So, my dh and some friends go out the other night to dinner. My hubby's bff, whom we'll call dick, has a girlfriend, who we'll call jane. Dick and Jane have been dating for one month, but according to them, it was love at first sight and they have spent every waking moment together, already planning to get married, buy a house, etc.
Anyway, we're waiting for our dinner to arrive, and Jane pulls out a piece of paper with lab values written on it. WBC's, K+, Na-,etc. Jane hands it to Dick, and Dick says, "what's this?" Jane (a nurse at our local hospital) says, "Oh, I got bored the other night and looked up your labs. I wrote down the abnormal ones." Dick had recently gotten hurt at work, went to the ED, and blood was drawn I assume to check for drugs/etoh since it was a worker's comp claim. Jane hands me the piece of paper as if I'm interested in Dick's labs. (I'm a 3rd semester ADN student). Dick says, "Well, what else did you learn?" and Jane says, "Well, I know you broke your ankle in 2005," etc. etc. This girl rattled off a pretty complete medical history. In the middle of a restaurant. With (basically) complete strangers. While she does know that I am a nursing student, she had no idea what my dh does for a living. I mean, what if he worked for JCAHO or something? Geez. He doesn't, but you know what I mean! This girl has guts!
Dick does not seem to think this is a big deal at all. If anything, he finds it amusing that Jane is interested and cares. Dick does not work in the medical field. Dick does not know what HIPAA means. Nothing.
Jane seems like a sweet girl, but this is unethical. Illegal. Immoral? She could lose her job for sure. Maybe her license? I don't know. Should I tell Dick about HIPAA and fines, and just plain old fashioned ethics?
1. Jane has no business accessing computerized records of her boyfriend - first HIPAA violation and can be punishable with immediate dismissal.
2. Repeating lab values in public!
3. Just the overall nosiness of the whole thing. Jane is way too possessive. I've been married for over 27 years and would never ever think of looking up hubby's lab values or any type of medical info.
Forget for a moment nursing ethics, HIPAA, patient confidentiality... what she did was just plain weird. Pulling this stunt in a public place and in front of people she really doesn't know?
Run Dick run.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. "Sure Jane, your boyfriend's labs make great dinner conversation!" :trout:
See this is where my quick, and usually rather mean, sense of humor gets me in trouble.
I would have looked right at her and said, "Wow, you do that too? I looked you up the other day just for fun, so how are the outbreaks? Is the Valtrex working for ya??
Peace,
Tripps
Funny. This is almost exactly what my dh said I should've said, later that night when I was attempting to explain to him how serious this was. Only it was "rash" and "penicillin" but it was the same principle.
Specializes in ICU;CCU;Telemetry;L&D;Hospice;ER/Trauma;.
Jane needs to clean out linen closets when she's bored! Or maybe give a patient another backrub; or offer to change someone' else's patient's dressings....
If she will brazenly go this far with a person to whom she has no LEGAL relationship with, imagine what she would do with someone else!
She could lose her lic. for this...and she is precisely the kind of nurse that lawyers lick their chops for!
Her facility could lose THEIR medicare funding because of this....no kidding....
in Redneck terms, she fell out of a stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down! ugh!
TOTALLY WRONG!!! HIPPA violation, completely, plus, would make me think she was a bit of a stalker! Scarey that with all this education, you could still do something that stupid!
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
So, my dh and some friends go out the other night to dinner. My hubby's bff, whom we'll call dick, has a girlfriend, who we'll call jane. Dick and Jane have been dating for one month, but according to them, it was love at first sight and they have spent every waking moment together, already planning to get married, buy a house, etc.
Anyway, we're waiting for our dinner to arrive, and Jane pulls out a piece of paper with lab values written on it. WBC's, K+, Na-,etc. Jane hands it to Dick, and Dick says, "what's this?" Jane (a nurse at our local hospital) says, "Oh, I got bored the other night and looked up your labs. I wrote down the abnormal ones." Dick had recently gotten hurt at work, went to the ED, and blood was drawn I assume to check for drugs/etoh since it was a worker's comp claim. Jane hands me the piece of paper as if I'm interested in Dick's labs. (I'm a 3rd semester ADN student). Dick says, "Well, what else did you learn?" and Jane says, "Well, I know you broke your ankle in 2005," etc. etc. This girl rattled off a pretty complete medical history. In the middle of a restaurant. With (basically) complete strangers. While she does know that I am a nursing student, she had no idea what my dh does for a living. I mean, what if he worked for JCAHO or something? Geez. He doesn't, but you know what I mean! This girl has guts!
Dick does not seem to think this is a big deal at all. If anything, he finds it amusing that Jane is interested and cares. Dick does not work in the medical field. Dick does not know what HIPAA means. Nothing.
Jane seems like a sweet girl, but this is unethical. Illegal. Immoral? She could lose her job for sure. Maybe her license? I don't know. Should I tell Dick about HIPAA and fines, and just plain old fashioned ethics?
What are your thoughts??
I placed a thank you under your post for bringing this up because I have seen this happen frequently. It is a clear violation of HIPPA and she should be told. You say that Dick didn't make a big deal, so, she may be lucky there, but, I think that you should tell her that this made you extremely uncomfortable, and why. I think the way I would deal with it is to talk to HER. Mentioning it to him may be okay, but for some reason, I have a tendency to try and pull a fellow nurse's coat tail first to remind her. They may have faulty practices at her place of work, and she needs to be reminded of the serious implications behind what she did. How ignorant of her, I know, but at least she will not do this around you. And, hopefully, you wouldn't need medical care in her place of work, or she would surely do this to you as well. Another point to make clear to her; after speaking to her and she still does this, especially to your loved ones, tell her she will be reported.
Specializes in med surg, oncology, outpt and hospice.
WOW, big mistake. Hopefully she will not loose her job over it but someone should refresh her on HIPPA laws. :trout:
I worked as a nurse in a clinic for a few years after leaving the clinic to work in the hospital I asked the doctor if a patient had died because she frequently emailed me and I had not heard from her. He told me it was a HIPPA violation and if he told me we could both go to jail. A little drastric I know but I would not want to be found on a HIPPA violation.:chair:
LOL, YES, we all know it is wrong what she did. It's been stated in every single reply. What nobody is addressing is the fact that papergirl is a STUDENT and should just keep her focus on herself and her own development. Making comments to "jane, Dick and/or Janes hospital administration can do nothing to benefit papergirl. In the end it could cause issues down the road. (If you can, think beyond the HIPPA issue and what the many difficulties papergirl could encounter confronting or reporting)
Again, 30 more posts on how wrong it is does not seem necessary as even the OP as a 3rd semester ADN student ALREADY KNOWS it's wrong. What does seem to be important is giving this young lady solid advice on how to handle the situation.
:trout:
Hopefully she will not loose her job over it but someone should refresh her on HIPPA laws. :trout:
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
:rotfl:
here dick, meet sally.
sally professional nurse.
jane bad.
sally good.
leslie