Is this a HIPAA violation?

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A friend of mine is a labor and delivery nurse. A few days ago, she had a horrible experience that she described on a social media site (where her account is kept private and you have to add her as a friend to see anything she posts). She did not identify the patient or their condition in ANY way; she simply put "Today was absolutely heartbreaking. Had the worst case of fetal demise I've ever witnessed; taking a break from work for a few days to deal". However, she has over 200 "friends" on there who all know what she does, where she works, and which shift. I am a nursing student and we have been warned not to talk about clinicals/patients AT ALL on social media, ever, in any way. Is my friend's post in violation of anything as far as HIPAA goes? If her employer found out about what she posted, would it be enough to get her in trouble? I am curious because, going forward, I want to know if I will ever be able to vent to friends about work or if I'll always have to keep stuff like that bottled up inside :-/

Specializes in ER, ICU.

Since fetal demise is a rare event, anyone who heard about it at work, or even possibly in the news, could probably connect her post to the patient. This would be a HIPPA violation. She should have left it at "had a bad day". My FB page has dust an inch thick, and don't think you would even know I was a nurse if you viewed it.

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Specializes in Pedi.
Since fetal demise is a rare event, anyone who heard about it at work, or even possibly in the news, could probably connect her post to the patient. This would be a HIPPA violation. She should have left it at "had a bad day". My FB page has dust an inch thick, and don't think you would even know I was a nurse if you viewed it.

Why would fetal demise be on the news? And, if it were, the OP's friend still didn't identify the patient in her post so no HIPAA violation.

It's not a smart post to make and it may very well violate hospital policy, but either way you slice it, it doesn't violate HIPAA.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Why would fetal demise be on the news? And, if it were, the OP's friend still didn't identify the patient in her post so no HIPAA violation.

It's not a smart post to make and it may very well violate hospital policy, but either way you slice it, it doesn't violate HIPAA.

If it's a small community, you'd be surprised what makes the news, especially if the person is prominent in said community.

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