A student goes to the hospital to assess her patient the night before clinical. The student is wearing her lab coat and IU Northwest picture ID. The student reports to the charge nurse and asks him if he could help identify an appropriate patient for her. This action is a violation of HIPAA policy?
No, it is not a violation of HIPAA policy as long as the student does not disclose any specific patient information to someone who is not involved in the patient's care. The student is also wearing proper identification and seeking assistance from a healthcare professional.
No, this action is not a violation of HIPAA policy. The student followed the correct procedure by reporting to the charge nurse and asking for assistance in identifying an appropriate patient. By wearing a lab coat and displaying a picture ID, the student also took steps to ensure that she is identifiable as a healthcare student affiliated with IU Northwest. HIPAA regulations focus on protecting patients' privacy and the disclosure of their protected health information (PHI) without their consent. In this scenario, the student did not disclose any patient information and merely sought guidance from a charge nurse in matching her to an appropriate patient.
