I knew this would be a difficult concept for us because in our country we tend to talk about everything, usually with no malice. Here in the USA, health info is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996(HIPAA). Basically it means dont talk about your patients! Ill try to give you an idea. Remember when you enter the elevator and you say to your coworker, "I had a hard time taking care of Ms X because she was cursing and shouting at me when I gave her insulin." You cant do that here, because you would be divulging her medical information. Another example, if you fax a patient's lab results and it was transmitted into an office and people were able to read them who were not the intended recipient, you may also be violating the HIPAA rule. You may be fined or be imposed more serious penalties. Im not saying this to scare you, but just to let you know that some things are done differently here. We still share info especially to the team taking care of the patient, but we are always aware of the patient' s rights to privacy. Another example is a relative asking about the diagnosis of a patient. Be sure he is allowed by law to know the info he is asking for, as it is not automatic, as in the Philippines. Especially with some sensitive information like HIV.
So if you come here and some hospitals dont even have a list of patients displayed on the floor, it may be because of HIPAA. For more info you may visit the ff: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacysummary.pdf
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here in Pinas, gossips a.k.a. patient info travels faster than the speed of light. I don't know why nurses here do that when they have learned in school about patient's privacy and confidentiality. Anyway, that's just how "loose" some of the medical laws here are nowadays. Malpractice and negligence, battery, assualt, etc... you name it, we have it. It's so sad that patients are not protected and treated accordingly. It's really nice to practice your profession in an ideal setting that really upholds the standards of nursing.
Thank you for telling me your comment.
I am also curious what topics would be interesting to you. How about safety syringes and iv insertion the way we do it here?
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