Ethical/Personal Dilemma - Advice Needed

[EMNP]

I understand this is a PA forum, but my plan is to attend PA School once I am done with RN school and work as one. Simply needed your advice.

 

I need some insight on what to do on this event that occurred 3-4 weeks ago.

 

Currently a nursing school student in my last semester; there is a friend ( X) in my program whom also works at one of the local hospitals which I do as well.

 

During one of her shifts, X sent me a message stating that one of the patients in her floor was the husband of one of our past professors and whom we were supposed to have as a professor this last semester again. She told me in this message that the patient had been admitted a day before with X Diagnosis and also suffering from X and Y.

 

I felt weird because even though she is a friend, I felt that its not right for her to be sharing that kind of information with me so I told her that she should be careful and respect patient confidentiality.

 

1 week later school started and we find out that this professor will not be teaching our class for a personal issue.. While walking to class on campus, Y, another friend from the program tells me that this professor is probably not going to teach the class because her husband is sick, maybe pretty sick.. As not knowing, I asked Y how did she know, which she replied.. Oh, X told me... That made me feel even more uncomfortable because to be honest I really care for this professor, we have built a great relationship. A few hrs later I find out that X had not only told me, but also to Y and to Z.. Not sure if she mentioned it to more people or not..

 

She violated HIPAA, Hospital Policy and Patient's rights...

 

Should I mention this to my professor? That X told several of our class about her husband's condition? Should I contact the Nurse Manager of her floor and mention what X mentioned to me and several others?

 

If I dont do it because she is a friend, I will be failing one of my duties as a healthcare provider and preventing this from happening in the future.. I would be very pissed off and upset if someone was leaking information from a family member..

 

If I do say it and she gets fired from her work I will feel guilty, and what if she gets kicked off the program?

 

She has done certain things in the program that I was not happy about in the past, like cheating while on an exam with another student and the professor had a serious talk with them..

 

I just don't know what to do?? What would you do?

 

Tell the professor? Tell her Nurse Manager?

 

Thanks in advance.

[ToppDog]

Being the concerned student who cares about this professor, maybe you should check in to see if everything is okay with her, and when she asks how you found out, tell her. Then, let her deal with your friend. At least that way you're not really going out of your way to rat on her. After all, she's the one who violated HIPAA, not you. But now that you have that info about someone you care about, it's not a HIPAA violation to ask how she is doing.

 

If she got caught cheating once, chances are high that she did it many other times & didn't get caught. I would keep my distance from her & I don't think you should be worried if she gets kicked out or not. People like that are bad for medicine. She will end up killing someone if she continues down this road. You would feel much worse if you read that she killed some toddler because she had no business being in the field.

[RHC81]

This person sounds like she is seriously lacking in professional and personal ethics. I would not feel bad for her if she is removed from her job or the program. Ethics is paramount in nursing and in medicine. She's already cheated, at least once (although I agree with ToppDog - she probably did it much more than once), and now she's violating HIPAA and patient privacy. She is not learning from her mistakes, even after the warning you gave her about HIPAA. This is not a good pattern for a healthcare professional. What if she becomes a nurse and "fudges" on patient records? I've seen all sorts of things from unethical nurses, even skimming patient medications for their own use.

 

Personally, I wouldn't ask my prof about her husband. She might not realize you got the information from X and might think you're the snoop, unless you start the conversation like this: "Professor, I heard from X about your husband..." But isn't that basically the same as just saying, "Prof, X is spreading your husband's information everywhere and violating HIPAA"?

 

My advice: report her to your professor and to the nurse manager. I know it sounds harsh, but violating patient confidentiality is a cardinal sin. Our patients place a lot of trust in us to keep their information PRIVATE; plus, it's the law. This wasn't an "oops..." - she continued to spread the information after you warned her. She clearly places more value on spreading juicy gossip than on behaving like a professional. Depending on your program and employer, you could get in trouble for protecting her if you fail to report such an egregious error.

 

That's just my two cents. Best of luck to you. Whatever you decide to do, I would avoid X at all costs.

[GatorRRT]

Considering you work at the hospital, the best course of action, should you choose to take any, is to speak with your immediate supervisor and let them handle it. DO NOT tell the professor if you value YOUR job at the hospital. HIPPA violations open the hospital up to litigation, and since you're an employee of the hospital, they wouldn't take to kindly to speaking to a potential plaintiff in a law suit. You would definitely be operating outside of your paygrade telling the professor about the violation; that's the hospital administration's job. Check and see if there is a HIPPA hotline where you could report the violation if you feel uncomfortable approaching your supervisor and wish to remain confidential.

[Just Steve]

Keep in mind those who gossip to you will also gossip about you. If/when you proceed with notifing people there stands a very good chance you will feel "blow back" from X's other friends. Be sure you are prepared for the negative energy, some of which may include non truths.

 

Personally, I think I would approach X and tell them they put you in a very difficult spot. Tell X that you are aware that they told more people than just you. Let them know that they have left you little choice but to let the hospital supervisor know the whole story. This will give X a chance to turn them self in with an admission of "I goofed" which may simply result in some additional privacy training. Admitting a goof is far better than someone turning you in for a goof.

[Knight Shift]

I don't see the big problem with hipaa here if she is telling other nursing students. She definitely needs to not text that info though. If you have a problem with her telling you patient info, then tell her to stop. People talk and they make mistakes. I wouldn't try to turn her in over something so small. In regards to the cheating, you mentioned the professor already talked to her so that's settled.

[GatorRRT]

^Its a direct HIPPA violation, medical information is on a need to know basis for treatment of a patient. Being a healthcare student doesn't provide cart Blanche to medical records.

[Knight Shift]

^Its a direct HIPPA violation, medical information is on a need to know basis for treatment of a patient. Being a healthcare student doesn't provide cart Blanche to medical records.

Gotcha. I was thinking the nursing students were doing clinicals on the same floor. Talking about patients' medical Hx is not something I would do, but I wouldn't tell on anyone for it. But then again I'm a nurse, so I'm not exactly shocked by other blabbermouths.

 

OP, clearly this issue bothers you a lot, so just do what you feel is right.