Protecting the patient already died does not make any sense!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

My patients was HIV+ and he died during a central line insertion...

It is tragic...but that is another story.

What upset me the most is....his future wife came to the unit and she is pregnant. We the nurses are not allowed to share that confidential information with his future wife.... It does not make any sense at all.

What do you think about this....Does it make any sense to you at all?

Shouldn't we let that girl know that her future husband was HIV+....

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

Oh, well then, her ability to see the death certificate is a non-issue. Let's just hope her betrothed told her the truth before he died.

Specializes in HH, Psych, MR/DD, geriatric, agency.
Deaths, to my knowledge, are public record, and I think access to them (and lengths you may have to go to to get a copy of one) is individually controlled by the state/commonwealth.

I would think - especially since this woman is pregnant - this would fall under "duty to warn". I'm not saying it does, I'm just saying you would think it would. To me, it's no different than if he'd told his care team he was going to kill his fiance/girlfriend/whatever and they had every reason to believe he'd do it. You have to report that. You should have to tell a pregnant woman her partner was HIV+.

Sometimes ethics has to win out. If she doesn't know he was HIV+, she's pregnant and has every right to know. I don't know that pregnant women are routinely tested; I don't think you can test someone for HIV unless you have their consent to do so (at least here in NC I believe I'm right).

I agree. There has to be a way to inform the fiancee. Maybe an anonymous call to the local health department and they could take it from there to counsel her? I know the health department here keeps track of all HIV, TB, etc patients. If the same is true for your area, they would have record of him.

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
I agree. There has to be a way to inform the fiancee. Maybe an anonymous call to the local health department and they could take it from there to counsel her? I know the health department here keeps track of all HIV, TB, etc patients. If the same is true for your area, they would have record of him.

Unless the law allow providers to report HIV status to the health department, though, it doesn't make one bit of difference if it is done anonymously.

Unless the law allow providers to report HIV status to the health department, though, it doesn't make one bit of difference if it is done anonymously.

I thought reporting HIV infection to a public health department WAS the law, but I don't know if it's done by name or a number or some other anonymous system.

Common sense...

If your future husband gave you the virus...why would you go to the hospital to see him....the guy is giving you the disease which requires you to swallow a lot of pills that have a lot of side effects....making you suffering!

I don't know if I agree with this statement at all. There are many couples with one partner infected with HIV who still stay together and support each other. Just because he had HIV doesn't mean she wouldn't still want to marry him.

He easily could have had the disease and not known until after she got pregnant. She very well could still be in love with him even though he is positive.

If she doesn't know, I feel for her and her baby. I hope that they get the necessary treatment needed if they are infected.

it use to be the law that std were reported and anyone exposed would be notified

tptb deciede that too many people were not going to seek help if their health status was going to known to insurers, employers etc

unfortunately this leaves their patners at the whim of the infected love

this man ws probably in denial and/or noncompliant with meds..i have worked with many hiv+ patients and those who took control of their lives and faced the facts were able to live a fairly normal life

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
I thought reporting HIV infection to a public health department WAS the law, but I don't know if it's done by name or a number or some other anonymous system.

Not where I live, it isn't. Other STDs, yes, but not HIV. Never has made any sense to me... and much less ever since the advent of retrovirals and other meds that are extending life expectancy so dramatically.

Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
I don't know if I agree with this statement at all. There are many couples with one partner infected with HIV who still stay together and support each other. Just because he had HIV doesn't mean she wouldn't still want to marry him.

He easily could have had the disease and not known until after she got pregnant. She very well could still be in love with him even though he is positive.

If she doesn't know, I feel for her and her baby. I hope that they get the necessary treatment needed if they are infected.

Read it carefully!

I am not talking about a partner infected with HIV....

On the other hand, a lot of couples do not stay together once the diagnosis is out....your statement is really one example for the rest of the population...

The bottom line is....we must be assuming that she does not know it....

Because assuming she knows it is a fatal mistake...

Hey guys! Nursing, besides skills, is really about common sense.

Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Hey guys! Nursing, besides skills, is really about common sense.

Yes, but nursing requires a license. Something that you may not have if you take it upon yourself to violate privacy laws and share confidential information, however well-intended your actions may be.

If you don't agree with the law, lobby to change it. But don't violate it without being willing to accept the consequences.

Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
I'd suggest getting your hospital ethics committee involved. They should be the ones handeling this situation so you don't feel burdened by it.

I agree that this is the best course of action.

I believe that the pregnant partner needs to know that he was HIV+, as it could affect her and the baby. Getting the ethics committee involved may put some pressure on the physician to do so, if she/he had decided to not get involved. There is a chance the partner already knew. However, if she did not, then I believe that her right to know and get proper care for her and her child is greater than the need to protect the privacy of a deceased individual.

Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
Yes, but nursing requires a license. Something that you may not have if you take it upon yourself to violate privacy laws and share confidential information, however well-intended your actions may be.

If you don't agree with the law, lobby to change it. But don't violate it without being willing to accept the consequences.

I have stated..

I know the law..

I know I can't say anything about it..

I know the consequences....

and I have no intention to violate the laws...

If you read it carefully, I also stated that we must write to the law makers

Anyhow, thank you for your advice that I already know...

Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
Not where I live, it isn't. Other STDs, yes, but not HIV. Never has made any sense to me... and much less ever since the advent of retrovirals and other meds that are extending life expectancy so dramatically.

Probably because other STDs don't have the same stigma that surrounded HIV...especially when the disease first emerged. Alot of people lost their jobs, their families and friends, insurance, and were even killed by former partners, etc. People didn't understand that is wasn't just a 'gay disease' or how it was spread. People just react differently to someone who has HIV vs. someone who has herpes or gonorrhea. So laws were put in place to protect those individuals from the social stigma that surrounded the disease. Unfortunately, this also can create moral and ethical situations like the one discussed in this thread.

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