Nurse looked at my Facebook-HIPAA violation ?

[PlainB]

I hope it was okay to register here as I am not a nurse however I am familiar with medical terminology because I was previously interested in the field. I suffer from depression and was recently hospitalized at a psych hospital to get my meds back on track. It wasn't a big deal, I was in and out within a week.

Anyway, I had really good rapport with one of the nurses. He was actually the only one who I felt did his job well and knew what he was doing. Well after he gave me my meds and we chatted for a bit (the usual how are you sleeping, any thoughts of harming yourself etc.) I went back up to the nurse's station to ask for water and he was turned the other way...looking at his phone-he had pulled up my Facebook page and was going though my pics! I was shocked of course but I tried to act like I didn't notice. When he saw me he put the phone in his pocket really fast.

It doesn't bother me, but I'm genuinely curious-is it a HIPAA violation for a nurse to simply look at a patient's FB-or only f they add them?

Thanks in advance and again I hope it's okay for me to be here.

[caliotter3]

the RN should at least know not to do this ON THE FLOOR/in CLINIC. Perhaps there was nothing nefarious behind his looking you up (ie, you may be friends with his friend or something), but really, unprofessional.

Why is he looking at ANYBODY'S profile on Facebook when he is supposed to be working? This is why many employers don't allow employees to use their cell phones while they are on the floor, in the clinic, or otherwise at WORK.

[BlondieMSNRN]

Well, I need my phone for Up-to-date and American Society of Hematology apps and so do my colleagues, so a blanket policy of no cellphones wouldn't work for us. I agree with a policy of no social media though.

All the RNs where I work have their phones on them (i see nothing wrong with being available to family members) but no one uses Facebook in the clinical areas as far as I've seen and no one is texting inappropriately.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Well, I need my phone for Up-to-date and American Society of Hematology apps and so do my colleagues, so a blanket policy of no cellphones wouldn't work for us. I agree with a policy of no social media though.

All the RNs where I work have their phones on them (i see nothing wrong with being available to family members) but no one uses Facebook in the clinical areas as far as I've seen and no one is texting inappropriately.

EWWWW! Gross! You give your PERSONAL cell phone number to visitors?!

[Wuzzie]

EWWWW! Gross! You give your PERSONAL cell phone number to visitors?!

I'm hoping she meant her family members.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I'm hoping she meant her family members.

I hope so too.

[BlondieMSNRN]

What in God's name are you referencing? I didn't write that. Who would do that?

[BlondieMSNRN]

I'm hoping she meant her family members.

Oh- I see now. No, of course not! I rarely even give my direct office number to patients and their family members b/c I'm rarely in my office- people can call the clinic and page me.

The MDs, NPs, and RNs have their cell phones on their person to be able to communicate with their own family members without having to go through the front desk. Jesus.

But w/ regard to "EWW, gross" and the first poster-- are you 10yrs old? Giving a patient's family my cell phone number wouldn't be an infection control issue, just stupid!

[candacern59217]

How do you even know that he looked you up? Did he contact you on Facebook or just look at your page?

Not a violation. He didn't post your protected health info.

Adjust your privacy settings or block him. Otherwise you can't complain about which people look you up.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I'm also going to go against the general grain and say that his looking up your Facebook page is not a professional boundary issue in itself. After all, your Facebook page is information that YOU chose to make available to the public via the Internet. [/Quote]

A while back I was watching on YouTube a lecture on Munchausen's by internet; one thing they touched on was the issues and ethics of looking at a parent's social media postings. The verdict in a nutshell was, with a public FB page there isn't an expectation of privacy

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Oh- I see now. No, of course not! I rarely even give my direct office number to patients and their family members b/c I'm rarely in my office- people can call the clinic and page me.

The MDs, NPs, and RNs have their cell phones on their person to be able to communicate with their own family members without having to go through the front desk. Jesus.

But w/ regard to "EWW, gross" and the first poster-- are you 10yrs old? Giving a patient's family my cell phone number wouldn't be an infection control issue, just stupid!

I'm the person who wrote the "EWW, gross" comment. I've had patients go to great lengths to find my personal phone number and then call me at home over and over after they've been discharged. (One guy even offered to take me on an Alaskan bush adventure.) The comment was in reference to the idea of the many inappropriate and unwanted phone calls you might get after giving the patients your personal number.

And no, I'm not ten, although I was about five decades ago.

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

Facebook is public. If you don't want people looking at your Facebook profile, get rid of it. It's that simple.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Police and investigative services (think taxation, criminal, insurance, boards of nursing even) employ analysts whose job includes digging into social media to look for evidence they can use. So you see, it's not only legal to snoop into publicly posted information, but it's done all the time. And most people have no idea who's looking at their posts.