Privacy Issues

I was searching through other nursing school blogs today, and I ran across this page on a blog called The Makings of a Nurse.   It’s about respecting “the privacy of the clients (she - Nurse Teeny) encounters.”  Nurse Teeny does not indicate where she lives or works and, of course, she does not name any of the patients she deals with as a student nurse.

Since I’m just barely beginning the journey to / through nursing school, I hadn’t thought of privacy issues at all.  I’ve already mentioned where I live, where I’m presently taking prerequisite classes, and where I’m thinking of applying to nursing school.

I also have not seen any patients (far from it).  I don’t think that mentioning the names of schools is a privacy issue.  However, I will not mention the name of an instructor or another student on this blog.

If I do end up going to nursing school and I do see patients, I fully intend to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.

Thanks to Nurse Teeny for bringing this issue to my attention!