I might have found family

Nurses Professionalism

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I am an agency nurse for long term care and I recently bumped into someone who I strongly believe is family. Im not staffed in the facility often so I cant really talk to this person. I have strong evidence that this person might be related to me and when I first saw this person it was as if I was staring at my moms side of the family. (This isnt a case of counter transference). I guess my question is should I drop this and let this possibly long lost relative be long and lost... or should I try to find out, somehow, without breaking HIPAA.

Strong Evidence

This person is from a remote place that my family is from.

Same features

Conversation I had with this person...

Also to add I was never this persons Nurse and I did not violate HIPAA in anyway.

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What outcome are you hoping for if this person is distant family?

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Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

I would not approach unless you are working and come across them in the work setting, if you want to say something then by all means do so, if they act like you do not know what you are talking about I would just let it drop. This keeps HIPAA in compliance.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

You didn't really say whether or not "this person" is a patient or staff member. I agree with the others if the person is a patient. But if the person is a staff member, I see no reason not to introduce yourself and say where your family is from and ask if you might be distantly related.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.

If you want to know, you can ask the patient. Nothing wrong with that, no HIPAA issues there.

The problem would be if you went to your mom's family and asked if Jill Jones was a cousin or something like that. But if you go to the patient I don't see a problem, unless you then take that info and share it with your family.

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The nursing-related considerations aside, I think it is worth considering context. Is this someone who was either relinquished for adoption or who is the likely biological parent of one of your (adopted) family members, for example?

There's no right/wrong answer to the general question, just that I think these are sensitive matters that, in some situations, may likely affect others way more than they affect the person who makes the discovery. And in those types of instances it's wise to not let excitement and curiosity be the major determining factors. Context is important. Assuming this is indeed the long-lost family member, you now know where the person is, so that even months or a year from now, it likely won't be impossible to track him/her down again. So you have time to think it through.

Good luck with your decision ~

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