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?

[Lennonninja, MSN, APRN, NP]

I keep about 3-4 weeks worth of reports sheets in my locker at work, and then shred them at work later. In the MICU it's very possible that a patient will be there for a few weeks!

[ontheway2crna]

Your professor was very wrong that is a HIPAA violation.

[Loo17]

Possibly your professor meant keep the report sheets at work? When I was a floor nurse I would keep a couple months worth of my report sheets in a manila folder in my mailbox cubby.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

If I were you I would call up my school and ask the nsg dept head if this is a policy they teach all students, and ask if you might possibly have misunderstood that instructor (name her). That should take care of it. If she is actually telling students that, she'll be told to stop. If she isn't, but could be misunderstood, she'll learn to be clearer. Either way, you ill have helped make nursing education a wee bit better.

And shred or burn all that stuff stat.