Are you aware of how you conduct yourself in public?

Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2009

Asking how are you is NOT a violation of HIPAA. The protected information is actually very limited. Acknowledging that some one is in the hospital is not prohibited unless that person has put in WRITING that they do not wish to have their hospitalization info made public. Here is exactly what HIPAA says is Protected Health Information:

Protected Health Information

The Privacy Rule protects certain information that covered entities use and disclose. This information is called protected health information (PHI), which is generally individually identifiable health information that is transmitted by, or maintained in, electronic media or any other form or medium. This information must relate to 1) the past, present, or future physical or mental health, or condition of an individual; 2) provision of health care to an individual; or 3) payment for the provision of health care to an individual. If the information identifies or provides a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify an individual, it is considered individually identifiable health information.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/m2e411a1.htm

SurvivorRN · Apr 7, 2009

I agree with emmalou...Im a nurse ..not a nun.. The decisions I make are because I am a responsible adult..not because I am a nurse...I don't drink but if I did and choose to have a glass of wine before I work the next day..its okay as long as it will not make me intoxicated or tipsy..this goes with any profession at all..not just nursing...There is life after work and what I do on my days off is completely my business as long as it does no affect my responsibilities as a nurse. I do it cos I choose to be a responsible adultI will never say hi to my patients if I see them on the street xcept they say hi to me and that's d end of the conversation without being rude because I'm in street clothes and I have enough issues with bringing work home.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2009

I respect the privacy of former patients or their family members by not engaging in conversation unless they initiate it.

As far as alcohol is concerned, alcohol is not illegal and it's my own business whether I choose to have a drink or two in my own private time, so long as it is not prior to a shift, nor to the point where it is impairing my nursing practice.

jjensen · Apr 7, 2009

I like to go out and have some fun, but only if I don't have to work the next day. When I was young, I used to be able to go out all night and work, but now that I am older and wiser, I leave the fun for days I don't work...

We all have to let loose every now and again. I have seen MD's go out and get pretty drunk too. We are all human and need to have some fun. Man, if we did not have some fun in life, how would we be?

emmalou* · Apr 7, 2009

I like to go out and have some fun, but only if I don't have to work the next day. When I was young, I used to be able to go out all night and work, but now that I am older and wiser, I leave the fun for days I don't work...
We all have to let loose every now and again. I have seen MD's go out and get pretty drunk too. We are all human and need to have some fun. Man, if we did not have some fun in life, how would we be?

:up: Agreed.

Equinox_93 · Apr 7, 2009

... There is a difference between not going out and getting lit, and that of not going out and getting lit when you're due in for a shift early the next morning... There is also a difference between going out to a club and dancing and having a few drinks versus going out to a club and being sloppy drunk and stupid. I think that as professionals, we have an obligation to be responsible adults- but I'd argue that as adults we have an obligation to be responsible... So- yes- I am aware of how I conduct myself in public- but no- I don't do anything differently being a medical professional than I would just being an adult. MHO.

Hello
I was wondering if as nurses, if you are aware of how you conduct yourself in public?
I run into prior patients and family members all of the time, of which I never say hi unless they say hi first due to HIPAA and I live in a pretty large city too.
We work very hard and deserve to go out and have a good time, but I think we need to be careful on how we conduct ourselves. Does anyone else agree?
Case in point:
A nurse who I will call E was out one night. E got totally drunk, knowing he had to work the next day at 7am-7pm. He was at a bar and almost got into a bar brawl with another group of individuals. When E showed up for work he was very hungover. E then went into his patients rooms and found out that one of them was a guy/girl that was involved in the "almost bar brawl" with appendicitis. The patient did not want E to care for him/her, not because of the brawl, but because he knew how drunk E got the night before. The patient went on to tell the story to the nurse that was taking over his/her care and was saying things like "how could E go out and get so drunk the night before he had to work?"
Putting this story aside....
Has anyone changed how they are in public?
Has anyone had a situation in where they ran into a former patient?

Equinox_93 · Apr 7, 2009

Are you, "Allowed" by HIPPA to talk about a pt at the nurses station? No. Why not? It's a violation of that pts privacy. If you walk up to a pt in the middle of the store and ask, "how they are feeling" then you are divulging that they were in the hospital which is a violation of HIPPA in-and-of itself.

Asking "how are you feeling" does not denote that the person was a patient of yours, nor does it denote that they were in the hospital, OR what for. That question is very ambiguous and I doubt would fall under a HIPAA violation.

GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN · Apr 7, 2009

Watch what you do, you never know who has a camera! I found pics of my old nursing supervisor all drunk with beer spilled on her crotch on someone elses MySpace, which is not set to private. :chuckle

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2009

I ran into a student at the mall one day (I'm a school nurse), and since then I have been more careful in public, although I am not a wild child by any means anyway! I have really not changed any behaviors, just have been more mindful and aware that a student or parent could be anywhere that I am.

Aneroo, LPN · Apr 7, 2009

I don't go crazy like I used to in college, but I do like to have fun still.

However, there is a part of me that is more aware of what I am doing. I think it's similar to seeing the pictures of teachers doing keg stands up on myspace or facebook, where they're dumb enough to leave it public. People have gotten fired over that kind of stuff before.

traumarns · Apr 7, 2009

i have something to say about this. i am an er nurse at a level 1 trauma center in my city.

i am a nurse at work and work only. i dont wear my scrubs when off. i dont stop for accidents when off, especially when i see the big trucks with the blue and red swirly lights. and i certainly do not tell strangers i am nurse when i am off.

after 17 yrs in this "business" i have learned not to take my work home with me. been through burn out a couple of times.

the question is, am i a saint because of my profession.

the answer, HELL TO THE NO.

I enjoy going out with my friends and having a few cocktails every now and then. if people think because you are a nurse and should be held to a higher standard, they are sadly mistaken. we are human too.

am i suppose to say, i want a different banker because i saw him out last night and he really got lit. nope, i guarantee nobody does that. i gotta tell you, with the economy the way it is, i want my financial advisor to be stone cold sober all the time. i dont want him investing my money in madoff schemes.

imagine this, you are out to dinner with whomever, and you notice at the next table a couple who are drinking and being loud. you think to yourself, wow i hope they are taking a cab home.

the next day, you walk in the room, and your patient is the dude from the night before. he is complaining of upper abd pain and vomiting, he says to you "it is my pancreas pain" do you ask somebody else to be his nurse or better yet, come back an hour later with his iv fluids and dilauded. you know, make him wait a bit longer cause he did this to himself.

NO you dont, you quickly get iv access fluids and pain meds. get him better, treat and street, or admit.

then you send him on his way with substance abuse resource material upon discharge, knowing he will promptly throw away.

my point being, none of us should take ourselves so seriously that we lose sight of WHO we are. not WHAT we do.

StNeotser, ASN, RN · Apr 8, 2009

When I was little I had a Great Aunt who was a nun. I wanted to be one too and my dad always said they'd call me Nun Such. Didn't get the joke at the time.

Anyway, no I don't really go out and party, I'm a 37 year old single mother. I did see a family member at a political rally between two shifts that I was caring for his mother in law. He was cool the next day but I did wonder how he would have reacted if he'd been one of the protesters outside the rally on the other side of the political fence.

We have private lives, we're not public figures - yes we need to conduct ourselves well at work but outside I don't see the need. And I've never shown up for work hungover, whether I've worked New Years at 6am or Christmas or whatever.