Summarize the scenario

The Scenario

The scenario depicts an inappropriate usage of social media by a nurse. Jamie had been working in hospice for the past six years. Maria, one of her current patients, is battling cancer. Maria continues to update her communication website about her progress and battle with the cancer. The messages are intended for family and friends. Jamie reads the note and comments on her wish to give Maria hope. Sadly, Jamie’s actions cause her to be recognized in the marketplace. She attempts to delete the comment but is unsuccessful. In this scenario, the HIPPA violation was the sharing of the innocent comment by Jamie regarding the health of Maria. Jamie wrote a comment to provide support to Maria by indicating that she hoped the new happy pill would assist in her health recovery, as well as the use of the morphine dose, and that she will see Maria on the next visit to be on Wednesday.

Unprofessional and Unethical Conduct

Further, Jamie engaged in unprofessional and unethical conduct. She participated in communicating on the social media, which was being used by her patient; Maria. Jamie thought that the post or communication was private, but it was available in the public domain. Thus, deleting would not help. She also commented on the progress of the patient illness by indicating the medication and the next day of visit.

Potential Consequences for the Violations

What were the potential consequences for the violations?

The potential consequence of the actions of Jamie was to have her face legal litigation associated with unethical and unprofessional conduct, breach of confidentiality, and revealing of the privileged communication. The nurse is also liable to disciplinary action, which includes sanction or reprimand, permanent or temporary licensure loss, or monetary fine assessment.

Monetary Fines for the Nurse

What kind of monetary fines could have been sanctioned against the nurse?

The nurse could be accorded a civil penalty, which can reach to a fine of $5,000.

Prevention of Violations

What should have been done differently to prevent the violation?

The nurse should have the awareness that she has the legal and ethical obligation of maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of the patient at all times. Jamie should also have avoided sharing the post, which acted as a dissemination of information related to the patient. This includes avoiding sharing medication and situation details of Maria. The outcome of this was that the nurse was negatively impacting the nurse-patient relationship, which is already established. Hence, there was a need for the nurse to maintain professional boundaries in the utilization of the electronic media. Such includes a focus on consulting the appropriate leader or policies of the employer on guidance associated with the posting. Any breach of privacy or confidentiality should have been reported promptly. In addition, Jamie should have engaged in a consultation effort with Maria regarding the desire to post the comment.

Thoughts on Social Media Use by Nurses

What are your thoughts on the scenario and the use of social media by nurses?

The scenario indicates the need for the nurses to focus on the implications of posting information through the social media, which is linked to their client details. For example, Maria was engaging in online communication with family and friends through the hospital sponsored website. Thus, Jamie should have been careful in considering what could be the impact of her comments on the people who have the access to the website. While it is essential for nurses to engage in communicating empathy and indicating patient support, there is a need to have caution on the private information disclosure, which includes the medication type that a patient is taking.

Nurses should not stop using social media. However, their communication in the online platforms should focus on providing education to patients and other parties regarding health status in society. Hence, nurses have to be HIPAA-compliant. Leaders should offer staff members with examples of HIPAA violations as a way to educate them on using the social media. These include planning ahead and having a strategy on the utilization of social media. Appropriate boundaries should be maintained with patients while personal and business accounts are kept separate among all the nurses. In public domains, nurses should focus on discussing issues of treatments, research, and conditions, but not offering information that complicates the health of patients.

Being HIPAA Compliant as a Student Nurse

Finally, conclude with how you will ensure you will be HIPAA compliant as a student nurse.

As a student nurse, the focus is to learn of how to establish safeguards, which help in protecting the health information of the patients. These including researching and gaining knowledge on how to limit the sharing and use of the protected information on health as a way of achieving the minimum compliance to the intended purpose of the research. Further, agreements should be in place where the service providers engage in performing covered functions. Thus, protection of the information of the patient will be the goal as a nurse. Moreover, there will be establishment of limit procedures as to who can have the access to the patient health information. Such includes engaging in programs that train on the protection of the health information and the associated monetary penalties. In addition, there will be a focus on the HIPAA privacy rule, breach notification, enforcement, and security.