Being forced to give corporate access to my medical records?!

Updated:   Published

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Hey everyone,

So I've been floating between my main unit in CCU/CVICU and our covid ICU with no issues since the pandemic hit last Feb.  Last month my heartrate started going erratic and turns out I was in thyroid storm (history of thyroid CA s/p thyroidectomy on Synthroid now).  I remember showing up to work one day and the moment I got to the nurses station I started feeling palpitations and had to sit down.. I hooked myself up to the zoll with my charge nurse to find me taching in the 180's - I ended up going to the ED and getting IV labetalol.  My endocrinologist does not want to lower my Synthroid dosage even though my last TSH is 0.06 due to high chance of cancer reoccurrence - so now I'm seeing a cardiologist and ended up being started on labetalol which has controlled my heart rate.

Around the same time, my charge nurse started refusing to float me to our covid unit, stating that due to my health she didn't want me to be exposed to it (our covid unit is still a lockdown unit where you get a single 30 minute break and wear the same PPE/gloves locked in the unit for the whole 12 hours straight... most people like myself bring our own N95's and envo masks as the hospital still only provides a single N95 per 2 weeks and 60+hours on a single n95 just doesn't cut it for me).  When my charge stopped floating me to covid, she came up to me and asked me to get a doctors note from my PCP to justify her decision to not float me to covid anymore.  I talked to my director about this and she is also in agreement that due to my health I shouldn't be floated to covid - so I went to my PCP and got a Dr's note.  Fast forward a few weeks and now corporate is calling me and stating that due to how many people have Dr. notes excusing them from working on the covid unit, they have a form that needs to be filled out by the physician.  The form is an ADA disability paperwork that is written in a way that makes it sound like I am incompetent.  There's 17 questions, extremely repetitive, and all involve the doctor explaining why I need 'modifications to my daily routine at the hospital to allow me to perform my core functions as a nurse'.  They also require a waiver to be signed that allows corporate full access to my medical records and to discuss my treatment with my doctors.

I called corporate to clarify the paperwork as I do not have a disability and I am not immunosuppressed; I have a history of thyroid cancer that has been treated and no longer an issue minus a little flareup that has now been taken care of.  Its not my decision to not float to covid-ICU and I have no issues floating to work there.

Corporates response to my inquiry was "yes, you do have a disability as you can potentially get sick if you get covid due to your history with cancer, so have your doctor fill out the ADA paperwork as if you have a disability, and your disability is your cancer history".  I feel like this paperwork will bite me in the butt in the future and am against signing a form that states I have a disability that inhibits me from performing my functions as a nurse and giving my medical records and access to future records to my employers when I am fully capable of performing the functions of my job and only 32yrs old.  The form is due back to them today, still trying to figure out what or even if I should write to corporate.  I feel like this is a complete violation of my personal privacy.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

How intrusive!  Why on earth would they need or even want access to your medical records? Beyond the situation specific to the restriction that by the way your manager asked for which would be covered by the MD note confirming the need for a restriction the rest of your medical record is none of their business!

Glad you are getting an attorney involved to call them on this outrageous and very possibly illegal  behavior. Unless that job is the only game in town, heck maybe even if it is I'd be kissing that place goodbye. 

Do you have any updates on your status? Very curious as to how it is going for you.  

Specializes in BSN, RN, CVRN-BC.

I bet that they were given legal advise not to discuss the issue on social media.

Specializes in Operating room nurse/educator - Neurosurgery.

Look for another job and count yourself lucky not having to work for a company such as this.  

 

Specializes in New grad.
5 hours ago, Robmoo said:

I bet that they were given legal advise not to discuss the issue on social media.

Probably, because they knew they were doing something wrong and want to keep other nurses blind to what's going on. However, no identifiers posted so they can't trace without hacking. 

I would also consider with all the good advice you have obtained here, all aspects of the state. Someone mentioned the labor board. Many areas of a hospital are licensed re the state. *The masks are a problem. *The hospital is licensed by the state. *The insurance company covering the hospital is licensed. * Disability benefits are a separate state Dept. 

I also think that you need to be realistic. You can't fight corporate and they know each other so you can get blacklisted unofficially from other hospital systems in your area. If your existing condition is worrisome enough for corporate to get involved, you really could be opening Pandora's Box! 

I would weigh up cost analysis and try to negotiate really good references from them implying you are moving on and then decide if you want to fight. The point being, that if they are willing to give you great references, then you know exactly where you stand with regard to their intentions. 

I don't see you winning this though, not with your dx. You really have to pick your battles and you are really compromised unfortunately. We don't live in a fair world and your illness can be compromised with additional stress. 

On 3/17/2021 at 3:05 PM, ladyapj said:
On 3/17/2021 at 9:53 AM, Robmoo said:

I bet that they were given legal advise not to discuss the issue on social media.

Probably, because they knew they were doing something wrong and want to keep other nurses blind to what's going on. However, no identifiers posted so they can't trace without hacking. 

They likely are referring to the OP being advised not to discuss this on social media, not the employer, particularly if they have retained counsel.

Specializes in BSN, RN, CVRN-BC.
On 3/31/2021 at 7:21 PM, chare said:

They likely are referring to the OP being advised not to discuss this on social media, not the employer, particularly if they have retained counsel.

That is exactly what I meant.

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