A nurse can talk about a patient provided that any individually identifiable health information disclosed about the patient is allowed by the Privacy Rule and that only the minimum necessary health information is disclosed. The HIPAA Journal is the leading provider of news, updates, and independent advice for HIPAA compliance. That is how it is said. Delivered via email so please ensure you enter your email address correctly. In New Jersey, Jersey Shore University Medical Center fired nurse Adam Witt on March 31 and barred him from entering the hospital campus after he and others posted in a private Facebook group about their fears of contracting COVID-19. She has launched social media training programs, nurse travel and excursion, her very own scrub line, and a wildly popular podcast. Nurse fired from Sinai Grace for online post, her attorney says she was canned for union organizing. But this poor kid was bad off and as a parent, I could see vaccinating out of fear, as reported by the Houston Chronicle, which obtained screenshots of her Facebook posts. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. While the nurse did not post the childs name on Facebook, her job was listed on her profile along with the hospital where she worked, and information about the boy and his condition. I did see the episode and was totally shocked when she was fired. 2. Breach News Adam B. Coleman is the author of Black Victim to Black Victor and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. equally, but do you know which nurses are making the most money in 2023? Katie Duke's story spotlights the hazards of social media in hospitals. Take the 2014 case of an RN in New York City who was fired by her employer for posting a picture on Instagram depicting a chaotic emergency room following the care of a man who was hit by a subway train. What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA depends on the nature of the violation, the consequences of the violation, the nurses previous compliance history, and the content of the Covered Entitys sanctions policy. What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA accidently depends on the nature of the violation, the consequences of the violation, the employers sanctions for HIPAA violation, and the nurses previous history of accidental HIPAA violations. 0:34. However, in 2017, ProPublica produced areporthighlighting more than fifty patient privacy violations in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. As unfortunate that is is that Katie was fired over the incident, there is a silver lining here. In a recent case, OB nurses from Emory got fired for sharing their patient "icks" on social media. At nurse.org, we believe that no one knows nurses better than, well, nurses. HIPAA Journal provides the most comprehensive coverage of HIPAA news anywhere online, in addition to independent advice about HIPAA compliance and the best practices to adopt to avoid data breaches, HIPAA violations and regulatory fines. We've looked at programs nationwide and determined these are our top schools. The employees were immediately fired for inappropriately viewing or accessing the records of actor Jussie Smollett. Would you know how to handle a trip to the emergency room? The photo itself tells a story. "The only thing hurt in my TikTok videos were people's feelings," she told TV station WXII in a story published on June 28, 2021. Duke posted the photo with the caption #Man vs 6 train., Join Today's Emergency Medicine Tweet Chat Today at 1 PM, ET, Chicago Doctor Accused of Posting Photos of Intoxicated Patient on Social Media, Push to Get Experimental Drugs With Social Media Pressure on the Rise. Florida sheriff says he would have immediately detained Br Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, Biden son arrives for baby mama showdown, lawyer says he's already paid $750K support, Meghan Markle's ailing dad in 'final ever' interview: 'I refuse to be buried by her', Rihanna has secret 3 a.m Met Gala fitting for $25 million in Cartier jewels, Stanley Tucci used feeding tube for 6 months during brutal cancer battle, Ireland Baldwin tricks Paris Hilton, Hilary Duff and more stars into thinking she gave birth, NY Post Sports Reporter Zach Braziller breaks down the Knicks game 1 loss to the Heat, Elon Musk Tells Bill Maher Woke Mind Virus Is Dangerous On Real Time, Scott Disick steps out in NYC with Penelope, North West ahead of Met Gala. Nurses like this stain the honorable image of the profession that nurses like my mother helped to shape. This would explain why the MD did not get fired for posting the same photo (without patient identifiers) but Katie did. Complaints about HIPAA violations submitted to the Office for Civil Rights can be referred to the Department of Justice to pursue criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment. OB nurses from Emory got fired for sharing their patient "icks" on social media. A nurses viral TikTok video did exactly this as she recorded herself melodramatically acting shaken with the caption Lost a patient today. Making Too Many Mistakes 8. According to the Sacramento Bee, a nurse working in the labor and delivery unit at Kaiser Permanente was fired after posting a comment on Facebook. Duke claims she was told by her supervisor that she had not breached hospital policy or violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a law known as HIPAA that protects patient privacy. What I do know is that she made a choice and has experienced the consequences of that choice. Lack of Professionalism Final Thoughts Related Article Become a Part of the Nurse.org Community! See ourprivacy policyfor more information. The list of possible HIPAA violations by nurses is long, although the most common nurse HIPAA violations are listed below. Know the facts. Even so, the example still has the potential to help many nurses avoid making similar mistakes. I have a whole file for training. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state laws. Nurses who accidentally release patient information can be fined anywhere from $100 to $50,000 civil fine. But the lack of professionalism and empathy these nurses expressed to publicly mock their patients is inexcusable their terminations were warranted. Receive weekly HIPAA news directly via email, HIPAA News Duke also claims that the photo was not even hers, but rather reposted from a doctors Instagram page. Because of the many different scenarios in which a breach in patient confidentiality may or may not be a violation of privacy regulations, a charge nurse should escalate the report of a breach to the organizations Privacy Officer and let the Privacy Officer deal with it. Katie Duke, who has a massive following on Twitter and Instagram, is one of the stars of the ABC hit NY Med. Its not clear if the company fired the nurses as a direct result of the video. Its really just sad," the person wrote. Nurses are under intense pressure to work as efficiently as possible; and, due to this pressure, there may be times when shortcuts are taken with HIPAA compliance in order to get the job done. If a nursing student violates HIPAA, the consequences can depend on many factors. But beyond penalties themselves, remember that you are a representative of your profession. If you hung around nurses station and heard the way we talk about injuries, life and death you might get the wrong impression but its just a coping mechanism. She said. Perhaps I can clarify a little. Simple. HIPAA Advice, Email Never Shared Subscribe for the latest nursing news, offers, education resources and so much more! Columbia (where Katie was fired from) is a unionized hospital. "Every patient at Emory Healthcare deserves to be cared for by a compassionate, experienced team in a comfortable and safe environment," the company said. An attorney told WFOR last month that Samuels not only breached the newborns privacy, but also violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Id never heard of Katie Duke, until this string of blogs. A HIPAA violation is a felony if it involves the knowing and wrongful acquisition or disclosure of individually identifiable health information under false pretenses or for personal gain, commercial advantage, or malicious intent. possible. And a student who was admitted to an Illinois hospital for extreme intoxication claimed a doctor posted photos of her to various social media sites -- with commentary. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. If a nurse accidently discloses ePHI due to a Covered Entity failing to implement a technical safeguard, the designation of fault can depend on many factors. Officials at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami first learned of the incident on Sept. 8, Lidia Amoretti, a hospital spokesperson, told NBC News in an email Saturday. Katie Duke, a nurse propelled to fame by popular reality show NY Med, was fired for social media. However, as this incident shows, the patient does not need to be mentioned by name in order for them to potentially be identified. The photo captured a messy but empty trauma room that had been used to treat a man hit by a New York City subway train. }); Show Your Employer You Have Completed The Best HIPAA Compliance Training Available With ComplianceJunctions Certificate Of Completion, ArcTitan is a comprehensive email archiving solution designed to comply with HIPAA regulations, Arrange a demo to see ArcTitans user-friendly interface and how easy it is to implement, Find Out With Our Free HIPAA Compliance Checklist, Quickly Identify Potential Risks & Vulnerabilities In Your HIPAA Compliance, Avoid HIPAA Compliance Violations Due To Social Media Misuse, penalties for HIPAA violations are detailed here, violating the HIPAA minimum necessary standard, Reader Offer: Free Annual HIPAA Risk Assessment, Video: Why HIPAA Compliance is Important for Healthcare Professionals, Accessing the PHI of patients you are not required to treat, Gossiping Talking about specific patients and disclosing their health information to family, friends & colleagues, Disclosing PHI to anyone not authorized to receive the information, Improper disposal of PHI Discarding protected health information with regular trash, Leaving PHI in a location where it can be accessed by unauthorized individuals, Using the credentials of another employee to access EMRs/Sharing login credentials, Sharing PHI on social media networks (See below). Its the unlimited trips to the nursing station for me, said another bemoaning nurse. This article is written not to attack Katie, but instead, share a very public example of how nurses can easily be fired for inappropriate social media use. Whether or not a nurse can be fired for a HIPAA violation under any other circumstances will depend on the content of the nurses employment contract and their employers sanctions policy. If you practice medicine you know this. A nurse can be held responsible for a HIPAA violation if the non-compliant event occurs frequently in the nursing unit. Some disclosures that may be considered breaches of confidentiality are permitted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule when Protected Health Information is disclosed to (for example) public health agencies, law enforcement officers, and employers. She also explained in her posts, I think its easy for us non-vaxxers to make assumptions, but most of us have never and will never see one of these diseases, and By no means have I changed my vax stance, and I never will. Receive weekly HIPAA news directly via email, HIPAA News The nurse, Kelly Morris, said the social media videos in question were just jokes. If you are a patient (or family member), the first thing to find out is if the nurses employer is a HIPAA Covered Entity. This story has been shared 679,840 times. The failure to comply with HIPAA Rules can result in significant penalties for HIPAA covered entities. I was told I was being fired for being insensitive, she said. Social media can do many wonderful things for nurses. Emory Healthcare said the video of the now former nurses was disrespectful and unprofessional, and does not represent our commitment to patient-family-centered care.. A Florida nurse has been fired for posting photos on social media cruelly mocking a newborn with a birth defect, hospital officials said. For example: Had the nursing student received adequate training before being exposed to PHI/ePHI? Her social media mishap can (and should) be a powerful tool that nurse educators, bloggers, and others can use to show how a simple oversight in your online activity can have a damaging impact on an individual nursing career and potentially the nursing profession as a whole. You can also lose your nursing license for continued HIPAA violations if you have been warned about your conduct and provided with additional training and your employer reports you to a licensing board. Her employers agreed with that stance. A second photo posted by Samuels showed the newborn again and had a hashtag citing the childs birth defect: gastroschisis, where a babys intestines are found outside of the body, exiting through a hole beside the belly button. Rather than continually refuting any wrong-doing in the situation, I would have liked to see her say You know what, this is what nurses should do in this situation. A nurse at a Texas childrens hospital has been fired for violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules by posting protected health information on a social media website. Ms N could not get the toddler off her mind after she arrived home from. You can read more about accidental HIPAA violations here. HIPAA Violations 4. HIPAA Journal's goal is to assist HIPAA-covered entities achieve and maintain compliance with state and federal regulations governing the use, storage and disclosure of PHI and PII. It is not possible to determine the most common causes of HIPAA violations by nurses because although HHSpublishes a tableindicating the top five issues in investigated cases, there is no distinction between HIPAA violations by nurses and other members of the workforce. 35 separate cases were uncovered. Accordius Health, the nursing home's parent company, said in a statement that "misuse and unprofessional use of social media platforms by employees violates our core values and is not tolerated. Brittney Wilson, RN, BSN, also known as The Nerdy Nurse, is an award-winning author and national speaker on social media issues, bullying, and informatics. Last year, a St. Louis doctors Facebook complaints about a chronically late patient drew hundreds of outraged comments from Internet posters. If any personally identifiable protected health information is posted on social media without consent first being obtained from the patient, it constitutes a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. She has rules for how nurses can keep out of trouble while using social media but also using social media effectively and positively. The thirst for social-media attention is generally accompanied by a mentality that rationalizes its acceptable to hydrate the ego at any cost, cheapening the value of decency, decorum and professionalism. You know all nursing jobs arent created (or paid!) Steve has developed a deep understanding of regulatory issues surrounding the use of information technology in the healthcare industry and has written hundreds of articles on HIPAA-related topics. In addition to the general HIPAA violation that wed be looking at here, theres a sense of decency about the rights and expectations we all have in our likenesses and our images, Miami attorney David Weinstein told the station. Its not some dramatic social media driven statement to evoke anything. See our disclaimer for more information. Duke maintains that she did nothing wrong by posting the picture. But those of us who do have an audience have obligation to lead by example. Willful violations of HIPAA Rules, including theft of PHI for personal gain or use of PHI with intent to cause harm, can result in criminal penalties for HIPAA violations. That I am not sure of. Nicole Acevedo. She did something insensitive and potentially damaging to a patient and her hospital. If reporting the event to a Privacy Officer, the event will be dealt with internally. Katie Duke is a no-nonsense kind of nurse who has a personal motto of deal with it. It may even be her nursing motto. Every grievance, no matter how small or destructive, is considered permissible within our culture of narcissism and it has a convenient shield from criticisms because weve pedestalized self-expression over self-respect. In fact, it is my understanding is that a physician shared the same photo without the caption and didnt lose his job or receive a known reprimand. Follow us and never miss out on the best in nursing news. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. Texas Childrens Hospital suspended the nurse when officials found out about her social media posts and an investigation was launched. It was the caption, which was very insensitive. What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA compliance rules? Texas Nurse Fired for Social Media HIPAA Violation Posted By HIPAA Journal on Sep 13, 2018 A nurse at a Texas children's hospital has been fired for violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules by posting protected health information on a social media website. "In that video, it . My response to that is that last time I looked, the media was in a different business. Top 6 Reasons Nurses Get Fired 1. Due to the information contained in the posts and the rarity of the disease, it is possible that the child could have been identified. All and all, Id say Katie Duke used her social media mistake to make lemonades out of some very sour lemons. Nurse Kenisa Barkai is now suing her former employer, Sinai-Grace Hospital. Most healthcare professionals will be well aware that the posting of any protected health information on a social media website constitutes a HIPAA compliance violation. Perhaps the discussion should not be about why she is a villain or a hero and should focus instead on how the behavior of nurses can have repercussions that reach beyond the expected and that professionalism is not just a quality to be valued only when at work. Furthermore, HIPAA violations by nurses are more likely to be reported to the healthcare facility at which they occurred and resolved internally. We've received your submission. Your first year as a nurse is daunting. Remember, nothing can really be deleted.. Others may be a breach of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and/or state privacy laws. Posting any protected health information on social media websites, even in closed Facebook groups, is a serious HIPAA violation. Yet, the consequences of a violation of patient privacy or insensitivity to an employer or co-workers are very real and even detrimental to offending nurses both financially and for their licensure. All other violations of HIPAA are civil offences subject to an employers sanctions policy or sanctions set by HHS Office for Civil Rights. "If you want to play, thats not the profession or the field you need to play in. Just wanted you to know, I saw an episode of NY Med that showed this story at the time she was fired. It could be a mistake to reprimand a member of the workforce for a disclosure that is allowed. In some cases, someone is terminated from a current job for recent problematic posts. Thanks for contacting us. Hospital officials cited patient privacy as a top priority while saying the blatant breach would be investigated. Man vs. 6train So, did this really happen? She explained that it was a rough experience seeing the boy suffering from the disease. Much like their dance routines, empathy is also performative, and theyll even exploit the death of a patient to display their supposed struggle after managing to lose another one or highlight their strength to constantly overcome this commonplace occurrence in their profession. They say that nursing is a calling, and my mother was called to the field. I am not sure what hospital administrator would say this wasnt a HIPAA violation.

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