friend/nurse where I go for tx, did she violate hippa?

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Specializes in Hospice.

I am a military spouse in the middle of a divorce. One of the med-techs (military equivalent of an LPN) in the women's clinic at our base was told by my husband that I gave him an STI. She then shared this w/multiple spouses of other people who work w/my husband and also know me; who then told me via FACEBOOK of all places, that I needed to get to a dr. as they were told that I gave my husband a disease, by the med-tech in question.

Unfortunately for me, I am a patient of the clinic where this med tech works, and am currently being treated for pretty serious cervical dysplasia. I had varying degrees of staging from 1-3 and so I've been in and out of the doctor many, many times in the past few months. Needless to say, I'm facing the possibility of a hysterectomy and a little scared.

It was found that my husband did indeed have an STI, and I immediately went to the county health dept., got tested & came out negative for everything.

It's time for the checkup that will ultimately determine whether or not radical hysterectomy is advised, and I'm refusing to go back to the clinic on base as I have no clue if this chick is going to share my info. with anyone else. in the past she told me that she asked the doctor in the clinic whether or not her ex-husband's wife was pregnant, who then confirmed the pregnancy. So I'm well aware that she's violated HIPPA in the past, but not sure if my situation applies. As an LPN myself, I wouldn't dream of doing what this med tech did as in my mind it IS a HIPPA violation. But I might be overzeaously interpreting the rule too. So I'm not sure.

I make this branch of the military sound a little low class. lol. I'm sorry.

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Specializes in Hospice.

did your husband tell her that as a friend or as a pt?

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I would say it is indeed a HIPAA violation.. however, I'm not sure if the military has the same rules about that kind of stuff (you'd think they would). I would definitely report it to her superiors. Very unprofessional behavior on that nurse's part.

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Specializes in ER.

Doesn't matter whether your husband told her as a friend, patient, coworker, spiteful person or all of the above.

She can't turn around and tell your husbands friends and coworkers. She can't even tell her coworkers unless they are involved in treating you.

She knows this.

Now you do.

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Specializes in Hospice.

My husband told her this as a friend. My problem is that I know she talks about patient information. She's told ME patient information that she had no business knowing and/or sharing. I can't go back there now, there's no way. Not with her having access to my medical records. I attempted to ask her why she was telling people this, and she immediately cut off all communication with me. HIPPA does apply to the military except in cases where military mission is compromised by the withholding of patient information.

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Specializes in Hospice.

well then you report her to the office, where i work there are random checks if I accessed a pt that i wasn't caring for that would be grounds for immediate termination.

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Specializes in Hospice.

In the military culture, we all live and behave as one (sometimes very dysfunctional) family. My brother is active duty at the same (very small) base as this nurse and my husband.

It was devastating for me to have to know my little brother is being forced to defend me as now quite a few enlisted people in all kinds of squadrons have been discussing my sexual health.

I never had an STI, I didn't give 1 to my husband, I can't have sex I just had a LEEP for God's sake, I'm diabetic and still in pain and I shouldn't even have to defend myself I don't have a disease.

That a nurse in the office where I'm being treated, who saw me cry when the doctor told me it was worse than they thought, would tell people this rips my heart out.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I really appreciate it.

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Doesn't matter whether your husband told her as a friend, patient, coworker, spiteful person or all of the above.

She can't turn around and tell your husbands friends and coworkers. She can't even tell her coworkers unless they are involved in treating you.

She knows this.

Now you do.

Well she can actually..and did! I am not clear though if this is HIPAA. If she only shared with others information she was told by the husband as a friend, and didn't share anything she knew from being a nurse is it HIPAA or just gossip (and really wrong on a personal level, and unprofessional). I'm not sure that gossip is covered by HIPAA. If she had found out trough the clinic that the OP might have an STI and then talked about it, that would be HIPAA for sure.

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

Call her First Sgt. There is no excuse for this.

Regardless if this is a HIPAA violation or not, this is a behavior that is not becoming and has been done with malice. The tolerance for this behavior is actually very low if it is brought to light.

Good luck. I'm sorry your suffering right now.

P.S> On a side note, please get a second opinion prior to having a hysterectomy. I"ll send warm wishes....

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Human papillomavirus causes cervical dysplasia, and from what I understand, men can carry it and be completely asymptomatic - meaning HE could have infected you with it, who knows. Doesn't matter, this "nurse" needs to be reported for violating your patient confidentiality.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Call her First Sgt. There is no excuse for this.

Regardless if this is a HIPAA violation or not, this is a behavior that is not becoming and has been done with malice. The tolerance for this behavior is actually very low if it is brought to light.

Good luck. I'm sorry your suffering right now.

P.S> On a side note, please get a second opinion prior to having a hysterectomy. I"ll send warm wishes....

You're super sweet. I filed an IG complaint because my husband has done some pretty heinous things since our separation, and after 4 months I've had enough. I included what this chick did in terms of what she's been telling people, who knows if it'll be addressed or not.

I'm refusing a hysterectomy absolutely and without a doubt. I didn't have health insurance before i got married so I never got a pap. It took 10 years for it to spread outside of my cervix into glands and get as bad as ithas, and that was my fault. But that doesn't mean I have to have my reproductive organs removed. I was just really scared and distraught when the dr. told me that he'll do what he can to get rid of it but that a hysterectomy would be the next step depending on how it looks with this checkup. This person was part of my life, and we were so close. She knew everything my husband did and that I missed him so much while he was deployed. When he came home and disappeared right after my surgery, it was really hard. For her to then do this tore me up and I just don't understand it. I just don'twant this to happen to anybody else. It hurt a lot.

Thank you for caring. :heartbeat:heartbeat

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Specializes in Hospice.
Human papillomavirus causes cervical dysplasia, and from what I understand, men can carry it and be completely asymptomatic - meaning HE could have infected you with it, who knows. Doesn't matter, this "nurse" needs to be reported for violating your patient confidentiality.

It wasn't HPV that he was saying I gave him. I had HPV many years before I met my husband, and it did cause the dysplasia and was asymptomatic in me. Had I been getting regular paps I would've known about it and it wouldn't have progressed as far as it had. I told my husband immediately when my pap came back abnormal that it was caused by hpv.

My husband is saying I gave him something else, what I don't know. The clinic on base said they weren't allowed to tell me b/c it would violate hippa, and that I'd find out if I tested positive for it. They would only confirm that he was positive for SOME STI.

I'm aware that the military has a duty to notify if the STI falls into a particular category. HPV isn't one of them. Syphyllis and ghonorrhea are the big 2 that I'm positive that they do mandatory notifications for.

They attempted to notify me, but they had no way to contact me so I never found out and wouldn't have known had this med tech not been telling other military spouses.

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