How do you maintain confidentiality in the workplace?
Confidentiality and privacy in health care protect patients and maintain trust between patients, staff, and doctors. It is a way of reducing liability and promoting the quality of care. Everyone learns about HIPAA in nursing school, so reciting a cerebral definition is not necessarily what the interviewer wants here. The interviewer wants to hear your deep understanding of how HIPAA is violated in the workplace by not being mindful and intentional in your practice.
"Protecting the patient's right to privacy is extremely important to me. I have a personal practice of checking in with myself to ensure that I have honored that responsibility in practice. I check in with myself a couple of times a shift, especially if I am busy, to ask if I am being mindful and responsible. I like the idea of 'the clean desk.' Did I close out my computer? If I need shift 'cheat sheets,' I am careful not to write patient names on the paper, but maybe their initials. I have the practice of mentally checking out as I leave the unit for lunch in that I don't chat with other nurses about patients in common areas. I am mindful of how my voice carries in a patient room. I always ensure that family members in the room are allowed to hear health information before I ask the patient questions."
"I think maintaining confidentiality in the workplace is fairly easy if I always have patient needs at the forefront of my mind. When I've been on a nursing unit during clinicals or working as a student nurse extern, I never share my EMR passwords with anyone. I lock a computer if I'm leaving it. I don't speak about patients in hallways, elevators, or other public patients. If I speak to someone about a patient, I make sure they are another healthcare team member with a 'need to know' about a patient's care. As a student, I haven't yet spoken to a patient's family or loved one on the phone, but when I am in this situation, I will make sure that I have the correct release of information in place to allow me to speak to anyone about a patient and their condition."
