What exactly is protected and sensitive material?

[CNA_love22]

I'm always afraid of violating HIPAA . What am I allowed to share and what about this ??? ... so I am a CNA and have a paper from the previous shift that has patients last name , nurse for the night and any other notes I write down. I only made a few check marks to a few patients under the accu check section,  marked a few people as using a urinal and a few people I wrote down as being independent. Anyways I got called immediately to help with a patient and made sure my screen was blank but my paper I mentioned was on the desk face up. I'm not sure if the family member for the patient that waited outside of the room near my computer looked at the paper or not. Is this considered a HIPAA violation? My unit has outside of patients door things like "fall risk ... npo... isolation precautions " etc outside of patients doors ...wouldn't these things be as much a violation as the info on my paper ? Also I had a conversation with my sister and mentioned to her that sometimes I have patients who remind me of our grandmother on days where she's heavy on my mind and they will have her birthday. I didn't include any information about the patients .. gender ..diagnosis ..or ages. Is this okay ? 

[CNA_love22]

On 7/3/2022 at 10:44 AM, klone said:

Yes, having a list of patient names visible to other patients/family members is a privacy/HIPAA violation. Just be more cautious in the future. Keep your list in your pocket.

Do you think its reportable? I'm notnsure if anyone saw it but do you think it's worth reporting myself ?? ..again I work at a place that literally has the names , attending RN and doctor posted outside the patients door as well as fall precautions etc..the only thing on my paper was a few check marks under accu check, indepent and that a few used urinals. I worry a ton and don't want to break the law (HIPAA scares me )

[HiddenAngels]

On 7/3/2022 at 1:51 PM, HiddenAngels said:

Yea, I agree with other posters.  I think you have to put inititals.  As far as NPO and isolation signs outside of people's door, I think it's okay as long as visitors aren't walking around the halls looking into people's rooms.  For the actual patient's visitors visiting, the visitor has to know so they can also wear proper PPE

Wait don’t listen to me. The visitors can’t know why unless the patient says they can, otherwise they just have to wear PPE because that’s policy.  Don’t ever inform anyone about anyones diagnosis. Sorry about that, I must have been tired or something when I posted …

[toomuchbaloney]

18 hours ago, CNA_love22 said:

Do you think its reportable? I'm notnsure if anyone saw it but do you think it's worth reporting myself ?? ..again I work at a place that literally has the names , attending RN and doctor posted outside the patients door as well as fall precautions etc..the only thing on my paper was a few check marks under accu check, indepent and that a few used urinals. I worry a ton and don't want to break the law (HIPAA scares me )

If your employer is that casual with patient information it is difficult to imagine what other poorly considered actions they may take relative to privacy. Your personal notes do not need to have patient names on them.  

You'll be OK. Have you asked why they facility posts patient names outside the room? Maybe your question will stimulate an improvement in their practice.  I'm not certain why their agency of accreditation hasn't tagged them. 

[2BS Nurse, BSN]

I worked in a busy clinic where the nurses' station was located within earshot of the waiting room. There was a wall in place, but patients could hear triage calls. This made me very uncomfortable, but the privacy rule does not require private rooms, or soundproofing of rooms (yes, we could sometimes hear through exam room walls). HIPAA regulations do allow for "incidental disclosure". 

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

On 7/1/2022 at 6:21 PM, CNA_love22 said:

I'm an overthinker and always afraid of violating HIPAA or needing to turn myself in 

Why in heaven's name would you turn yourself in. General Rule: Don't talk about patient's out side of work, don't access records of patient's you aren't caring for directly, Don't walk away from an open patient record on your desktop/computer, Don't leave notes that have patient identifiers on them lying around. I hate brain sheets for this reason. I print a cardex from the computer at the begining of my shift and keep it folded in my pocket. At the end of shift I drop it in the shredder. If you feel that you are violating HIPAA you probably are. 

Quit being so scared and just learn the ropes of the job. If you have a question ask and don't ever feel stupid for asking honest questions (Unless you've asked them a million times and already know the answer.) Refer to your HIPAA handbook of facilities policies and procedures. 

Hppy