Do you take home your worksheet with information on it from your shift in case someone has questions or you forget to chart something you have your facts with you? The hospital I used to work for told us to do this. I was fired from my new job for doing this after being on the floor for two days! They said I breached confidentiality.
I wanted to do this as a poll but I did not get the prompts to fill in so I do not know how to do it LOL.
I thought I would move this topic to general discussion but I do not know how to move a thread either LOL.
The other day my hub and I were assembling his new desk. I moved some boxes and found some careplans and notes I did in 1973!!!!! (Yes I'm a packrat.)
Anyway on one slip of paper was Mr. W.....labs......family and after thirty years...I could remember Mr. W. Amazing what we remember. I don't remember yesterday.
I too think you have at least a case for the labor board about the embarrassing environment of the dismissal. Were you ever TOLD or READ anything about security of those sheets? They owe you an apology....that was not right.
I used to keep mine in my locker too. I hardly ever opened my locker, just folded the sheet lengthwise and slipped it in the ventilation slot. DId that wi/ my copies of license and CPR card etc. Man when I was told to clean out my locker after I was hurt it was like an archaeology expedition! It was packed to the gills.
I'm glad for you that you got a new job! Don't let em get you down Ren. I must have a really twisted take on things because I thought, maybe they fired you for fear of something you wrote will one day end up protecting you (and implicating the hospital) in court. Allegedly. I know, I am suspicious. Sheesh.
When I was anurse on the floor I used to keep all my worksheets just in case as well.
But now because of HIPPA????
I think the hosp. went over board and agree that insted of firing you they should have explained first!!!!!
Oh Boy!!!
The stuff I take home to work on!!! I may be arrested:o
Oh well, at least I'd get a vaccation:D
I'm suposed to be in Ohio checking on my husbands dying grandmother, but we had another state investigation. I'm sick and tired of this!!! I had to unload the car, throw everything onto the porch, and drive 45 min to work to save the day. Just as I got there she was leaving. ARGGGGGGGG!!!!!!
Thanks everyone for replying. I already found a new job and I start on Monday on a vent unit. I will like that. I appreciate everyone's input and you can be sure I will never bring home a worksheet again! LOL.
live and learn,
renerian
Gotta love nursing. Fired one day, new job the next.
Good luck and congrats.
You really didn't want to work there. Bad vibes and bad karma at that place. I can tell.
{{{{{HUG}}}}} I am so sorry you had such a terrible experience. I, also, find it suprising that they up and fired you like that.
During my orientation, the hospital lawyers spoke to us and one of the topics discussed was if we should save our sheets or not. They told us not to keep anything b/c if we were ever in a lawsuit (heaven forbid) the first thing the prosecuting lawyer(s) would ask is if we have any existing documentation regarding the patient. They know that a lot of nurses keep that stuff. On the other hand, I was told by those who had experienced a lawsuit in the past that those same notes helped to refresh their memory of what was done in regards to their care, etc.
From what I've seen, MANY nurses do keep this stuff but don't willingly admit to it. I could see how this is a violation of HIPPA. At one point I worked for an MD who kept 2 folders on all the pts. One for him and the other for prosecuting lawyers. He had a great reputation and hadn't had any lawsuits against him -- he said it was just preventative.
Oh my word Renarian. I cant believe they did that! What a horrible and nasty thing to do. They have lost a good nurse.
We do not keep our handover sheets, think that is the same thing as what you are talking about. I dont understand why people keep them as surely all what you have done for your patient whilst you are on shift has to be documented in that patients notes. If any law suit is made then its the patients notes they will look at. Thats why documentation is very important. Law suits can go on for years and can be made years after, so do people keep their handover sheets for that long? If handover sheets are kept they may get lost and other people may read them. So surely its wise to shred them after a shift.
I think it is wrong that they did not take you aside privately to discuss this with you. And I think they should have explained the rules to you and then if you had continued to do differently, then then maybe it would have been cause to let you go, but not with out ever telling you the rules first. Maybe they just thought you knew ~ who knows.
I save my papers and I take them home ~ have done so for years. I save them (for about 4 months, then shred them) because if something ever happens and I need to recall something about that patient or situation ~ it would be hopeless for me with out my papers to refer back to. It never occured to me that I was doing anything wrong by taking them home (no one here would look at them) and like someone above mentioned about the papers getting lost if they had an auto accident ~ well I just wasn't thinking. Maybe they never mention that it is wrong to do that, because they think that everyone should just know that. I guess maybe I should figure out a way to keep them in my locker and then put then in the bin of stuff to be shredded at work.
I guess I will have to figure out a new way to do my papers now ~ I work on them at home to get them ready for the next day. I use little yellow sticky notes with the patient info (they are written in erasable ink, so I can update any info that might have changed) and remove them from my work papers and save them to stick on the next day's work papers if I have the same assignment ~ saves me a little time from having to write down all over again the same info the next day. Some of my coworkers tease me about my little system, but I do what I have to do for me ~ what ever I have to do to get a jump on things or save some time.
Do them at home? Things must be done differently than we do. Every morning we write down the patients names who are on the ward go into a private room and the person who is caring for that patient hands over e.g why they are in and what needs to be done and any other things we need to know. It doesn't matter whether we are repeating ourselves. Also we read the patients notes. Patients are admitted and discharged all the time so a patient who was there one day might not be there the next. We make notes on our handover sheets about the patient so we remember to hand it over. Its not time consuming and confidentiality is there. Each and everyone of us shred our papers at the end of a shift as we have to pass the shredder to leave the ward.
I work on a unit where the patients stay 2-3 weeks, so some of the info stays the same (name, age, dr, diagnosis, vital signs) and it takes quiet a bit of time to re-write that each day on my 10-11 patients. That is just one section of my paper, there are other sections, that are blank, and I fill in new info that I get in report. I know it probably sounds complicated how I do it, but each one has to do what ever works for them. Some of my coworkers have just brief info on their work papers, I have to have a lot more ~ if I don't write stuff down, I can not remember everything I need to to tell to the next nurse. I am envious of the ones who can remember so much of it in their heads.
Oh i see now what you mean. It is ok to write things down cos i do too and i know alot of people do aswell. At least you know you have handed everything over. But it is wise to shred that paper though at the end of your shift.I f patients are on your ward for 2-3 weeks i'm sure you must remember some things about them so when you come into work you can write there names down and something about them that is the same as before, before handover takes place
During my orientation, the hospital lawyers spoke to us and one of the topics discussed was if we should save our sheets or not. They told us not to keep anything b/c if we were ever in a lawsuit (heaven forbid) the first thing the prosecuting lawyer(s) would ask is if we have any existing documentation regarding the patient. They know that a lot of nurses keep that stuff. On the other hand, I was told by those who had experienced a lawsuit in the past that those same notes helped to refresh their memory of what was done in regards to their care, etc.
From what I've seen, MANY nurses do keep this stuff but don't willingly admit to it. I could see how this is a violation of HIPPA.
Originally posted by GLDLPN
I save my papers and I take them home ~ have done so for years. I save them (for about 4 months, then shred them) because if something ever happens and I need to recall something about that patient or situation ~ it would be hopeless for me with out my papers to refer back to. It never occured to me that I was doing anything wrong by taking them home (no one here would look at them) and like someone above mentioned about the papers getting lost if they had an auto accident ~ well I just wasn't thinking. Maybe they never mention that it is wrong to do that, because they think that everyone should just know that. I guess maybe I should figure out a way to keep them in my locker and then put then in the bin of stuff to be shredded at work.
These two posts reflect my past approach to my worksheets. After reading this thread, I feel like, when I go to work today, that I need to sneak my worksheets in and quickly throw them in the shredding bin before anyone sees me. I'm feeling somewhat like a criminal, albeit an ignorant one until now, in spite of all the Hippa hullabaloo.
I'm having a VERY hard time shaking the feeling that's always motivated me to keep my worksheets as Tory mentioned, "I was told by those who had experienced a lawsuit in the past that those same notes helped to refresh their memory of what was done in regards to their care, etc." CYA was always drummed in to me from the start, but CYA would also be "Don't violate Hippa".
I also want to add my words of support and sympathy to you, renerian, at the treatment you received at your previous job (their loss!) and wish you all the best at your new job!
Our hospital warned everyone that they would be watching very closely for hippa violations, and would even go as far as to set up situations to see if everyone followed the law. If you were caught, they said they would educate you sternly, but some would also be terminated as a deterrent. Can you believe this?
Why must it be so stressful to be a caregiver anymore?
I think they have just gone a little too far; would rather lose a valuable employee than educate, or be a little leniant. I wonder if you were a staffmember in their dept, and they had to pick up the slack of your absence, if they would have been so quick to fire you? Their loss!
P_RN, ADN, RN
6,011 Posts
The other day my hub and I were assembling his new desk. I moved some boxes and found some careplans and notes I did in 1973!!!!! (Yes I'm a packrat.)
Anyway on one slip of paper was Mr. W.....labs......family and after thirty years...I could remember Mr. W. Amazing what we remember. I don't remember yesterday.
I too think you have at least a case for the labor board about the embarrassing environment of the dismissal. Were you ever TOLD or READ anything about security of those sheets? They owe you an apology....that was not right.
I used to keep mine in my locker too. I hardly ever opened my locker, just folded the sheet lengthwise and slipped it in the ventilation slot. DId that wi/ my copies of license and CPR card etc. Man when I was told to clean out my locker after I was hurt it was like an archaeology expedition! It was packed to the gills.