Is it possible to arrange shadowing a nurse...

[Kashia]

Is it possible to arrange shadowing a nurse when you are not on staff of hospital or facility?

Has anyone here done this? I am thinking my re-entry would go much smoother if I could just be

in setting and shadow another nurse for shift or two. I am not returning to an on staff position rather through

an agency I've been associated with on and off for nine years. So agency staff relief you pretty much just go

and hit the floor running and there is no one to coddle you. You are expected to function at highest level of your scope

or license.

I am thinking I will just call around and see, but wonder if anyone has ever done this? thanks...

[elkpark]

In all these posts, although HIPAA requirements are mentioned, I read nothing about obtaining patient permission for a shadow. Now, you're response might be, Of course we get patient permission-- I wonder how it's done. Is patient permission embedded in one of those confusing forms patients sign -- so do you assume the patient has "general" informed consent if they've signed that form -- or do you asked each individual patient each individual time if that patient would mind someone shadowing the nurse -- letting that patient know the shadow may be anything from a high school student to a student nurse or doctor? And what do you do about patients in an ER -- when do they get to give their consent -- or with patients who are not conscious? In other words, is there a standard protocol for this, or is it done differently form hospital to hospital?How specifically do you define informed consent when dealing with shadows?

You are exactly right. I think those are concerns we all have and sort of summed up by invoking HIPAA, which has become a sort of general-purpose code word for "privacy concerns" (above and beyond the specific requirements of the HIPAA regulations). This is why I can't imagine how or why any hospitals allow "shadowing" (I would certainly not, for these reasons and others, if I were responsible for any healthcare facility).