glasshalffull

yes true, i was working as a health care provider for a private doctor for another patient. n if u look at it, when i go visit friends in the hospital, i'm stell a health care provider but not at that time. so reflecting on that, i was not the patients direct or indirect health care provider as i do not work for the hospital. i'm not contracted with the hospital. they in no way shape or form pay me for my services. the private doctor does. n the nurses were discussing his case outside of his room n not in a care plan meeting or neither was his direct health care provider involved in that discussion. it was the other nurses in the unit n in relation to the patient i was a visitor. so it is a sticky situation i agree. have i learned something? yes. will i do this again? no. btw, still haven't heard anything. my boss n the doctor r letting me do procedures in that hospital again becuz the house supervisor did not live up to her end of the deal, getting back with them on thursday. instead she went out on vacation. so i'm not worried about it anymore. will definitely let all know the outcome when i do find out

just an update. the wife of the patient signed a letter stating i had persmission to update friend #3. they r deliberating over it. i find out tomorrow. the house supervisor n nite charge nurse went so far as to take it to the hospital lawyers, i spoke to the doctor i'm employed by n he said that there was no violation on my part. but loads of it on the hospital staff & doctors. so i don't know. i'll post everything when i find out. thanks for all ur comments.

yeah, i've heard that. i thought it had to be a certain corner tho, not sure. i've seen it done b4, but in the acute care setting with a patient that was unstable n had a bad prognosis. i've never done it. have cracked a window after the 4th death in a particular ICU room tho. heard that lets the trapped spirits out n no will die in that room again anytime soon.

thank you for all the opions & advice. to answer one post, yes. the icu nurses at that facility do not like us because in their eyes we just sit for 3 hours & get paid more than they do on an average. & yes my friend is going to slap them & the doctors with negligence & malpractice suits. I think everyone at that hospital is nervous because the victims wife is not a lay person. she knows exactly what is going on, asked some difficult, tho appropriate questions which set the staff & doctors on edge. it's an ugly situation. again i don't work with the hospital, i had my friends permission to update friend #3 & the only recourse the hospital has is to ban me from doing procedures at that hospital which they are doing now until they "investigate" the situation. how about the doctor that gave my friend a copy of the head ct? how about the nurses that were talking openly about my friend's husbands case which is where i got my information. i did not look in his chart. i don't have access to the computers since i'm not an employee. i went in to see him & whisper words of encouragement to him. & yes i looked at the monitors, the drips, & the vent settings, as a knowledgable friend. so where is the hippa violation? should i get a lawyer? what is the fine? you are all right, i will be more careful & carry an extra change of clothes in my car. My friends are always contacting me for advice when they have a loved one that is hospitalized. as far as being on the clock. i'm not an employee of the hospital, we don't punch in or out. we report our time to my manager, who has also gotten grief from these ICU nurses in the past.

she did, we have all been discussing her husband's case. Friend #3 called me worried about her because she wasn't answering her phone. We all know it's grim & friend #3 was worried he died. after it was all said n done the patient's wife updated #3 while i sat with her in the waiting room consoling her. so when does discussing ur friend become a HIPPA violation? I mean, i wasn't caring for her husband in anyway what so ever. I merely passed on what i heard the other ICU nurses caring for him said. I'm not an employee of the hospital, i'm privately contracted by a doctor. the hospital does not sign my paychecks. i was acting as a friend of the patient, not as his caretaker in the icu. i'm confused

k, a little background. i'm privately contracted to do bedside procedures in the icu. my friends husband is in the room next door & it's not a good situation. a third friend has been with her all day but is now gone. i'm doing the procedure next door, fully aware of what is happening to my friends husband. my friend is upset with the doctors & is crying & confronting them at his bedside. I call friend #3 to tell her what all has transpired, updating her on the declining desposition of my friends husband. we r all nurses. an icu nurse overhears me talking to friend #3 about our friend's husband's condition. now the icu charge nurse & house supervisor are trying to slap me with a HIPPA violation & ban me from the hospital. Did i violate hippa by updating a friend on another friend's husband?