Help..fellow RN breaking into co-workers E mail

scootertrash nurse · Oct 10, 2009

yes maybe he should be fired but also never put in email what you dont want to be public opr can say in person

mommiof2kids · Oct 10, 2009

since you are union, I would suggest calling your union rep. Anyone violating your email and impersonating you is breaking the law. In fact, it might be considered harassment. If your union is worried about conflict of interest ie.. representing two employees in opposition, then get an attorney. If this person is impersonating you what else is he doing? is he stealing? falsifying records?

I'm sorry that you're in this situation. I guess this really brings home the point that we have to be very careful, even at work, with our email. Good luck to you.

tvccrn, ASN, RN · Oct 10, 2009

As a nurse who works in IT, I can tell you a couple of problems with this. You were at fault by letting someone else use your password, this RN has one of her own and if she does indeed work in IT then she can get to any orders sets she needs to work on.

Second, you left on break knowing that someone else was using your password and you wouldn't be in attendance. In my facility, that means that YOU would be disciplined as well as the person "breaking" into your email. The reason I put breaking into quotes is that because of your not following policy, that email was able to be accessed without a password, therefore it was open to use. Most facilities wouldn't accept that you thought you could trust the other person to log you out as an excuse.

That being said, the man was at fault and should indeed be held responsible. If there is a clear cut reason and documentation to prove it, an investigation should be carried out.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Oct 10, 2009

First off, in most places of employment, work email should never be considered private. Most IT people do spot check email--they have to to be sure that patient privacy, etc. is being protected. Therefore, anything of a confidential nature should not be discussed at length in an email. This also in most places goes for people checking their personal email with the company computer. It can be tracked. With that being said, the responsibility lies with the IT person not getting the proper codes she needed to do what she needed to do without using your email. Not saying for a moment that what your co-worker did was right. It was not. However, one needs to be mindful to not use one's work email as if it is one's home email. I would look in your sent box, and send a blanket email stating that due to circumstances beyond your control, your email account was left open and the email they received was in error and not sent by you. Assurances that you will be more dilligent in protecting your account in the future. It wastes others time and looks unprofessional to get a "I am mad at you" email at work, so I would nip that in the bud ASAP. Also look in your employee handbook--most state that email is for business purposes only, and that confidentiality in-house can not be guarenteed.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2009

not sure how it works in the US but in the UK we are stricly forbidden to allow anyone access to our IT accounts, there are no special permissions the only ones allowed to access is the user and the IT security administrators.
Where I work even if someone had sent an email from my account I'd be in huge trouble for sharing my log in information, and / or leaving my account open to abuse. Data protection is an absolute and any breeches are treated as disciplinary.
If this IT RN had permission from your organisation to access your account then it is her responsibility to ensure the security of your account, this is something that needs investigating and dealing with. If this is an informal arrangment then I am afraid the responsibility lies with you to ensure your account security and log out when you leave the computer. All of our computers automatically lock after a few minutes of inactivity to ensure security.
As far as this other person sending emails from your account, unless you can prove it then your hands are tied and there is little you can do.

This is my point also.

Here in the USA, in virtually EVERY facility in which I have worked (I used to a traveler and have worked at many), you NEVER permit another to use your code/passwords. So if something happens, it gets tracked back to the owner of the password.

And whenever I have worked, IT had to always have their own codes. You see, they are permitted to do various activities in the system, that regular staff do not have access to/do not need to access, just as regular staff have codes that permit them access to some areas but not others. To give "special access" to IT from another's account is just not done because the system should not permit that.

If indeed someone did ask you to give "special access" to IT to use your code, this needs to brought up immediately to the lawyer in Risk Management, because it was unnecessary and completely inappropriate. Passwords/codes are in the system for a reason - protection of integrity of data - and sharing them defeats that. Now if the OP or the manager "loaned it" because it was "just this once", or "it will take too much time" to get a new one.....this is wrong and also needs to be addressed by RM.

There really is a problem "charging" this man with this activity when the electronic data is corrupted by multiple users on an acct. Thus there might be legal issues, if your employer tries to discipline him for an activity done on your password/code.

The other issue is that usually email is a a separate account - how did this man get from the system into your email? Email accts in many facilities (though not all) are separate for this reason, so someone cannot get from one to the other easily. Problems occur when people use the "remember passwords" on the computers that they use at work, thus defeating another safety mechanism. Or have several screens minimized.

A lesson, if someone else is using your account for ANY reason, always stay with them until they log out. Because in many facilities, no matter your story, YOU would be responsible for the acts committed under your account and YOU would be out of a job/disciplined. Yes, it is unfair, but that is what would be done in many places.

Otessa, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2009

Otessa is this something that is common in the US, there is no way anyone would be allowed access in the UK it's just not allowed. If they need access to certain files they are put onto a shared drive and they access this with their own account

Sharrie, I have personally worked on IT projects in another job and they gave me a temporary password (limited to only the areas I needed to have access). I would never agree to the arrangement that the OP had.

otessa

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2009

Tx you for all your replies......I did not give anyone my password......and I am still not certain how he got into my E mail.....HR thinks he somehow got the password.....I just remember that day that the IT nurse was in our office working with me on pre-set orders for the VADS and I am suspecting she did something or left something open....the point is I am still not sure..........and I am so careful because of his history of doing this before......HE has admitted that he did this........and the E mail was about the H1N1....to get it or not....potential adverse reactions and it was an employee to employee correspondence.... I have been instructed to change my password daily for now.......I still think the answer is to CAN the evil snake :angryfire:angryfire...they are still investigating it all....I will post with what happens

RNRutRO · Oct 11, 2009

Can you say C-R-E-E-P-E-R? Waht a jerk!

AOx1 · Oct 11, 2009

I would immediately ask for a new logon and password, and change it regularly.

Batman24 · Oct 11, 2009

Definitely change your password daily. Put your complaint about him in writing. That is harder to sweep under the rug and it gets a paper trail going.

babynurselsa, RN · Oct 11, 2009

Call the corporate compliance hotline. This takes it out of your managers hands.

stormforce · Oct 11, 2009

Tx you for all your replies......I did not give anyone my password......and I am still not certain how he got into my E mail.....HR thinks he somehow got the password.....I just remember that day that the IT nurse was in our office working with me on pre-set orders for the VADS and I am suspecting she did something or left something open....the point is I am still not sure..........and I am so careful because of his history of doing this before......HE has admitted that he did this........and the E mail was about the H1N1....to get it or not....potential adverse reactions and it was an employee to employee correspondence.... I have been instructed to change my password daily for now.......I still think the answer is to CAN the evil snake :angryfire:angryfire...they are still investigating it all....I will post with what happens

Does this mean you left your account open with someone else working on it for long enough for her to finish what she was doing and for him to send this email. In my facility you would be investigated for leaving your IT account vulnerable to abuse and this is something that where I work you could get sacked for. Your IT account is your responsibility, we have to sign IT contracts that states this and then you have to take responsibility for anything that happens with this account.

Also, did you see him send the email? Has he admitted it, how do you know it was him? The last person to be working on your account would be the one that I would be more suspicious of, not sure of what action would be taken over this, with the greatest respect what proof do you have that it was this person? I am not sure you can sack someone on a suspicion you need to have firm evidence.