Keeping Old Report Sheets

[caseyuptonurse]

I'm sorry if there is a topic like this already, I couldn't find one anywhere...

But my question is this:

Does anyone keep their report sheets? (I guess more so for legal reasons than anything else) I was told before in clinical to keep my report sheets as an RN incase anything were to pop up.

Well after three months of keeping these things around I've found my room to be a cluttered mess. I have them all sitting in a drawer by my bedside just unorganized and cluttered in this drawer. So another question is if you are keeping yours where or how are you organizing them?

[caliotter3]

This was discussed before here and there. If you should keep anything at your home, since this is an obvious HIPAA violation (with identifiers), you should not let it be known to any of your coworkers, otherwise, you may find your employment shortlived.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Keeping protected patient information in your personal home is a bad idea. The only documentation that will hold up in court is the official documentation from the hospital. If you were deposed, how would you be able to prove that this was actually your report sheet from that shift and not something you wrote to CYA after you were summonsed to court? And how would you explain why you have patient information in your possession outside of work?

[bagladyrn, RN]

Be careful of this as depending on what identifying information is on your sheets this could lead to a HIPAA violation. My report sheets go in the shredder box at the end of the shift, or if I know I will have the same pts. the next shift they remain on the unit in my locker.

[caseyuptonurse]

Okay thank you for the advice. I will shred them now. Fixes the problem of the clutter. No one at work knows and I've only asked on here, I just was wondering since I had a clinical instructor tell me to do this 2 years ago.

[firstinfamily, RN]

kayseadeecee, you really do not have to keep your shift report sheets. They are a worksheet for you and actually it is better for you if you do not keep them. You should have your own malpractice insurance--separate from what the facility offers you. Your insurance will protect you from any incidents. However, if you keep shift papers in your locker at work they can be used in court if a summons for them is produced. I know it helps to keep reminders of what has gone on during your shift, but really, do you doubt yourself so much that you have to keep every shift's report?? If you feel you need to keep them, then I suggest getting a type of envelope file which is a large envelope that has sections and is shaped like an acordian, so it expands. Then purge it after a month or so. You should shred anything that has any pt information on it. I guess I use to do this when I was a new nurse, but now I do not. To me, it is more detrimental to hang onto it.

[caseyuptonurse]

I do see the risks of keeping them at home now. I don't know why I didn't really think of HIPPA before with this... I guess since it was recommended by a professor to keep them I just never really thought about it. I feel confident enough to not keep them. I honestly hated keeping them around because I felt like it was a waste of space and that I would never look at them again. I do have my own malpractice insurance since our company doesn't even offer it to us anyways. I did hear it's better to have your own anyways. Thank you for all the advice!

[caliotter3]

One of my nursing instructors told me to steal syringes and needles to practice injections at home. I thought she was a bagel short of a dozen before she ever told me that one. There are, however, many nurses who keep report sheets at home, or journals. Same warnings go for the personal journal. If called up in a lawsuit, your entire journal can be subpoenaed, not just the pages that pertain to the issue at hand. If your journal is kept for the purpose of sharing with a therapist, that opens the entire document to the court. Therefore, those who say anything about work in their journal, are advised not to disclose that fact to anyone.

[RN403, BSN, RN]

Not a good idea to keep patient information at home as other posters have said.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to document, document, document. Document thoroughly and use patient quotes where applicable. Hopefully, if you document well enough you will have no need for your own notes or report sheets. Also, be sure to have you own malpractice insurance.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I know of some nurses that keep report sheets in their lockers when they are working a 3-day stretch, but I ALWAYS shred every shift. Everything I need to know is either documented or part of the chart. I will never take the chance of having that info on me.

[loriangel14, RN]

Nope. They go in the shredder before I leave work.

[ilbe]

I don't keep the sheet but I wrote down simply note in regards of patient initial and Hx. Not keep whole notes. You might copy of them?