HIPAA and Privacy
Yes
The intentional threat of harmful or offensive contact is called what?
What is assault?
True or false: Being short-staffed makes it acceptable to perform skills you've never been trained to do.
What is false?
Charting should contain facts, opinions, or both?
What are facts?
What are nurses taught to verify before medication administration?
What are: the rights of medication administration?
You are riding in an elevator and hear two nurses discussing a patient's diagnosis where visitors can hear. Is this a HIPAA violation?
Yes, if patient information is disclosed.
Touching a patient without consent is called what?
What is battery?
Who remains responsible for patient outcomes after delegating a task to a nursing assistant?
Who is the nurse?
Is it acceptable to chart an assessment before actually performing it if the patient is stable?
What is no?
A nurse realizes immediately after administration that the wrong dose was given. What should the nurse do?
A nursing student posts on social media saying, "Today I cared for a 16-year-old burn victim from the local high school. It was heartbreaking." Is this a HIPAA violation?
Yes if the patient can be identified.
A competent patient refuses a blood draw. The nurse holds the patient's arm while another staff member obtains the sample. What intentional tort is this?
What is battery?
A nursing assistant reports an oxygen saturation of 82%, but the nurse is busy and never follows up. Who is at fault?
Who is the nurse assigned to the patient?
How can this note be reworded: "Patient seems fine"?
What is: patient is alert and oriented, patient denies pain, patient is ambulating independently, patient is resting with visible chest rise, etc.
A nurse notices another nurse almost administer a medication to the wrong patient but catches the mistake before administration. What is this called?
What is a near miss?
A nurse accesses her neighbor's chart out of curiosity, but does not share the information with anyone. Is this a HIPAA violation?
Yes
A competent patient insists on leaving the hospital. The nurse closes the patient's door and states, "You can't leave until the doctor gets here." What is this?
What is false imprisonment?
A patient asks a nurse to change their medication to PO because they are tired of getting shots. Can the nurse do this?
No- this is outside nursing scope and requires a provider's order.
A nurse discovers a charting error made two hours earlier. What should the nurse do?
What is: correct it according to facility policy. Never delete or conceal documentation even if it was incorrect.
A patient's allergy to penicillin is documented. The nurse administers penicillin without reviewing the patient's allergies. What happened here?
What is: a medication error with potential negligence concerns.
While at clinical, a student uses their cell phone to take a picture of a patient's unusual scar to show their instructor and classmates. What are some problems with this?
HIPAA/privacy violation, unauthorized photography, possible clinical disciplinary action, potential facility consequences
A confused but alert patient repeatedly says they do not want a urinary catheter. The nurse tells the patient, "If you don't cooperate, we will restrain you," and proceeds with the insertion. What intentional tort(s) happened here?
What is assault (threat of restraint), battery (procedure without consent), violation of patient autonomy
A new graduate RN has a patient who needs procedural sedation, something the RN has never helped with before. What should the RN do?
What is: ask for assistance, seek qualified supervision, decline to perform a skill they've never been taught per the RN scope of practice.
A patient falls at 0800. The nurse assesses the patient right away but doesn't document until 1400. At that point, several details are forgotten. What problems does this create?
What are: legal risks related to late documentation, possible inaccurate or false charting, missing details may affect patient care and possible legal defense?
A nurse administers insulin but discovers afterward that the blood glucose result was entered into the wrong patient's chart by another staff member. The patient receives insulin intended for someone else and becomes hypoglycemic. How would we describe this event?
What is: a patient safety event, possible sentinel event, an incident report is needed, multiple systemic factors may contribute to this event.