I'd like to tell you about what happened to another nurse and myself this week. It has left me with so many feelings that i just cannot pin-point how i feel.
We work in a nursing home that deals with many psych and behavioral issues. Many younger residents mixed in the population. Many checkered pasts!
Several months ago myself and another nurse were accused of assault by a resident who was intoxicated. I won't go into what happened- it was all resolved and unfounded.
This resident had requested a copy of the police report from the PD and DON.
Would you believe that the PD and DON gave him a copy! Ok no problem that's his right.
But the copy contained : our names, our addresses, our phone number, and if thats not enough.. our DOB and our Social Security Number!
This was brought to our attention when the resident stated he basically felt he had too much info about us.
I would like other nurses feedback/comments please.
I think an important issue is would the same information be available to the other party if you were accused of any other sort of crime in any other setting -- if you were "just" a member of the general public. I know that when I was involved in a serious MVA a couple years ago, I was able to get a copy of the police report related to the accident just by going to the PD and asking, with all the info they collected about the other driver right there on the form (I don't remember what specific personal info was on the report, though). I guess my point is that I don't think that nurses are entitled to any special degree of privacy above and beyond the general public ...
I think an important issue is would the same information be available to the other party if you were accused of any other sort of crime in any other setting -- if you were "just" a member of the general public. I know that when I was involved in a serious MVA a couple years ago, I was able to get a copy of the police report related to the accident just by going to the PD and asking, with all the info they collected about the other driver right there on the form (I don't remember what specific personal info was on the report, though). I guess my point is that I don't think that nurses are entitled to any special degree of privacy above and beyond the general public ...
Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.
Whether the police department would give the info or not, healthcare facilities have HIPPAA rules that apply to staff privacy as well. So, there is a bit of extra privacy that should be provided. In my opinion...
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
This resident had no right to your confidential information. However, the cat is out of the bag now. The only thing that can be done now is to have the report retrieved from him, your information removed and the new copy given to to him. I don't know what his usual mental status is. Would he have written your information down or given it to someone else?
I'd like to tell you about what happened to another nurse and myself this week. It has left me with so many feelings that i just cannot pin-point how i feel.
We work in a nursing home that deals with many psych and behavioral issues. Many younger residents mixed in the population. Many checkered pasts!
Several months ago myself and another nurse were accused of assault by a resident who was intoxicated. I won't go into what happened- it was all resolved and unfounded.
This resident had requested a copy of the police report from the PD and DON.
Would you believe that the PD and DON gave him a copy! Ok no problem that's his right.
But the copy contained : our names, our addresses, our phone number, and if thats not enough.. our DOB and our Social Security Number!
This was brought to our attention when the resident stated he basically felt he had too much info about us.
I would like other nurses feedback/comments please.
Thank You
I believe that a police report is a matter of public record.
I'm a bit surprised that the PD hasn't gotten to the point of getting rid of SSNs like many places have. In the 80s & 90s they were a de facto national ID number and commonly used as such by everybody. Some places still do it but it's becoming more and more rare due to ID theft concerns.
If I were you I'd contact the PD and encourage them to change their forms.
He could have gone to the police station and got the same report, couldn't he have? I don't think this has much of anything to do with you being a nurse.
I think an important issue is would the same information be available to the other party if you were accused of any other sort of crime in any other setting -- if you were "just" a member of the general public. I know that when I was involved in a serious MVA a couple years ago, I was able to get a copy of the police report related to the accident just by going to the PD and asking, with all the info they collected about the other driver right there on the form (I don't remember what specific personal info was on the report, though). I guess my point is that I don't think that nurses are entitled to any special degree of privacy above and beyond the general public ...
If the PD is handing out reports containing ANYONE's SSN, something really needs to be done. SSN is not public record by any standard whatsoever.
I am a former police officer (and now a nursing student!) and when taking a report, the SSN is requested from all involved parties. About 50% of the time, people refused to provide their SSN (which was fine by me and was totally within their rights) because in the state of Montana (where I was a cop) the only required data to be given to law enforcement was name and DOB. I'm sure it depends on the state, but you should have every right to refuse this information. Yes, police reports are public record and RESPONSIBLE departments redact the correct info (usually done by shift commanders).
But as one other poster said, the cat is now out of the bag. There have been several good suggestions about what to do now. Also, the DON should have the foresight to whip out a sharpie and make it happen! But mistakes are made. Only you can protect your information.
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elkpark
14,633 Posts
I think an important issue is would the same information be available to the other party if you were accused of any other sort of crime in any other setting -- if you were "just" a member of the general public. I know that when I was involved in a serious MVA a couple years ago, I was able to get a copy of the police report related to the accident just by going to the PD and asking, with all the info they collected about the other driver right there on the form (I don't remember what specific personal info was on the report, though). I guess my point is that I don't think that nurses are entitled to any special degree of privacy above and beyond the general public ...