Pt confidentiality

[Irving]

I am not a new nurse. I don't usually repeat anything I hear at work but I still have some questions re confidentiality.

If you heard something while on duty and wanted to repeat it, how do you make sure you are covered with respect to confidentiality. For instance I heard an MD make a comment about a pt. I don't know the doctor's name, I don't know the pt's name. Would it be safe to repeat this? And would it be ok in any forum, say even Face Book? (My thought being if you could say it there you could say it anywhere.) I hear educational stuff, I hear funny stuff and the truth be told, I couldn't tell anyone who said it, when it was said or who it was about. Not if even if it was tell or go to jail. I am sure the least said the best said but still....Is there a litmus test for confidentiality? I have seen confidentiality broken many times over the course of my career but I don't want to be the one doing it.

Thanks for any feedback. I love, love!, the range of comments I garner. So thanks to anyone taking the time to read this, looking past my poor written communication skills, figuring out what I mean, and taking the time to reply to my query.

[eacue]

wow I think all of you just got trolled lmao.

[Irving]

On 8/21/2019 at 4:39 AM, Jory said:

If you have really been a nurse longer than me then you should be:

1: Familiar with HIPAA guidelines. They are not hard to follow.

2: Be old enough to exercise some self-control and realize not everything about your job belongs on social media. This is also, not hard for most professional women. Patients are not sources of entertainment.

I do believe I did hear about HIPAA at some point in my education and I am in fact familiar with it. However I was asking for some clarification on the subject. I usually get pretty good advice here but there always seems to be someone that wants to attack someone asking a question. And I have encountered a lot of this during my time in the nursing profession. I was always told that you could find at least 1 nurse to help you but most "eat their young."

To be clear:

I don't post anything job related on Social Media. I am not allowed to do so. My question was just that, a question. And to be even more clear, you make a lot of assumptions about me in your many posts flaming me. I hope you don't make such assumptions in your job. And I'm not sure your sexist comment has a place in this conversation. I don't believe my gender was mentioned, nor is it relevant to this conversation.

Was your ORIGINAL goal to help and or educate someone that posted a question, or to belittle and mock the asker. If the latter I feel sorry for anyone that has to precept under you.

And yes, patients are a great source of entertainment. Being a professional doesn't change that fact. How we react, maybe, but not the fact.

But, if you post makes even 1 nurse hesitate to ask a question, then I feel you have done your job, what ever that may be.

And if you are helping with this Covid 19 issue, feel good about yourself. That is OK also.