Nurse Recruiter and HIPAA violation?

[SookieBSN]

Hello group! This is my first post on AN so bear with me!

So...I have been applying for a nursing position at a hospital less than a mile from my house since 2009. I have never received so much as a response from human resources. So about a month ago, I felt the initiative to call the nurse recruiter and get an idea of how I could improve my resume/application. During our conversation, the nurse recruiter let slip that she didn't think I could handle a nursing position due to "my numerous ER visits." I contacted Risk Management at the hospital and they confirmed that this nurse recruiter had in fact accessed my medical record four times. The lady at risk management said she would "take care of it." As of yesterday, the nurse recruiter is still in her current position. I feel completely violated. Is there no privacy anymore?

So my questions is: Should I continue to pursue this through other means...i.e. reporting this as a HIPAA violation? Risk Management is no longer returning my phone calls.

Thank you, Sookie

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Ours do not, so that is why I'm surprised. Not all nurses work in a clinical role and therefore do not have access to charts.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

What litigation? Under the privacy law, the judgment is against the facility/entity that allowed /didn't prevent the breach, not the individual who did it.

If the patient wants to litigate against the individual, he has to prove damages that resulted from the breach. Tough to do.

The OP was denied a job because she had too many ER visits, and they were stupid enough to tell her that. Definitely a great case for litigation IMO.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

No way in Hades is Risk Management going to tell you squat.

Some creative writing going on... you should try to sell short stories.

[blackvans1234]

No way in Hades is Risk Management going to tell you squat.

Some creative writing going on... you should try to sell short stories.

Agreed, Risk management's job is to manage risk. Aka keep things hush hush until you're in the deposition.

Initial response from RM -"There must've been some miscommunication from our recruiter, we will look into this and be in contact with you''.

Call back from RM next week- We spoke with cindy the nurse recruiter, there was indeed a miscommunication, what she said / intended to say was, ''in spite of your numerous visits / contacts to our HR DEPARTMENT, the position is no longer filled. We sincerely apologize for the miscommunication- here's a cookie''

"And yes, the position is no longer available''