I need some opinions. The other night I was helping out in PACU. (I am usually in ER or Preop, but occasionally go to PACU when needed) I was asked by another nurse to transport her patient upstairs. The patient was early 30's female, very nice, always saying thanks when people helped her. We talked as I took her to her room. She had surgery for a cancer recurrence, so we talked about the surgery, her young kids, her family, etc. It was shift change, so I ended up having to wait with her for quite a while to see her nurse, the PACU nurse has to have face to face time with the receiving floor nurse. During this time we chatted some more. Then I left when her nurse got there.
The next day I was off. I was thinking about this patient and how nice she was. I called her room to check on her. I just let her know I had been thinking about her, and asked how she was doing...get well soon, etc. She seemed very appreciative.
A few days later I told her PACU nurse that I had spoken with her. This nurse was very offended with me and said I had broken HIPPAA (sp?) laws by calling the patient to check on her. Is this true? I just thought I was being nice. When I had my daughter, the L&D nurse called the next day to check on me. I know hospitals can be lonely places and thought one might like to hear a friendly voice and know someone was thinking of them.
Call me crazy, but I don't see anything wrong with this. If you would have called her nurse asking for an update on her health status or she had asked you not to contact her and you did anyway or whatever, then it would be wrong. Did you break HIPAA? No. Did you cross boundaries? Maybe, I guess. If I transfer a pt to the floor that found a special place in my heart, I'd go touch base with them. I wouldn't call from home or go in on a day off to visit, though.
I agree with the people saying it was inappropriate, but my main concern is: Why did you tell the PACU nurse you made a social call to the patient? Why did she need to know?
Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.
It could be because I've got hospice experience and that builds such an intimate connection with a family that I feel this way...but I don't think you did anything wrong. I wouldn't do this in psych and I definitely don't feel like you can just look a pt up in the electronic record, but on the floor I absolutely chat with ambulating patients that I have worked with on other shifts or even stick my head in a room that isn't mine that particular day just to say, "hi, I hope you are feeling better today." I have very high satisfaction ratings with my patients and I believe it is because I go out of my way to be personal and treat them as Mary or Bob instead of pt #100031 while still respecting boundaries. I don't think I'd call someone in the hospital or make a trip to see them on my day off but I have also stopped in to check on a home health pt that is hospitalized if I'm in the hospital checking on someone else. Pts & their family appreciate a demonstration of caring, IMHO, and my employer has received letters that reflect that. You can express concern and care for patients without going over the line. That being said, it is a judgement call and you can't do it for every patient. Some would be offended and some would take it as more than it is and try to move the relationship into an innappropriate realm. I try to listen and express concern for them without sharing my personal details. I learned that lesson the hard way when I was young (18) and starting out in mental health so I really feel like over the years I've gotten a good feel of how to walk that line and I can't remember the last time it was an issue of having to "back off"...a word of advice, however, I wouldn't mention your conversations and checking up on anyone to your co-workers. They don't really need to know unless they happen to be the direct care nurse that day, in that case it is curteousy to say "Hey Jane, I took care of Miss Smith the other day, I'm just going to poke my head in and say hello."
Idk about phone calls but often if I'm off two nights and come back and a patient that I had two shifts ago was there still I will go in and say hi to them, check on them etc. If I pass them in the hall, same thing.
Specializes in Medsurg, home health, ob and rehab.
no, this is not breaking hippa at all. Breaking hippa is when u call or talk to someone u know and tell them " Did u know Miss Jane is in the hospital?" Or tell your hubby or friend " I took care of Mr. Joe today". That is breaking hippa law. There is nothing wrong with calling a pt to check on them, as long as its done in private.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I think you need to find out your exacts hospital policy on this since so many opinions seem to vary.
From a Patients view, it wouldn't have bothered me if I had opened up to you like the patient seemed to have. I have had nurses check up on me after talking to me a lot even if I wasn't their patient again. (when they were on shift again the next day or 2 later) It never bothered me at all and it felt good to know they cared even when their shift was over. Had one that wanted to come see my baby since she had to leave before baby was born and had been with me her whole shift prior.
But other people might feel differently.
It all boils down to the facilities policy though I think in this case anyway.
This is NOT a HIPAA violation so don't worry about that. The nurse was wrong on that call. She could have been confusing HIPAA with your own hospital policy so pls check on that. This would not have been a hospital policy violation where I work but it might be where you work.
If you find out it is against policy just live and learn. Your intentions were good and it seems to have been welcomed by the patient. You will know better for next time.
Had one that wanted to come see my baby since she had to leave before baby was born and had been with me her whole shift prior...
Come to think of it I did this once as a student. I had been with a girl my age-ish (who I didn't know) for my whole 12hr day when 7pm rolled around there was still no baby. I asked permission to pop in and check on her and to meet the baby the next day on my break and she was happy to let me.
I would absolutely not have called/visited had I not been there for a clinical shift, though...
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
QUOTE=rachelita;4275895]I need some opinions. The other night I was helping out in PACU. (I am usually in ER or Preop, but occasionally go to PACU when needed) I was asked by another nurse to transport her patient upstairs. The patient was early 30's female, very nice, always saying thanks when people helped her. We talked as I took her to her room. She had surgery for a cancer recurrence, so we talked about the surgery, her young kids, her family, etc.
It's really interesting to me how one person views this as stalkerish and weird, and another caring and kind. I think the nurse who was offended, was likely offended by something other than her desire for strict adherence to HIPAA. You called her hospital room, not her home. You weren't asking her to discuss her care, just asking how she was doing. So the question becomes one of crossing boundaries, not HIPAA. I trust most nurses, and certainly one who has as much experience as you do, to behave in an appropriate manner. It doesn't sound to me like you've made a habit of calling patients you thought were nice. A young mother with a recurrence of cancer, I would imagine she was appreciative of the effort.
When my brother was being treated for leukemia long ago, our family developed a very close relationship to one of the nurses, and one of the hematologists. You just hit it off with people sometimes. Obviously there is a time and place for everything, and none of us would have yelled "oh, HI Betty, so how'd your date go last night?" while Betty was doing rounds. Through our friendship with the nurse, my Dad eventually wound up as head of the Speaker's Bureau for the Ronald McDonald House, and covered many miles at Rotary Clubs and the like for years.
Now that I think about it, I guess I could say that I would not be a nurse today if there had been this impenetrable barrier between the patients and the staff. C---- inspired me to be a nurse.
And for the others, i'm not putting down the OP because she did something very nice, I was giving her a suggestion to check with her facility policy regarding calling patient's after she had taking care of them. It may not have violated HIPPA, but it could have violated her facility policy. It was very nice of her that she shows she cares about her patient's well being, but in certain facilities, that can lead to a write up or termination. I've known a couple of nurses that got suspended and their jobs hanging by a thread because they came to a patient's room after he/she have been transferred to a different ward to check-up on them. In everyone else's eyes, it was very nice for them to check up their past pt's, but the management seen that as violating one of their policies. I was one of the nurses that always wanted to check on my patient's after they transferred to another unit, but a nurse on the current pt's unit warned me that I couldn't see the pt due to hospital policy. Well I was very upset, and so was my other co-workers, but after checking with my manager, the nurse unfortunately was right.
So, it wasn't that I'm flaming the OP. I really don't want to see another post by her saying she was written up, suspending, or terminated because of her hospital's policy that seem to be against nurses showing compassionate care. It is not uncommon that nurses get terminated or written up for very small reasons, so we as a group have to watch each other's back.
Kudos to the OP for her caring action of calling to check on her past patients, but please check with your hospital policy to make sure that the nurse who stated that you shouldn't have called the patient in her room, was either right or wrong.
I think you need to find out your exacts hospital policy on this since so many opinions seem to vary. quote]
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RescueNinja
369 Posts
Call me crazy, but I don't see anything wrong with this. If you would have called her nurse asking for an update on her health status or she had asked you not to contact her and you did anyway or whatever, then it would be wrong. Did you break HIPAA? No. Did you cross boundaries? Maybe, I guess. If I transfer a pt to the floor that found a special place in my heart, I'd go touch base with them. I wouldn't call from home or go in on a day off to visit, though.