Ms J was a 36-year-old nurse working in an after-hours medical clinic. She had worked at the clinic for approximately 18 months. When she was hired by the clinic, Ms J was asked to sign an employee confidentiality agreement that stated, “I will not intentionally share or release confidential information about the patient to anyone not directly involved in the patient’s care.” All employees of the clinic were required to review and sign the agreement each year. The policy went on to state that coworkers not directly involved in a patient’s care should not be told confidential information about the patient.
The clinic also had a wireless communication devices policy prohibiting the use of personal cell phones in patient treatment areas to take photographs. Other policies that Ms J was informed about and agreed to were a social media policy prohibiting employees from sharing information about patients on social media and a confidential matters policy, which provided that “reasons for admission and information about diagnosis and treatment are absolutely confidential and must be respected as such.”
As part of her onboarding process, Ms J was also trained on how to report a concern regarding patient safety or care issues.
During one of Ms J’s night shifts, a patient presented at the clinic with a spot on the back of her thigh. The physician with whom Ms J was working believed it was a chemical burn. Ms J disagreed with this diagnosis and thought it was skin cancer and most...
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