Hippa Violation And Smartphone Use In Nursing Practice

In the medicine profession, many experience exciting situations and people. A nurse is a health care profession that require to manage delicate information of a patient. Many health professions take an oath to give quality care and respect the client’s privacy. Nurses have a code of ethics that they must keep, the Nightingale Pledge. According to the American Nursing Association, the nurse must pledge to “do all in my power to […] hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.” This can be significantly difficult in today’s society because social media plays an important role in a person’s daily life. Therefore, a nurse has codes that a professional must abide to and ethical codes that can be challenging. Many people want to have their privacy like any other individual and this is why the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was created. These laws guide the nurses to follow regulations that a hospital and patient need. The nurse’s priority is to the patient, meaning that the nurse is required to learn the HIPPA, regulations, the consequences of violating the patient’s privacy, and the advantages or disadvantages of using mobile devices and social media in healthcare.

The advances of technology have made a device such as the cellphone to be a powerful tool of research, communication, and sharing information. But these types of device must be used carefully when a student becomes a Nurse or any other health care profession. There are many regulations that protect the patient’s privacy and as a nurse one must know how to protect them. According to Fillipo, S., & Fencl, J. author of Social media in the oR: More than just cell phones, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) was created to protect any information acquired by a health care professional from any breaches and only is disclosed to a health care giver that is on the case. Therefore, it is important for a nurse to be cautious when bring their mobile devices. There are laws that explain that all information shared that includes patients and other colleges must maintain in a professional matter as it explains in Provision 2.4: Professional boundaries. The Provision 3.1: Privacy, explains that the nurse must always protect the patient from any unwanted illegal circumstances and any personal information from the patient. Also, the Provision 3.2: Confidentiality, provides the nurse to vigorously uphold the confidentiality of all the patients that the nurses gets in the field. Furthermore, the nurses must know all the consequences of violating the patients care and privacy.

A person can make an irresponsible choice in a second, its only human but those choices a person makes have consequences. The nurse could have avoided the situation by making a planned vacation and could keep that as goal. The nurse choice this profession for a reason and that reason was to care for the patient. If there was an event that the nurse wanted to go, the nurse should have asked it for it off or planned for it. Since, this was a very important concert that the nurse wanted to go. Also, a nurse needs to keep in mind the duties of a health care giver come first. The nurse could take a minute to relax and find a hobby to take all the stress out because that is sometimes the issue when a nurse is frustrated to go out and have fun. Furthermore, the outcome of the nurse that the hospital is investing because a HIPPA violation occurred and it involved a celebrity whose privacy was taking advantage off. The nurse that had taken the picture knows that it was send to the nurse’s friend but at the time to get the phone, it disappeared. Thus, the nurse must face the consequences of the action that was made. Even though the nurse did not sell the photo to the Gossip Gazette, the nurse is responsible for the actions that were made. As advocate for the patient, the muse is reasonable for the patient’s privacy. Also, if the nurse’s friend was a health care giver than the action was to erase the photo. Nurse must take accountability for the actions being made. Any violation being made will cost the individual money, HIPPA regulations estimates that a nurse that does the action knowingly could face a $50,000 fine per violation with an annual maximum of $1,000,000. Therefore, health care professionals should be more careful about HIPPA violations.

There are many advantages that a mobile device brings to the medicine field. These mobile devices are important to the nursing field because with these phones the nurse can message the physician, or the patient can call for the nurse. The phones can be used to gather information about the patient or search for answered that a nurse need. Informatics has made the nurses’ job easier because as the nurse gives medicine, there are notes that a nurse writes so to remind of future events like why the patient did not take the medication. Also, the nurse can document in the computer and send a message to the doctor about the patient’s condition or worries that the patient has. Furthermore, the disadvantages that having a personal mobile telephone in the unit can distract the nurse of her duties. For example, if an operation was being done to a patient and the nurse is hearing the phone and wants to get it. The whole operation can become affected because the nurse is not paying attention. It is also important to keep the sterile field clean and without any outside pollution. Thus, by having a phone the nurse can contaminate the whole sterile field. Therefore, it is best to keep any devices in a locker and when the nurse has time, the nurse can answer a message. It is bad carrying the phone on the unit because for some reason there is that message that needs to be answered or that phone call that needs to be picked up. If the phone rings and a patient is beside the nurse, it can interrupt the patients sleep or relax state a patient is in. There are times that a nurse doesn’t realize that a violation is being made because of lack of awareness of the nurse’s surroundings. A person can take a picture of the nurse and do not realize that the computer is opened and reviling the patient’s personal information. It can also be that a nurse could be so attach to a patient that the nurse wanted a picture, thus HIPPA violation occurred in that very moment and could cost the hospital a high amount of money. This accident can happen to anyone, if they are not careful.

There are many people that do not know that a simple picture with a friend can be a violation that can cost a high amount of money. Therefore, health care professions must be cautious about taking a picture and spreading it through the social media. Many nurses are oblivious in their actions and expect that they are no to blame for, but they know better. It is true that when working in the nursing profession, patients can become somewhat of a friend and can relate to them. But the nurse must always remember to keep it professional. For example, there are situations that a nurse gets to know a patient and develop a friendship, thus causing a hardship when they leave, in some situations, they may take a picture to remember them. This is a HIPPA violation that can tie the hospital to a fine. The nurse must remember to close any devices that have vital patient information or try to avoid situations that can violate the HIPPA law. The mobile devices are important to have for family emergencies but other than that one try to keep the phones in a secure area.