Pt assignment in trash

[Mama Nurse 7]

I found a patient assignment in the trash in a patient/visitor accessed area which contained sensitive patient information. I turned the assignment in to my manager which a few days later I was terminated for the reason that I was out to sabotage my peers by reporting that I found the assignment. Is this a true hippa violation and can I report my former employer.

[llg, PhD, RN]

What did this other person say when you mentioned it to him/her the first time you found one in the trash?

What did your manager say when you let him/her know that you've come across a couple of assignment sheets in regular trash recently and wondered if the staff could benefit from a reminder?

Why is there conversation going around about who finds which other staff member's assignments in the trash?

Tip for the future: Those who attempt to boost their own morale and personal sense of self worth (consciously or subconsciously) by trying to knock down others, NEVER truly win that game. NEVER.

Totally agree. It's almost always the people who seem to derive some sense of satisfaction by "writing up" or "turning in" their colleagues for every infraction who end up miserable and out of a job. Environments have ways of stabilizing the climate.

We should all be thinking in terms of "we" and "us" rather than pointing the blaming fingers at each other. If "we" have a problem on our unit with people carelessly discarding information in the wrong place, the "we" should address it together. Join with colleagues to work on the issue as a group rather than working as a single person to point the finger at another single person. That individual "tattle-tale" strategy almost always backfires.

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

I probably would have just placed it in the shred bin.

Things happen, ideally we do not want to put assignments in the trash.

If your manager is concerned they will follow-up. That is their job. You will likely not know if any follow-up has been done since it is between the manager and employee.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

"Last year I had reported a charge nurse for suggesting patient abandoment to my manager. I asked her to medicate another pt for me while i was settling iny alcoholic scoring admission and she had told me to walk out of the patients room, stop dealing with him, and I could do the rest of my work."

This is OPs version of 'patient abandonment'. It is not. OP also claims to have found paper in the trash- what was OP doing looking through the trash for in the first place, much less reading what was in the trash.

We'll have to agree to disagree here.

I agree with you. I didn't understand why the OP reported that nurse for patient abandonment in the first place. The charge nurse of the OP didn't walk off the job, the nurse was still on the clock & still actively taking care of his/her patients. I didn't know leaving the room was patient abandonment. I guess I need to report every nurse every time he/she leaves my room.

Also, I found it very confusing as to why the OP went digging through the trash. Who does that? The OP very clearly put a target on her back.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

I agree that leaving the room to care for another patient is not patient abandonment. No one suggested patient abandonment to the OP. If I found sensitive information in the trash, I would just shred it myself, not report a HIPAA violation. If my coworker asked me questions about my sexual experiences that I didn't want to answer I would just tell them not to ask me stuff like that. I probably wouldn't be bothered at all if they asked me about a coworker's sexual orientation, but I guess that might depend.

OP, these were all things you made reports on. It sounds a bit like tattling and it can ruin your relationships. Some people tattle when they have anxiety about a situation. Do you think this applies to you?

You were offered another position, but even though you felt you were being bullied, you didn't take it right away. Were you feeling anxious about transferring?

Don't assume that you didn't get another job because of this termination. There could be many reasons.

I think you should move on, but don't miss the learning opportunity. Figure out why you felt the need to report your coworkers. Think about what you can do to

be a team player in your next job. Become aware of your own anxiety to avoid sabotaging your next job. Maybe some therapy.

[Daisy4RN]

If I had found that (pt assignment) I would just either give it back (if still needed by the nurse) or just shred it myself (if already old and not needed). If this was not the first time then I would mention it to the nurse in a tone of 'I care about you and don't want to see you hurt' instead of turning in/mentioning it to the higher ups. Nursing is hard enough and we all need to stick together, help each other, and have each others back. I have worked with nurses who find it necessary to write each other up for small insignificant things and it just makes everything harder than it needs to be. Hope you think about it and take some of the good advice offered by others here to your new job. Good luck!

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

A) Why were you looking in the trash?

B) Why didn't you just shred it?

C) Why didn't you confront the person to whom the paper belonged to (maybe it ended in the public trash by accident)?

D) Why did you feel it was necessary to run to your manager (thereby placing a target on your back) without going to said person who the paper belonged to first?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Your other thread offers more insight. This was an incident not a HIPAA violation.

The nurse did NOT ask you to abandon your patient they asked you to reconsider your efficiency in focusing all of your attention on one patient while leaving the rest of your patients unattended and unmedicated. If your patient with alcohol withdrawal was so unstable they needed ongoing one to one nursing care they should have been transferred to a higher acuity unit. Leaving a stable patient's room to care for others with acute needs is not abandonment. Seeking misplaced documents from a supervisor you have a negative relationship with shows a possible low level of maturity and reduced professionalism. Once or twice is not a pattern. Even HHS (who enforces HIPAA) agrees.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

[morte, LPN, LVN]

"Last year I had reported a charge nurse for suggesting patient abandoment to my manager. I asked her to medicate another pt for me while i was settling iny alcoholic scoring admission and she had told me to walk out of the patients room, stop dealing with him, and I could do the rest of my work."

This is OPs version of 'patient abandonment'. It is not. OP also claims to have found paper in the trash- what was OP doing looking through the trash for in the first place, much less reading what was in the trash.

We'll have to agree to disagree here.

looking down into a trashcan and seeing the topmost paper, is not going thru the trash. I have also seen such inappropriately disposed of papers, and have removed them, and properly disposed of them. yes it is a HIPAA issue. the patient abandonment issue is an odd way to put it, but her charge WAS refusing to help her with a small request, I think charge has/had an agenda.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I agree with you. I didn't understand why the OP reported that nurse for patient abandonment in the first place. The charge nurse of the OP didn't walk off the job, the nurse was still on the clock & still actively taking care of his/her patients. I didn't know leaving the room was patient abandonment. I guess I need to report every nurse every time he/she leaves my room.

Also, I found it very confusing as to why the OP went digging through the trash. Who does that? The OP very clearly put a target on her back.

she was not suggesting the charge was guilty, but that the charge suggested she do it. the charge refused a small request for help with a smart orifice answer. and no where does it say she went digging thru the trash. and if you don't report that stuff, you are also guilty of a HIPAA violation.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Merged both threads....

[Wuzzie]

looking down into a trashcan and seeing the topmost paper, is not going thru the trash. I have also seen such inappropriately disposed of papers, and have removed them, and properly disposed of them. yes it is a HIPAA issue. the patient abandonment issue is an odd way to put it, but her charge WAS refusing to help her with a small request, I think charge has/had an agenda.

Yes Morte, but I highly doubt you would run straight to the manager to report it. Fairly certain you would dispatch it to the shred bin and notify your co-worker in an adult way.