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. Social media can do many wonderful things for nurses. Check out our list of the top non-bedside nursing careers. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. Follow us and never miss out on the best in nursing news. 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. Sign up to receive the latest nursing news and exclusive offers. Katie Duke's story spotlights the hazards of social media in hospitals. In my humble opinion, this type of social media is insensitive and inappropriate. It came when emergency room nurse Katie Duke was fired for posting a photo to Instagram. Would you know how to handle a trip to the emergency room? I was told I was being fired for being insensitive, she said. If nurses share EMR login credentials, it is impossible for Covered Entities to accurately monitor system access or determine if a system containing ePHI has been accessed by a person without authorization. "To be belittled and mocked during that experience is outright unacceptable. . If you make a mistake own it, learn from it and teach others not to make the same mistake. In addition to civil fines, nurses can also find themselves in trouble in relation to licensure problems. She was swimming in muddy waters. 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. She was, she said, showing how life and death situations play out every day in the hospital. You know all nursing jobs arent created (or paid!) Criminal prosecutions are rare, although theft of PHI for financial gain is likely to result in up to 10 years in jail. 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. HIPAA Violations 4. I sincerely wish that Katie had used this opportunity as a teachable moment. 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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. "No one was ever harmed and I treat all my patients with great care and they all love me.". And just look at her now..a NP and one of the most popular nurse influencers on social media. I cannot claim to know what was going on in her head when she posted that photo, I can only express my opinion. This would explain why the MD did not get fired for posting the same photo (without patient identifiers) but Katie did. Author: Steve Alder is the editor-in-chief of HIPAA Journal. @NurseBecca thank you so much for your comment Becca. Since, she is working at a new facility and being filmed there? The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has released a useful guide for nurses on the use of social media (on this link). They say that nursing is a calling, and my mother was called to the field. Is she a bad nurse? Ooooh I saw this episode! "If you want to play, thats not the profession or the field you need to play in. Social Media Post Prompts Firing Ann W. Latner, JD An RN's post online violates a patient's privacy, and she is fired. "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. The childs mother had been notified of the privacy breach, hospital officials told WFOR. A nurse has been sacked after sharing a picture of her homemade face mask and speaking out about the conditions she works under amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 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. Brittney is the author of, Interviews and Press, Awards and Mentions. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. It was the caption, which was very insensitive. 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. 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. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); 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. }); 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, 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. She did something insensitive and potentially damaging to a patient and her hospital. Your intestines posed to be inside not outside baby! Samuels sickening post read, WSVN reported last month. 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. Over the past ten years there have fewer than 10 confirmed cases in the city. For example: Should the nurse have known their actions may have resulted in an accidental disclosure of ePHI? Required fields are marked *. Thank you for a more balanced discussion of the situation. Nurse Julie Dyde and healthcare worker Rachel Keys have both been sacked by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, West Yorkshire, and nurse Caroline Luxford-Noyes, has been fired by. Your email address will not be published. Social media is a double-edged sword. She did get a new job at another local ER. 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. I am not sure what hospital administrator would say this wasnt a HIPAA violation. }); 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). It seems so many people want to denigrate Katie Duke, from her choice to post the photo being discussed to the measurement of her waistline. Man vs. 6train So, did this really happen? We strive for accuracy, but cannot be held responsible for the current validity of data as best practices are ever-changing. She has rules for how nurses can keep out of trouble while using social media but also using social media effectively and positively. Four labor and delivery nurses at an Atlanta hospital came under fire over a TikTok video in which they shared the things that annoy them about expecting mothers and their families. In today's society, social media is at everyone's fingertips via a smartphone or iPad. Become a Part of the Nurse.org Community! Top Student Loan Forgiveness Programs for Nurses, Top Nursing Interview Questions & Answers, How to Create a New Graduate Nurse Resume, Best White Shoes for Nurses and Nursing Students, Best Stethoscopes for Nurses and Nursing Students, How to Work in the US as a Foreign-Educated Nurse, Why Nursing is a Great Career Choice for Men, Healthcare Administration Salary & Career Guide. Others may be a breach of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and/or state privacy laws. Pedestrian v. Car, motorcycle v. Truck. 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. The doctor who also works for the hospital was not reprimanded, she said. Last year, a St. Louis doctors Facebook complaints about a chronically late patient drew hundreds of outraged comments from Internet posters. man vs 6 train. Nurses are held to the highest standard in their jobs and profession. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know about our daily giveaways from shoes to Patagonia gear, FIGS scrubs, cash, and more! Due to the information contained in the posts and the rarity of the disease, it is possible that the child could have been identified. The nurse also made anti-vaccine comments . Katie Duke, who has a massive following on Twitter and Instagram, is one of the stars of the ABC hit NY Med. But instead she decided to act as if she was not at fault. What was the impact of the accidental disclosure? Four labor and delivery nurses at an Atlanta hospital came under fire over a TikTok video in which they shared the things that annoy them about expecting mothers and their families. Participating in the TikTok #IckChallenge, four Emory University Hospital Midtown employees recorded a one-minute TikTok video discussing their icks about being nurses who deal primarily with labor and delivery. "I am being bullied and harassed online and these people are mad that Im not going out quietly so they are hitting harder. It actually filmed her there. In many instances, nurses make HIPAA violations or even post insensitive comments about a patient, hospital, or situation innocently. Think of all the the nurses she could prevent from being fired. I also saw Katie on an interview on Inside Edition late in the week she didnt seem to admit any wrongdoing just said I cant believe they fired such a caring person. We can all learn from her mistake and her perseverance. Although HIPAA has whistleblower provisions to protect employees who report HIPAA violations directly to HHS Office for Civil Rights, you may be required (by your employer) to file a report internally before taking any further action. Follow him on Substack: adambcoleman.substack.com. While all HIPAA violations can potentially result in disciplinary action, most employers would accept that accidental violations are bound to occur from time to time. The bombs people drop on social media can detonate right away or lurk like hidden land mines. Youll be the first to know about nursing news, trending topics and educational resources. Where new information has been made available, I have provided updates and clarification. Steve is responsible for editorial policy regarding the topics covered on HIPAA Journal. ", Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Further information on the penalties for HIPAA violations are detailed here. Simple. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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. The caption for the image reads Man Vs 6 Train The after #lifesaving #EMS #NYC #ER #Nurses #Doctors #nymed #trauma #realLife.. 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. Not all of these events qualify as HIPAA violations by nurses (in some cases because the nursing home was not a HIPAA Covered Entity), but they demonstrate the scale of violations that are not often brought to public attention. Just wanted you to know, I saw an episode of NY Med that showed this story at the time she was fired. Nurse Katie Duke has been featured on two seasons of the reality medical drama, "New York Med. Id never heard of Katie Duke, until this string of blogs. There is no best training course on HIPAA for nurses because nurses compliance with HIPAA is subject to their employers HIPAA policies rather than the text of the Administrative Simplification provisions. If you want to play you need to play with some children. It bothered me that she was fired for re-tweeting the image that was originally posted by a doctor a doctor who works for the same hospital. (The Canadian Press/CBC) A Saskatchewan nurse who used Twitter and Facebook to express concern about the quality of care given to a family member in a nursing home has been found guilty of. If you are a colleague of a nurse who has violated HIPAA, you should be guided by your employer`s procedures for complying with HIPAA. She is known to be difficult. Update I was informed that later in the episode it showed Katie Duke working in a new ER and being filmed there. Now I know they cut interviews and spin them so I dont know if she admitted she was wrong or not. My response to that is that last time I looked, the media was in a different business. We now, however, have in some hospitals a generation of nurses who discard normal ethical nursing behavior to chase after adulation from strangers. I hold high expectations for the nursing profession because of my mother, who spent decades being a nurse to eventually teach and prepare nurses in a nursing school. Is it a possibility it was staged? Know the facts. The nurses at Emory University Hospital Midtown were participating in a popular trend where users share their "icks" or turnoffs about a person. That is how it is said. 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. 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. Social media can do many wonderful things for nurses, Reality Show Nurse Fired For Instagram Post, Nurse Firing Highlights Hazards of Social Media in Hospitals, NY Med star Katie Duke speaks out on getting fired from NYC hospital for posting Instagram photo of trauma room, Take the Nurse Blogging 101 online course, 9 Top Sparkly Stethoscopes For Some Bling, 15 Funny Nurse Mugs You Totally Need In Your Life, 9 Effective Ways For Building Confidence In Nursing, Find PRN Nursing Shifts Near Me to Earn Extra Cash, Best Shoes for Nurses 20+ Recommended Nursing Shoes for Women, Gifts for Nurses: All The Best Nurse Gift Ideas in One Place, How to Pass the NCLEX with 75 Questions in One Attempt, Most Popular Shoes for Nurses: Alegria Clog, The Best Stethoscope For Nurses The Ultimate Guide to Nurse Stethoscopes.

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