Nurses Fired Over Cell Phone Photos Of Patient

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.wisn.com/cnn-news/18796315/detail.html

Nurses Fired Over Cell Phone Photos Of Patient
Case Referred To FBI For Possible HIPAA Violations

POSTED: 5:22 pm CST February 25, 2009
UPDATED: 12:05 pm CST February 26, 2009


LAKE GENEVA, Wis. -- Nurses accused of photographing a patient and posting the pictures on the Internet have been fired.

The investigation started with an anonymous call from an employee at Mercy Walworth Medical Center in Lake Geneva, with the allegation that a nurse took pictures of a patient with her cell phone and posted them on her Facebook page.

Last week, the nurse told 12 News she never posted the pictures on the Internet. Investigators have since interviewed the nurse and said she offered more details.

"There were two nurses that independently took a picture each of an X-ray of a patient," Walworth County Undersheriff Kurt Picknell said.

The patient was admitted to the emergency room with an object lodged in his rectum. Police said the nurse explained she and a co-worker snapped photos when they learned it was a sex device. Police said discussion about the incident was posted on her Facebook page, but they haven't found anyone who actually saw the pictures.

The nurse removed her Facebook page from the Internet last week. Without more, Picknell said this conduct does not appear to violate any state laws. He has referred the case to the FBI.

[madinmaryland]

1. Good for the hospital. They deserved to be fired for a blatant violation

of a patient's privacy.

[biopowertoday]

2. god grief. way to make nurses look stupid!! (and they were stupid to

put it mildly).

[emilyg]

3. Good.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Good. They are a disgrace to the profession. You might talk or joke

with coworkers (in a private setting) about various patients, at shift change or whatever--we've all done it, but snapping photos to pass around is just awful.

[Kaleva]

14. Did they pass around the photos?

The article says the investigator couldn't find anyone who actually saw them (other then, I assume, the nurses who took the photos).

[TwilightGardener]

16. Not to presume them guilty...but, if they snapped photos, they were

doing it to show other people ("look what's in this guy's rectum! Isn't it hilarious?")--plus, just the act of snapping photos itself is an invasion of privacy, unless the patient consented.

[Kaleva]

22. Was the patient ever identified?

If not, then was his privacy violated? I'm not condoning what the nurses did but I think the initial accusation against them was off base. They were accused of posting pictures of a patient on the internet.

[TwilightGardener]

26. I imagine taking pictures of a patient's record (which the Xray is a part of) falls

under HIPAA or hospital privacy policy. There's no professional reason to take a picture of a patient's xray--none.

[Realityhack]

29. Agreed.

This wasn't making an xray copy for teaching. We are talking about copying a confidential medical record to laugh at it. And yes... share it with others.

[Maru Kitteh]

43. Many people don't understand that distinction re: HIPPA. It's not just whether the information is

personally identifiable, it's whether or not you have a justifiable reason for keeping/using/viewing the information. It's an obvious and gross violation for the nurse to take the cell phone picture, whether she shared it or not. Any above-the-board reason she might have had would obviously been done in a professional manner.

[Realityhack]

47. Well stated. n/t

[Realityhack]

27. Posted on facebook...

Doesn't matter IMO if she has not friends. I think it is clear the intention was to share them. She already saw them.

[qb]

5. Good riddance. They should have shown some compassion and educated the patient

on how to 'play safe'. There should be no shame in using sex toys. If this really was a sex toy it should be recalled.

[Kaleva]

12. "If this really was a sex toy it should be recalled."

Or put a warning label on it.

[bigscott]

21. how would you read it?

Oh, BEFORE you use it - I get it

peace

:blush:

[Kaleva]

24. LOL!

[havocmom]

6. Hope they lose their certification to work in the field anywhere else too.

They obviously do not qualify as professionals.

[Lost in CT]

7. Not the brightest nurse in the buch is she.... nt

[KansDem]

8. self deleted

[City Lights]

9. I'm glad the idiots were fired. nt

[MrCoffee]

10. As well they should be.

[Kaleva]

11. Nobody saw these pics and yet they were fired?

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. The article implies they admitted taking the photos. That's enuff in my book.

You want hospital employees walking around with photos of your privates on their cell phones?

[WI_DEM]

38. they were taking pictures of confidential medical records (yes an x-ray) so yes, they

deserved to be fired.

[fasttense]

13. We are all in very compromising positions in the hospital.

If nurses get in the habit of taking pictures of us in embarrassing positions, no one will be safe. I'm glad she was fired.

[Sinistrous]

17. Losing their jobs will not be their only problem.

There is a little thing known as HIPAA that could really give them more grief.

[TwilightGardener]

18. The state board of nursing will be contacting them soon...bye bye, license.

[marshall]

19. Reminds me of the vicar with the potato stuck up his bum

He said he was hanging drapes in the nude and fell and a potato that happened to be on the floor got lodged where the sun don't shine. The nurses didn't have photos, but they did report it to the newspapers.

I've heard urban legends for years. A friend of mine who was a nurse claimed to have treated a patient with a mayonnaise jar stuck there. But this is the first I've heard of photos.

I wonder how it was found out. If they just took photos of the x-rays then the patient wouldn't have been recognized.

[Captain Hilts]

20. I'd jail them. They'll just get rehired elsewhere. Have them spend a few nights in the cooler. nt

[mainer]

23. These were photos of an x-ray, not a patient.

And I would assume the name of the patient was not revealed. So it's a little different, since it's an unidentifiable x-ray.

Case histories are often published in medical journals showing patient x-rays.

[TwilightGardener]

30. Well, your name is on your Xray film. It's part of your medical record.

Nurses have no professional reason to take pictures of xrays, and sharing or disseminating or making copies of patient records--when it's not absolutely required for the care of the patient--is verboten. Even leaving a patient's chart open on your nurses' station desk, or leaving your computer screen visible to the public while you're in your patients' rooms, is a violation of HIPAA.

[Realityhack]

31. True...

but they probably need the patients permission to use those xrays as they are part of a confidential medical record.
So firing the employees for violating hospital (and potentially HEPA) policy seems reasonable.

[WI_DEM]

39. Doesn't matter it's a confidential piece of information not to be exploited.

I can't believe there are people here who actually are trying to excuse this.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. That's a blatant violation of patient's privacy rights

OTOH, I'd not be too shocked to see this film make its way to textbook

Seen that before

In fact, there is a famous one that was used FOR YEARS as an example in EMS classes

I'll leave it at that

[SteppingRazor]

28. Good. Those nurses were regular pains in the ass.

:rimshot:

[depakid]

32. If the patient wasn't identifiable in any way- not sure what the problem would be

on the other hand- facebook is one of those deals where people just seem to ASK for trouble.

<on edit> speaking simply of the posting of the clinical shot- not of copying a confidential record>

[uppityperson]

35. Med records ARE confidential though. And posting a pict of a confidential record

without permission is further illegal. It doesn't matter if identifying info has been removed, med records are confidential legally.

[depakid]

36. I'm aware of that- on the other hand, I've plenty of diagnostic images on the internet and elsewhere

not all of which- or perhaps even most of which were there with express consent of the patient.

[rainbow4321]

42. The teaching hospital I work at tried to ban docs from taking pics of patients

and whatever condition the patient using their cell phones, etc.. They
had the patients' permission to do so, it was what the pictures were being taken WITH that the hospital had an issue with.

Being a teaching hospital, we see some stuff that you just don't see elsewhere and many of the docs are also professors at the med school. They were using cells phones/blackberries, not the hospital camera like the hospital wanted.
The hospital made the "new policy" and must have gotten an earful from the medical providers cuz a few days later the hospital basically sent out a "never mind" email and said that they would "review" the situation and that any pics taken had to be deleted as soon as the provider was done with them, I guess.
Again, biggest difference here is that those taking the pics had the patients' permission...

[depakid]

45. That was a strange policy, given that smart phone have replaced PDA's

and are almost always at hand- whereas who know when or if the offical camera might be available.

Patient consent is often a tricky deal. A dead or mentally impaired patient can't give consent, yet some of the images may be very useful.

HIPAA certainly opened up a big can of worms.

[Maru Kitteh]

44. The taking of the cellphone photo ALONE was a clear violation of HIPPA. They deserved to get canned,

period.

[sammythecat]

33. Nursing is a profession

Highly unprofessional (to say the least) behavior like this deserves firing. I don't want to be in hospital and have to be concerned with if, or when, someone is taking pictures of me.

This kind of behavior gives the hospital no other option than termination. They'd be foolish and irresponsible to do anything else.

[uppityperson]

34. For those defending her, what if it was a regular camera?

Do you think it is ok to take pictures of patients or their x-rays or even lab work without their permission?

[WI_DEM]

37. Good. I work in a hospital and there are strict rules of confidentiality

this patient didn't ask for these dimbats to take a picture and they should have been professionals and not done so. They got what they deserved.

[Quantess]

40. I'm sure the patient just slipped and fell on the object.

It was an accident. ;)

[crimsonblue]

41. This sort of bullshit is what makes malpractice insurance so high

The hospital and nurses are undoubtedly going to be sued for this, as they should. How on earth could somebody think that photographing a private medical xray is: a) legal, or b) ethical. I hope the nurses involved never find another job in the health care industry. This is unacceptable.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

46. It's a HIPAA - Federal - violation. Disgusting. Plenty of docs and nurses have been fired for

similar actions.