Trying to give not too much detail here since I live in an area where pratically everyone knows each other.
Tonight, one of the nurses had a tiff with a nurse on another floor, regarding Hipaa...from what I heard, she went to visit a patient that she and her husband both knew and the patient's nurse got angry because she thought it was a confidentiality breach. Another nurse told me it was pretty much a screaming match..
I'm circulating a case and get a call from the nursing supervisor. Apparently, someone gave the nurses on the floor MY first name when asked who the OR nurse was. Keep in mind I never laid eyes on this patient and I don't know him from adam. Also keep in mind that I had been in a long case the whole afternoon.
This really makes me upset. I've been there long enough that the OR people know my name so there was no excuse for this. There was another nurse from the OR that was up on the same floor dropping off a patient and by his own admission, he says he used my name. He claims because there is a nurse on the other floor with my name, but others have said he may have been trying to protect the other OR nurse. For all I know, maybe the nurse herself used my name.
Thank God, the nursing supervisor asked me a few questions and heard me out. She said she had the wrong person apparently. But, I am very angry about this. This is my professional reputation at stake and also those Hipaa fines are serious business. We also drop off a lot of patients on this particular floor, so now I'm worried that there are people up there who are going to still think it was me. My hospital, like most, is a huge rumor mill.
I'm going to discuss this with the coordinator of my service tomorrow. I don't know if the nursing supervisor took it further and discussed this issue with the guilty party and if she let the other floor know who was really involved. I cannot believe that some people are this maladjusted and just plain evil..:crying2:I'm trying to believe that it was just one big whopper of a misunderstanding.
At any rate, I feel I need to pursue this with my boss so my reputation isn't smeared. Thanks for listening.
