Hippa question

As the others have said, you can certainly tell people where your clinicals are and the things you've seen/done as long as you don't state the patient's name or other identifying info. If you got to watch a face transplant, you might not want to mention details to anyone.

Hi, I am a nursing student. Is it against hippa to tell people what type of procedures I did or what type of surgeries I saw at clinical if I am not saying any information about the patient? Someone told me it was, but I don't see why saying "i started an IV today" or "I saw a surgery for a hernia" would a problem. Thank you!

No, it is not a HIPAA violation as long as there is no identifying information.

geez there are more important things to remember than how to spell HIPAA! HIPPA HIPPA HIPPA...insert evil laugh here!

geez there are more important things to remember than how to spell HIPAA! HIPPA HIPPA HIPPA...insert evil laugh here!

Yeah, like appearing to be a competent professional who understands what he/she is talking about.

Yeah, like appearing to be a competent professional who understands what he/she is talking about.

I know it drives you nuts but accusing someone guilty of the very common "HIPPA" mistake of being incompetent or unprofessional seems excessive.

Unless you live in Hawaii, the double P keystroke is far more natural than the double A keystroke.

Here are some examples of "HIPPA" from otherwise competent and professional (government and university) groups:

HIPPA

Texas State Board of Pharmacyhippa.htm (notice the URL)

HIPPA PRIVACY ACT

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA-factsheet-HIPPA-whistle.pdf

(notice the URL)

Those are just from the first 2 pages of a google search. If official publications such as those make the mistake, it seems harsh to flame someone who may be whipping out a post after a 12 hour shift.

To get my post somewhere close to the topic, I wish we focused as much on a correct understanding of HIPAA as we did on the spelling.

I recommend developing the habit of not discussing anything related to your work except with people who "need to know". That way you cannot get in trouble. We had to send a nursing student home for using her cell phone to call a friend and say "you won't believe who is here having a baby!". Someone they both knew in high school. Not what you did of course, but the point is, it is hard to contain good news sometimes. This girl ended up having to repeat a semester.