Alright, so I'm starting nursing school in a couple weeks and I'm trying to find a good clipboard to use.
During orientation they mentioned a student who left her clipboard out on the sink when she was using the bathroom. Another nurse found it and she was cited for violating hipaa and was kicked out of the program. I'm particularly forgetful in putting things down so I'm worried about something like that happening to me.
My question is: if I had a storage clipboard with a lock on it, would that prevent a hipaa violation if it was accidently left in a patients room but all sensitive info was locked inside?
The clip boards also include lab values, which I often forget to reference. If you buy a white coat clip board, know that there are many options which drive up the cost.
I know someone at work that bought one of these from the website. She found that if you search for "damaged", you can buy their clipboard at a discount. The one she got had a tiny scratch; otherwise it was perfect & not in any way damaged.
I've found that a folded page in the lower pocket of a scrub top likes to move upward and fall out when you sit down, especially in the bathroom when you have to lift your top to sit. Also sitting to eat, chart, etc.
I think a locked clipboard is a good idea if you have a lot of pages and/or don't want them folded (like for an assignment). A locked clipboard can be broken into but it does show you are making a concerted effort to keep info safe. Of course you have to remember to lock it. Don't take it into the bathroom (dirty). It's also a good idea to not take full pt names, especially if paired with second identifiers (DOB, MRN) out of the hospital. Use initials if you need to for a paper.
Specializes in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine.
In nursing school I kept my brains in my pocket.
Now I have a fold over clipboard and everything goes in that. It doesn't lock, but my brains and I go everywhere together, even the bathroom, so it doesn't matter much.
Whitecoat clipboards are the best. They have general nursing ones, pediatric ones, doctor ones, etc. I got the doctor one because in ICU, it has more of the reference stuff I would use if I had a student, etc.
They also have the ability to have your name engraved and fold in half so you don't have to worry about HIPPA violations if your board is unattended whilst you go to the bathroom, etc.
They also have good reference cards to put on your badge holder (F/C conversions, some spanish words, etc) that you can buy in bundles or separately.
I do not carry a clipboard as a student. We usually get a handout packet of our patient's current information. I've never been in a clinical that didn't give us this and most of the time I see the nurses use them as well. I used to fold them in threes, but found that they fit in my pocket folded in half as well.
What I do to take report is fold them in half and use each half page for something. The first half page I use when taking report (I divide it into neuro, heart/lungs, abdomen, GI/GU, skin/MS, labs, and other). The second page I use for vital signs. The third page I will tape the patient's baseline tele strip. Each patient's "packet" gets stapled together. I write the room number in the upper corner of each outer page so I can grab them at a glance. They go in my (deep) leg pocket of my scrubs and I never have a problem with losing them. When I go to the bathroom they get put on the top of the paper towel dispenser or I hand them to a fellow student for safe-keeping. I also black out any patient information with a sharpie when getting report and go based on room numbers alone. When writing the room numbers, I take care to only write the last two numbers of the room. For example, in the hospital that I'm currently in, each floor starts off the floor number. i.e. The first floor will have 1001, 1002, 1003, the second floor will have 2001, 2002, 2003. On my sheet I would write 01, 02, 03 so the info can't even be traced to a specific floor.
I try to be as conscious as possible about confidentiality. I just can't carry a folder or clipboard; I find that they get in my way and annoy me during the day. If I had a traveling computer like the RNs use it might be a little different; then again at that point I wouldn't need it because I would have the "desk" on that.
I have a clipboard because I work in a unit (LTC rehab wing) that is quite a ways away from the nurses station and I hate running back and forth for info. (EMAR coming soon, cannot wait!) Or facility asks us to mask names as follows: Tyrion Lannister should be Tyrlan, Arya Stark would be Arysta, etc. I leave my clipboard on my cart and flip it upside down when I walk away.
RainMom
1,117 Posts
I know someone at work that bought one of these from the website. She found that if you search for "damaged", you can buy their clipboard at a discount. The one she got had a tiny scratch; otherwise it was perfect & not in any way damaged.