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As President of the Nebraska Nurses Association, I challenge nurses to strive for excellence. According to the American Nursing Association’s Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, a professional nurse must excel at both practice and professional performance in the nursing role.
Practice is simple to understand. For every position, we start as novices in knowledge, skills and ability. By taking advantage of resources, we strive to become experts as soon as possible because our patients and care team members deserve and expect our best. Professional performance, which includes ethics, communication, care coordination, collaboration, education and leadership, can easily be misunderstood or compromised. Busy nurses need to resist the temptation to act in a manner that negatively affects their professional status and customer trust. This can include seemingly harmless actions, such as:
- Texting protected health information (PHI) on an unapproved device.
- Discussing PHI with people not directly related to patient care (an easy mistake when using a hands-free voice badge).
- Sharing a badge number or computer login because it is one of those shifts when everyone is busy.
It’s really about doing the right thing even when no one is watching, and understanding accountability, responsibility and autonomy.
Just as we know not to leave valuables in sight in a locked vehicle, we should also avoid tempting people to act inappropriately in a healthcare setting. By providing the necessary structures and processes, we can support nurses to perform in an ethical and trustworthy manner. Don’t make the environment cumbersome or the resources so inadequate that nurses become tempted to take inappropriate shortcuts just to provide safe care. Communication is behind the majority of sentinel events or near misses. And I’d wager that, in most cases, the caregiver knew what he or she needed to do, but the environment or situation prevented him or her from taking the appropriate path or action.
HIPPA violations are a big deal, to the tune of $50,000 or more per incident! Hospital executives, including the Chief Nursing Officer, are obligated to provide the right tools and environment to keep nurses out of trouble.
See our latest white paper, “5 Steps to HIPAA-Compliant Texting,” for the best practices hospitals can use to protect patient information.
Clik here to view.
As President of the Nebraska Nurses Association, I challenge nurses to strive for excellence. According to the American Nursing Association’s Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, a professional nurse must excel at both practice and professional performance in the nursing role. Practice is simple to understand. For every position, we start as novices in knowledge, skills and ability. By taking advantage of resources, we strive to become experts as soon as possible because our patients and care team members deserve and expect our best. Professional performance, which includes ethics, communication, care coordination, collaboration, education and leadership, can easily be misunderstood or compromised. Busy nurses need to resist the temptation to act in a manner that negatively affects their professional status and customer trust. This can include seemingly harmless actions, such as:
- Texting protected health information (PHI) on an unapproved device.
- Discussing PHI with people not directly related to patient care (an easy mistake when using a hands-free voice badge).
- Sharing a badge number or computer login because it is one of those shifts when everyone is busy.
It’s really about doing the right thing even when no one is watching, and understanding accountability, responsibility and autonomy.
Just as we know not to leave valuables in sight in a locked vehicle, we should also avoid tempting people to act inappropriately in a healthcare setting. By providing the necessary structures and processes, we can support nurses to perform in an ethical and trustworthy manner. Don’t make the environment cumbersome or the resources so inadequate that nurses become tempted to take inappropriate shortcuts just to provide safe care. Communication is behind the majority of sentinel events or near misses. And I’d wager that, in most cases, the caregiver knew what he or she needed to do, but the environment or situation prevented him or her from taking the appropriate path or action.
HIPPA violations are a big deal, to the tune of $50,000 or more per incident! Hospital executives, including the Chief Nursing Officer, are obligated to provide the right tools and environment to keep nurses out of trouble.
See our latest white paper, “5 Steps to HIPAA-Compliant Texting,” for the best practices hospitals can use to protect patient information.
