Visiting pt a HIPAA violation?

TazziRN, RN · Mar 22, 2008

No, in fact it's a nice gesture. Looking up their info is the violation, not visiting.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Mar 22, 2008

I hope it is not a violation, I have done it many of times. I work in the ICU and get to spend alot of time with me patients. Once they move out to the Med Surg floor I have been known to drop in their room on my way to lunch or on my way home and visit and ask how they are doing. The patients and their families always seem happy to see me.

FYI I dont look in their charts, but I have been known to ask their nurse how they are doing.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 22, 2008

I make it a point to stop by and see certain patients when they get moved out of the ICU, and do only that. Never think of looking at their chart or anything else.

mcubed45 · Mar 22, 2008

what about asking the pt how they're doing? you're no longer their nurse so wouldn't you have to make it clear that they do not have to give any type of info to you if they don't want to? i would think that most pt's would just assume that all nurses are privleged to their chart info at all times (which isn't the case obviously).

maryloufu · Mar 22, 2008

I wonder how people are doing- but usually they go home from my floor so checking in on them isn't an option. A lady left on Thursday to go to a LTC- I believe that I will soon see her name in the obits. That is the sad part- you do what you can, but ultimately what will be, will be.

:urgycld:

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 22, 2008

While I don't think it is a violation to visit a patient, I tend to shy away from such things, because I have seen situations where the patient started to develop more expectations from the nurse that may be impossible to do. For example, a patient may ask that you look into their file to update them, because they did not hear from the doctor all day, or "next time, bring me some slippers and coffee...".

I definitely believe it is a wonderful gesture to visit, and if I have not seen how the nurse was compromised (based on what some of my friends told me that did experience this), I would have probably done it more often myself. Now, it depends on the patient's personality and maturity for me.

Scrubby · Mar 23, 2008

I would actually like to visit some of the patient i have worked with. I've scrubbed and scouted for some really long cases i.e free flaps and i've often wondered how my patients have been after surgery. I think it would be a nice gesture for the OR nursing team to do post operative visits now and then. It would do a lot to make us less invisible and isolated.