I am a 2nd yr nursing student, I graduate in May. I had an OR observation
yesterday and was able to watch an endo lap chole. I may add that I was very
excited as my goal is to become an OR nurse.
When the gallbladder became visible on the monitor I took a picture of it with
my cell phone. The picture only included the endo monitor with NO identifiable
info on it. Is this a HIPPA violation? I was excited and didn't think anything
about taking a pic of the gallbladder on the monitor. The nurse seen me take
the picture and immediately told me that was not allowed and that I needed to
delete the picture, which I did.
Upon returning to the floor my clinical instructor had received a phone call from the hospitals edu department letting her know that they need to see me and to bring my phone. I went and explained what had happened, show them my phone to prove that the pic had in fact been deleted and I was told that was okay, I' not in trouble.
Today I get an email from the Head of Nursing at my school saying that I need
to come in and see her in the morning before I go to class. Can I be kicked out
of the program for this? She stated in the email that it was a HIPPA violation
but everything I can find states that it's not a violation as long as there is
not any identifiable information related to the patient.
Does anyone have any suggestions and/or advice about this situation or how to
handle my meeting at school tomorrow morning? Any information or suggestions
would be greatly appreciated . . . I did not mean any harm; I was just excited
I'm noticing that you are still making excuses for your actions by blaming the nurses and others, etc. I noticed that you pointed out that you had children. I suppose that gives you a free pass to bring your cell phone? I'm just curious what you meant by that. I'm always curious because everyone clings to their cell phones these days. What did we do before them? I'm sure if something traumatic would have happened, someone would have been able to get a hold of you or it could have waited.
I am a nursing student about to graduate in May as well. I am annoyed by some of my classmates who are incredibly immature and do not take their clinicals seriously. I feel, although this may be incorrect, that you were doing the same thing. Clinical time is to be spent learning, not to be taking photos so you can post them later to Facebook or show off to your friends and brag how super awesome you are. Yippy! OMG! Fo REELZ!!! You saw a gallbladder! You know you can open a medical book and see pictures of those right? You can even do a Google image search and view them there.
When you make these excuses, you are just telling everyone that you think you are above the rules and that they don't apply to you. That is how the administrators and the dean will view this. They'll also wonder what you are capable of doing when no one is around. I don't even care about the privacy debate because it's more of an integrity and common sense thing to me.
I did not take her post that way at all. I think she was just trying to explain the situation and atmosphere around her at the time and how that may have contributed to her lapse in judgement. I am always amazed by how harsh and judgemental people can be online. She admitts a bunch of times that she made a mistake, plain and simple.
Of course that was different in the fact that the instructor knew she was taking the pictures and in this case the instructor did not know, nor were the nurses happy about it happening.
Right, she won based on the fact that her instructor gave her permission to take the picture, not because she didn't mean any harm by it.
You are VERY LUCKY they let you back into the program. After reading the OP's posts and all responses, the real question is why would you think it was okay to take your cell phone out AT ALL? Regardless of your knowledge or lack-thereof of HIPAA, wouldn't your judgment or even plain common sense tell you it is wrong to take your cell phone out and take a picture of someone's organs (identifiers or no)?? Like another poster said, makes me shake my head. Being at the point you are in school, you should have known better. That being said, good luck with your future endeavors.
Thank you so much Shorty for pointing out what everyone else on this thread has apparently missed - the lack of judgement, the lack of common sense, blah, blah, blah !
I hope all of those who have left the harsh & unforgiving comments are able to go through their whole career as a nurse and/or student without making A SINGLE MISTAKE
If you are not so lucky , I surely hope you are at the mercy of someone more understanding & forgiving than yourself . . .
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Thank you so much Shorty for pointing out what everyone else on this thread has apparently missed - the lack of judgement, the lack of common sense, blah, blah, blah !
I hope all of those who have left the harsh & unforgiving comments are able to go through their whole career as a nurse and/or student without making A SINGLE MISTAKE
If you are not so lucky , I surely hope you are at the mercy of someone more understanding & forgiving than yourself . . .
I have made mistakes, thank goodness they have never hurt anyone. I am not perfect...but I try to be. But there are also things I have NEVER done or never would do.....just things that are not done. You aren't going to like what I say but........Nursing isn't all about your excitement it's about the patient, their care, and privacy. It's about the patients rights. It really isn't about you.
Nursing is an unforgiving profession. One mistake can end your career. One moment of inattention/indiscretion and everything you have worked for is gone forever. The is the reality of being a nurse. All the remorse in the world may not change that one indiscretion. I don't think anyone is being unnecessarily harsh.....I think they need you to see that you made a grave mistake and are very lucky, very lucky that your mistake was forgiven. There isn't much in nursing that is forgiven. You are VERY LUCKY. Be humble. Count your blessings.
Even nurses who have been GREAT nurses a long time make mistakes that are not forgiven.....
Nurse's suicide highlights twin tragedies of medical errors
Kimberly Hiatt killed herself after overdosing a baby, revealing the anguish of caregivers who make a mistake.
I wanted to apologize to the OP. Perhaps by the time I responded it was unnecessary for me to reiterate what other posters had already said. I didn't mean to come off as harsh.. just concerned for the gravity of the situation. Take the fortunate outcome of your situation as a sign that this is what you are supposed to do. Best of luck!
I know much of what I am thiking has been said already, so I'll just highlight 2 points that I didn't notice (maybe it was already brought up).
1) You mentioned that your CI was not with you. You also mentioned that you are well aware that you are not to have your phone on you during a regular clinical, where your CI is overseeing you. I feel this sense of "she wasn't there, so the rules didn't apply." Kind of like running a red light where there is no camera or cop at the intersection. The rules still apply, whether or not he/she is present. Actually, there is a higher standard the student must uphold when they are alone. This is why I personally, do not like sending my students on observational experiences. I have no idea what they are doing!
2) does your phone have an "off" switch?
and finally (I know I said 2 points, but here's another thought): you seemed to have redeemed yourself, in the eyes of the school/administration. However, with the good deed/learning experience that stemmed from this, you have a) basically revealed yourself to all, and b) have set the example (with the schools' permission) that you CAN get away with breaking the rules. I completely understand that students respond more to real life stories, where there are actual consequences. But I think it also sends a message that there are exceptions (or loopholes) for every rule.
In my program, the first lecture we had was on HIPAA violations. We have had to be very careful about it. If you DO use your phone for some reason (Davis drug guide app, watch with second hand), you need to CHECK WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR FIRST. Hospitals don't even let their staff have their phones on their person. This showed extremely poor judgment. Would you want someone taking a picture of your surgery, even if you were unidentified. Our program made it clear that the biggest thing people are called for is HIPAA violations. As we've learned, oftentimes it is less about the actual harm than how it can be perceived. You totally could have posted that on FB or whatever, and it would have been a HUGE scandal for the hospital. This is no joke. They get sued for this, and the news stations would love nothing more than to have a juicy, salacious story about a breach of privacy.
If I were you, I would go in with all of the information they've taught you about HIPAA, professional boundaries and outline exactly how your actions went against school policy, and then I would say this experience provided you with a learning experience that ensures you will NEVER be so careless about patient privacy again, and that in your practice, you will not carry your cell phone on your person during a shift.
OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN
1,229 Posts
I did not take her post that way at all. I think she was just trying to explain the situation and atmosphere around her at the time and how that may have contributed to her lapse in judgement. I am always amazed by how harsh and judgemental people can be online. She admitts a bunch of times that she made a mistake, plain and simple.