you seem like you have a really good heart and a wonderful dedication to your patients overall well being...as long as youre doing your best and diligent in your efforts to keep your patients' healthy, safe, and rights protected.. youre good!! :)
"I cannot confirm if this individual is here. If this individual was here they would probably have contacted you. Appreciate you for understanding, have a good one."
julieberg3
3 Posts
In my facility, we assign a 4digit numerical code to each patient upon admission and they are allowed to share that code with close family members only and caseworkers, who are written on a Phonecall&Vistation list. If callers cannot provide the patient's code when they call and/or their name is not on the patient's phonecall, i simply respond..."I'm sorry. Unfortunately, due to privacy laws, I can neither confirm nor deny any patient that is present in our facility. Have a great day!" and hang up before they have a chance to rant & rave at me on the phone. It's not necessarily the most compassionate approach.. &, although, i do feel sympathy for their situation-not being able to get in touch with their sick loved one, I have also learned (the hard way) those laws and policies are in place for a reason. I used to excuse Biological parents "oh shoot, I forgot the code!" or "I forgot to my name on the list! I'm her dad/mom!" which happens quite often...that was until I made this same exception one evening for a Bio Father who came for visitation to visit his 15y/o daughter(patient). After escorting them to the visitor's lounge on our unit, I pulled the patient's chart out in order to document the visitation..almost immediately after opening her chart, I discovered (caps lock note taped to front of pt's chart from her therapist) that the father had allegedly sexually abused the patient for yrs and he was court ordered to have NO form of contact with the patient until CPS could complete their investigation into the allegations. Good news, nothing inappropriate or negative happened during their visitation *phew*.. both were smiling and laughing and hugging before his departure.. bad news, I like quadrupled the length of my ToDo list- incident reports, phonecalls to the pt's legal guardian, therapist, CPS caseworker, and physician, had to notify my supervisor who was none too thrilled I allowed that to happen, and my whole unit had to have an impromptu 2hr meeting that week about the importance of HIPPAA (fun stuff...not at all dreadfully boring way to spend 2 hrs.)! Im just glad they didnt go to the extremes and report to BON...bc that def little couldve snowballed into disciplinary action on my license. Anyway, HIPPAA is all sorts of tricky and complicated to work around in our field where communication is key to health promotion and family&friends are an essential aspect of maintaining recovery. Your priority is your patient's overall wellbeing and your license in every situation.. so, if an angry/frustrated family member calls and refuses to accept your very professional, legal, and direct approach (your statement above) about protecting pt privacy, then refer them to your supervisor or pt advocacy for further assistance.
Also, dont worry about getting a call and having to decipher "How do i know if this is actually her/him"... we can only do so much to confirm identity over the phone unfortunately.. nothing seems to be fool proof anymore! Last month, I had a 16 y/o female getting mult. calls daily on the unit from her "brother" who was confirmed on the phonecall list and knew the pt code. The staff and i started noticing her conversations sounded very flirty (giggles, pet names "baby," giddy) with her "brother." Then, during another phonecall with her "brother", we overheard her making sexualized comments and moaning. I stopped the phonecall. I then went into her chart, reviewed her psychosocial Hx, and found that she did indeed have a younger brother by the same name...too bad he was 2y/o. Turns out "brother" was actually 'boyfriend' (shocker!) lol
Scenarios, such as above, are a constant problem throughout my Psych Facility. It's almost impossible to prevent.
Patient always has a right to refuse a call.. and should be encouraged to do so if he/she feels the caller is a trigger or a threat to her safety in any way.
Anyways, dont stress about HIPPAA.. you seem like you have a really good heart and a wonderful dedication to your patients overall well being...as long as youre doing your best and diligent in your efforts to keep your patients' healthy, safe, and rights protected.. youre good!! :)