I went off on a family member...and I don't feel bad about it.

justme1972 · Jun 26, 2008

I see this a little differently...the unit secretary, in my opinion, should have been the person that you should have yelled at.

Secretaries need to be more assertive/better trained on these calls and NEVER should have told the family member that you were "just standing there".

The secretary should have told the family member something along the lines of, "The nurse cannot come to the phone because she is in the middle of care/procedure on your relative. Please give me your name and number and I will have her call you as soon as she is available and she will most likely have more information to give you at that time."

If the relative presses, she needs to state, "The nurse cannot leave the bedside..period."

If the secretary can't do that...time to find a new one.

RN1982 · Jun 26, 2008

I agree. She should have never said to the family member that I was just standing there. Next time I will handle this situation a bit differently. I will talk about this with the secretary the next time I work.

Ok, my question is, what do you say to family members on the phone when they ask for info. I say:

"Due to state/federal privacy laws, I am not permited to give out patient information over the phone. You need to call _____ who is their family spokesperson."

Do you give the caller the patient's condition or no?

justme1972 · Jun 26, 2008

I agree. She should have never said to the family member that I was just standing there. Next time I will handle this situation a bit differently. I will talk about this with the secretary the next time I work.
Ok, my question is, what do you say to family members on the phone when they ask for info. I say:
"Due to state/federal privacy laws, I am not permited to give out patient information over the phone. You need to call _____ who is their family spokesperson."
Do you give the caller the patient's condition or no?

You can't if the hospital has a PIN system and only who has the PIN can get the information.

I think telling them to call the family member who is in charge of the decisions is very reasonable. Especially with patients having very large families, you can't do a repeat update every time one of them calls or that might be the only thing you get done in a shift.

If you give out the information to whomever asks for it, then that's a HIPAA violation unless they have been authorized by the physician or the patient to be a decision-maker or have access to the medical records.

RN1982 · Jun 26, 2008

Do you think just telling them the patient's condition is stable is reasonable?

allnurses Guide · Jun 26, 2008

Yes, condition is reasonable unless they are a privacy patient.

We ackowledge the person is there and in stable condition, nothing else.

Having to answer the phone while at the bedside is a real pain, and I think annoying to the patient I am with. However, as charge, I have to answer. Usually it is the secretary at any one of the three zones in the ER. But the other calls, that should have been sent out to the triage nurse get really bothersome.

God bless most of our unit secretaries who screen really well!