Contacting family members after OR death...HIPAA?

[AllRNAllOR]

Okay so here is the situation. I worked on the patient in the OR for over 24 hours in the past few days and found out that they passed away late last night. I want to give my regards to his family...would it be inappropriate or against hipaa to contact their significant other or children via Facebook and just say that we are thinking about them and very sorry for their loss?

Thanks friends!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Yes, I think it would be inappropriate. Maybe not a HIPAA violation, but I feel like it crosses a professional line.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I'd say it's never appropriate to contact a patient or family member via facebook.

[MereSanity]

I would not do it.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

Would never do ANYTHING business related thru facebook.Ever!!

Do you know where the pt went after their procedure? As in did you transfer them to another floor?

Sometimes a generic sympathy card is given by the floor- maybe you could sign that? ( if thats how they do things)

[toomuchbaloney]

you are meeting your personal needs rather than behaving as a professional...DO NOT CONTACT THE FAMILY

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I disagree completely. It is perfectly fine to express condolences however I would not do it over facebook. I have on a very few occasions actually gone to the wake or service. VERY RARE but I have done it. I have also sent a card to the funeral home one the obit was public. Wait for the obit in the paper....send your condolence that way keep it private.

[toomuchbaloney]

I disagree completely. It is perfectly fine to express condolences however I would not do it over facebook. I have on a very few occasions actually gone to the wake or service. VERY RARE but I have done it. I have also sent a card to the funeral home one the obit was public. Wait for the obit in the paper....send your condolence that way keep it private.

I completely agree with participating in these events when there has been a therapeutic relationship with the family. This participation, on the part of the health care provider, often helps to bring closure for the family (and the provider). It is expected in hospice that the primary team members (RN, MSW, HHA, etc) will reach out to family following the death of the patient for precisely those reasons. Some participate very specifically in the funeral or other activities following death. This is healthy.

I believed that the OP was describing an interventional professional interaction which did not involve the family. The care was provided in the OR, apparently, where there was no therapeutic relationship (at least none was described).

I would recommend that a card be sent which expresses the condolences of the OR staff rather than a more personal and intimate interaction.

If the case was difficult for the staff I would suggest that the hospital should engage the staff who have experienced grief to assist them. That, in my view, would be more appropriate than the individual staff reaching out to family that they did not know because they are also mourning.

I think these are good questions and it is important for us to consider other perspectives related to our professional conduct and our own susceptibilities to grief and emotional pain.

[T-Bird78]

Never contact a pt or family member on Facebook. You may send a card to the funeral home. My uncle was in the CCU for 9 weeks before he finally passed. Two of the nurses from his cardio office came to the funeral home for the viewing, as did two of the CCU nurses from the hospital. That really touched my family, especially my aunt, because those two were his favorite on the floor. None of them came to the funeral though.