Nursing assessment skills are one of the nurse’ most valuable assets. This is the main reason why whenever someone filed a complaint against you involving negligence, your license could be put in danger if not defended by a nurse attorney.
On or about June 23, 2017, while employed in a medical facility in San Antonio, the RN accessed confidential health information belonging to a certain patient without written authorization and disclosed confidential health information of the patient to unauthorized parties, specifically co-workers.
The RN was not involved in the patient’s care and she did not have patient consent. Further, the RN failed to secure confidential information of the patients she was assigned to when she did not log off of her work station computer and left her computer log-on password on her clipboard, which was not secured.
The RN’s conduct exposed the patient unnecessarily to a risk of harm from disclosure of the confidential medical information without their written authorization and constitutes a violation of HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
The Texas Board of Nursing is the one who has full jurisdiction on cases involving RNs and LVNs. Therefore, the RN was summoned by the Texas Board of Nursing to explain her side. During the hearing, the RN states although the patient’s information was obtained from the computer at her work station while she was working, she did not access the patient’s information. She states she did work station without logging off or securing her computer. The RN states the nature of the patients on her unit does not allow staff the time to log off and lock a computer at a work station when tending to patient needs, and for such reasons, she did not log off while working her shift.
However, the RN failed to hire a nurse attorney to help her with her case. Because of this, the Texas Board of Nursing suspended and disciplined the RN.
Do not fret if you find yourself in a similar situation the same as that of the RN mentioned above. All you need to do is to find the right nurse attorney who can help you in the case. Equip yourself with the knowledge and expertise you need for a successful outcome by consulting a knowledgeable and experienced Texas nurse attorney. Contact the Law Office of Yong J. An and text or call attorney Yong 24/7 at (832) 428-4579
