Can you job shadow a Nurse?

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I would really like to job shadow a nurse in a hospital or somewhere, does anyone know how you can do this? I live in the Twin Cities, MN.... could you just call up a hospital or clinic and ask them?

Thanks!! :-)

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I applaud your initiative -- investigating what nursing's all about.

However, there are a few snags. The biggest one is HIPAA. This is a Federal law governing exactly who can have access to confidential patient information. Obviously, following a nurse in a clinical setting would open you to access patient information.

Basically, only 'authorized persons' can have access to this information. Clinical students in an educational rotation are 'authorized', but if you are not a student - this does not include you. I don't have any good ideas on how to get around these rules.

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