Situational Residency Mock Interview
Practice 30 Situational Residency interview questions covering clinical scenarios, patient prioritization, and decision-making under pressure.
Question 28 of 30
A colleague left their computer open with sensitive information on the screen. You are the only one in the shared resident office. How would you address this with them?
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Dianne Barnard is a Registered Nurse and former nursing instructor. She is also board certified in Psychiatric Nursing and Holistic Nursing Critical Care.
Patient confidentiality must always be honored, and leaving a computer open even to run to the bathroom for a minute risks a serious breach of patient confidentiality. In asking this question, your team of interviewers needs to be assured that any resident that matches into their training program will come with a high degree of integrity and would do the right thing in this situation.
Dianne Barnard is a Registered Nurse and former nursing instructor. She is also board certified in Psychiatric Nursing and Holistic Nursing Critical Care.
"I would immediately close or lock the computer and I would not look at the information on the screen. If I wasn't sure where the coworker was or when he or she left, I would be compelled to report it to an administrator because someone could have accessed the information. It's a tough call and may cause some colleague tension, but as a resident, I must do what is best for the patient in protecting their protected health information."
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
Even if you wouldn't say a word to anyone and you are a physician with integrity, you should not be able to see possible protected information on a patient that you are not personally taking care of. Leaving a computer wide open is a serious risk to confidentiality. One thing you could discuss with your interviewers is gently closing or locking the computer so that the screen is not visible and discuss the seriousness of this when your colleague returns. No matter how you answer, make sure that your interviewers walk away from your time together knowing that you would do what is necessary to protect the PHI of any patient of their institution.
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