gmccabe

I am a nursery RN and I recently ran into a question regarding HIPPA at my job. Again, I am a nursery RN. I attend every single delivery, lady partsl and cesarean. In order to obtain necessary information pertinent to my job (i.e. GBS status, HIV status, blood type, Rubella, gestational age, and other maternal history, std status, etc.) it is necessary for me to get into the expecting mother's chart. I recently had an l&d nurse question me as to why I was in her patient's chart who was listed as an observation patient in l&d. I responded by stating I (as well as every other nursery nurse) have a potential patient every time she has a patient, so in order to gather necessary information I have to access the mother's chart. The l&d nurse repeatedly stated that she has known other nurses at previous jobs who have been reprimanded for getting in chart's of individuals whom they are not taking care of. My response again was that I only access the mother's chart to gather information which pertains to the care of the baby (who would be my patient upon delivery). Does anyone have any input on this? I plan to speak with my manager about this, but I feel she either needs to be educated or the nursery nurses need to be given alternative ways of gaining the necessary information. I was caught off guard that this would even be considered a breach in HIPPA (which I still don't believe it is), and even more caught off guard that a nurse whom I work side by side with daily would even be questioning this. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I just recently moved to the Biloxi, MS, area and I have applied to 100+ jobs and still have no call backs. Is anyone else having the same problem? Any suggestions what I can do to better my chances of getting a call back? I want a job!