It's a crime to take pictures of your patients

[Alnitak7]

If I take a picture of my patient it violates HIPAA law even if I have genuine concern for them and even if they're photogenic.

Even if I have no plan to share the picture with outsiders and even if it's a good picture, I can get in trouble for this and be asked to erase them. Legally, they can call the state on me. They call me "a covered entity."

Why is it okay for a newspaper staff or T.V. channel to publish pictures of nursing home residents and include false flattery and talk about their disease process?

I was irritated when I saw the news report that filmed dementia patients singing in a group.

They're confused so it's not rational to ask their permission to give them this kind of publicity. Even with no identifying information, I find this disgusting.

Am I the only one who has a problem with this double standard?

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I have a feeling the OP was talking about wanting to take a picture of a cute little old lady or something like that. This is a weird thread.

THIS.

Unless the OP is stating otherwise, I am baffled why someone wants to take a picture, even if it's for something concerning, which I thought the OP was alluding to; if so, document defensively and go through the chain of command. The End.

[lucymalfoy]

I think a lot of people are missing the point here. I didn't get that the OP is lamenting that she isn't allowed to photograph her photogenic patients. I think it's more her being upset that camera crews were allowed to capture photo/video of dementia patients.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

A lot of nurses I work with grow attached to our patients with long admissions. They "friend" them on Facebook and take pictures of them together to put on Facebook. Drives me nuts. It's against policy, against common sense, and unprofessional. Why would you do that?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I think a lot of people are missing the point here. I didn't get that the OP is lamenting that she isn't allowed to photograph her photogenic patients. I think it's more her being upset that camera crews were allowed to capture photo/video of dementia patients.

But camera crews and news media are diligent about getting written consent from individuals or next of kin/POA. I did not read it the same way...she has concerns regarding disciplinary action or legal action for taking photos of her "photogenic" clients. A photo-journalistic story is not for the purpose of capturing the most adorable or photogenic; its to relay a story.

[elkpark]

The simplest, quickest answer is because news camera teams aren't healthcare providers and aren't bound by HIPAA. We are. However, as already noted, news camera crews are bound by their own rules/regs about getting releases from individuals or the person responsible for them, and, in my experience, they are v. careful about doing that.

And I've worked in a number of settings over the years in which management found out a staff member had taken unauthorized photos of clients, and those staff members were promptly fired. That is not something that is appropriate or permitted.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Maybe the OP is just worded weirdly (poorly, even) but I didn't read it to mean that she wished she COULD take these pictures, but wondered why the news media IS allowed. At least, that's what I THINK she was going for....?

In which case, understanding what privacy laws do and don't apply, what one does and doesn't need consent for, would go a long way to knowing the answer to this :)

[grizmama]

If there is an interesting case you can take a picture of it using the app figure 1. It's pretty cool.

[Emergent, RN]

I think what we always need to remember is, we are not friends with our patients. We shouldn't become emotionally attached, but instead maintain a professional distance.

Social fulfillment ought to come from friends and colleagues, not patients.

[elkpark]

If there is an interesting case you can take a picture of it using the app figure 1. It's pretty cool.

"Interesting" isn't a good enough reason for taking a photo of a client, or a client's body part, wound, etc., without appropriate authorization.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

If there is an interesting case you can take a picture of it using the app figure 1. It's pretty cool.

Says who? Who has authorized the "interesting" photo op?

[grizmama]

Check it out before you reply to me. It's made for medical students and workers. It has built in consent forms and ways to protect patient privacy.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Check it out before you reply to me. It's made for medical students and workers. It has built in consent forms and ways to protect patient privacy.

Excuse me, but WHAT was I supposed to check out? "app figure 1"?

I didn't realize there was a requirement to have to figure out what you might have meant, rather than what you said, prior to being eligible to reply to you.

A thousand pardons.