Sue is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder clinic nurse enrolled in a master's education program. She is interested in writing a paper on the factors that are associated with poor compliance with medical regimens and associated repeat hospitalization of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder patients. She downloads patient information from the clinic database to a thumb drive that she later accesses on her computer. Sue understands rules about privacy of information and believes that because she is a nurse and needs this information for a graduate school assignment, she is entitled to the information. Is Sue correct in her thinking? Describe why she is or is not correct.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Sue is not correct in her thinking. This is violation of safety and privacy rules. The staff involved in hospital needs to be trained and educated about Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)which focuses on the safety and privacy of healthcare information. She is not correct because nurses can access the information and can use that information limited to their job. The healthcare information should not be used personally or for any purpose other than the hospital services. Using the information for any other reason is violation of privacy rules.