Was this a HIPPA violation?

[Sammy19]

I am third semester nursing student and I may have accidentally done a HIPPA violation today, but please tell me if you think it is bad enough to get me in trouble. I was doing post partum care today at the hospital, and yesterday I did Labor and Delivery. After clinical was over, I got my coat and my bag and started to leave. I got my phone and saw that I had a text that my friend's water had broken and was heading to the hospital. I was really excited so I headed back to the nurse's station on the Labor and Delivery floor to see if she was there yet. I went into the back room and told the nurse I was looking to see if my friend had gotten here yet. I looked at the board with all the names on it and their labor stage and the nurse asked me my friend's name. I told her and she said, "No, she's not here." I then realized that I should only be looking at that information if it is for the purpose of patient care, not if I am checking on a friend! I am really worried now that I might get in trouble for this! What does anyone think?

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

no, because your friend told you she was there. & u were on the floor already... if u were just some weirdo spreading that info love all over the place...ya hipaa might have a litter of kittens but i think your ok.

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

First, it's HIPAA, with two A's and one P. It's a pet peeve around here.

Second, no this was not a violation of HIPAA. A HIPAA violation involves you sharing confidential health information without the permission of the person that it effects.

So, your friend texts you that her water broke and you look to see if she is on the board. No, this is not a violation. Your did not access or share any protected health information. You could have asked at the front desk of the hospital and they would have told you if she was or was not there, so this is no different.

But if you had been looking at the board and seen your friend's name and then texted your other friends to say that she was there, that would have been a violation of HIPAA because you were sharing that she was hospitalized without her permission.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

hipaa doesn't say you can't know things about other people. for example, if a friend or family member of one of your patients wants to talk to you about the patient, you can listen all you want, and all he wants, and that is not a hipaa violation. (this happens a lot, and sometimes it's important information, too, and you'd be foolish to say "i don't want to hear it because of hipaa.") you can take what he tells you and act on it, including telling other members of the health care team, and that's not a hipaa violation. what you can't do is tell this friend or family member anything that you learned taking care of the patient without your patient's permission.

this situation you describe is a matter of your knowing your friend was probably on her way in to the hospital in labor. she told you in a friend-friend context, so there is no protected health information there.

[JROregon, ASN, BSN, RN]

Or, if you go back to the same hospital tomorrow, working on another floor, and decide to look up your friend's chart electronically. Since she is not your patient, you cannot look at her chart.