BLOOD ISSUE=PROBLEM=CAN HOSPITAL BE SUED?

by jack w 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Lady Lee

  I read this earlier and was glad that Scully came in with her info. I just kept thinking and thinking and am so p**ssed off I had to come back.

  What a terrible situation to be in. This person is in the hospital for a reason. So she is probably under stress already. Then following what for her is a conscience matter she is threated by a nurse that she will be reported to the elders. This nurse has taken a medical report and confronted her patient with exposure - breaking confidentiality.

  I would imagine it would be difficult to come up with all the right responses to this threat. So the stress increases.

  There has got to be a way to report this nurse. But reporting the nurse and having her moved somewhere else in the hospital will only mean that your friend's wife has reported the threat to her doctor or the head nurse on the floor. (are there ombudman offices in the hospital)

  The act of reporting the nurse could increase the risk of the nurse to go to the elders.

  And since the nurse has done this, she very well could do this again to some poor unsuspecting patient.

  Talk about adding on the stress - which is never a good thing if surgery is involved.

  Sadly I think the slow fade just might turn into a quick exit from the WTS
• 

  candysearching

  Yes she absolutely could sue. And she would absolutely win her case in a court of law.
• 

  skeeter1

  Tort of Undue Coercion? While this typically comes up in "donations" .... undue coercion has to do with unfettered will. If the lady feels coerced and changes her blood decision back to "no blood" based on the knowledge/ fear that her nurse friend would report back to the elders and this would lead to disassociation/ (loss of family relations, loss of business), then her "choice" to not get blood is no longer her free will....but would be "coerced."

  Just a thought. see http://www.csj.org/infoserv_articles/hominik_david_cultsi_in_american_society.htm for more details on the legal argument.

  Skeeter1
• 

  jack w

  Hi,

  I want to thank you all for all your good advice and research on my question. I will take this info and present it to see what they want to do with it.

  Thanks again,

  -jack.
• 

  Scully

  There has got to be a way to report this nurse. But reporting the nurse and having her moved somewhere else in the hospital will only mean that your friend's wife has reported the threat to her doctor or the head nurse on the floor. (are there ombudman offices in the hospital)
  

  The act of reporting the nurse could increase the risk of the nurse to go to the elders.

  
  

  
  If you speak directly to the nurse manager about the threat, and to the physician involved, and tell them that an employee has threatened to disclose confidential information to someone who has no right to that information, they will take it very seriously.

  Hopefully the nurse's name is known to the patient and she will be subjected to an investigation. The hospital administration should also be given a print-out of the 1987 WT article "A Time To Speak - When?" (September 1 issue) that obligates the JW health care professional to disclose confidential information to the elders. She will at the very least receive a strong reprimand, a suspension or even termination.

  Filing a complaint with the State licensing board will also result in an investigation and possible revocation of her licence to practice. In addition to fines, she could be subject to jail time, depending on the jurisdiction. What she doesn't realize is that in putting her career on the line, the WTS and the elders will hang her out to dry and will let her bear the consequences of her choice.

  Let her report to the elders. They can't disfellowship someone based on the testimony of one eyewitness, anyway. But the HIPAA violation can go through on the basis of a single complaint. Make sure she realizes that she has way more to lose than she's bargaining for.
• 

  Lady Lee

  Thanks Scully That is the information I was hoping would come out
• 

  cbbebop

  Jack W. I work in a very large hospital, and i can tell you from personal experience that you would have every right to sue. HIPAA and JACHO mean a lot to the higher ups that run hospitals and if an employee is not compliant with following those standards then they can be and most likely WILL BE FIRED. I would bet my life on it. Anyone on this site who works in a healthcare setting knows exactly what i am talking about. One has to be very careful when discussing patients due to the confidentiality laws. In fact when a person is hired into a healthcare institution one must papers stating that they will not discuss any kind of patient info openly. Should an employee choose to share information with someone who is not directly involved in that pt's care they can be fired on the spot. Don't believe me? Talk to any hospital liason in the U.S. Google HIPAA and JACHO and see what comes up. They have just as much power as the WTS. I suggest talking to a lawyer now, just for your own piece of mind and also talk to your charge nurse and physician. He/or she will also be able to help your situation. The charge nurse has the authority to see to it that the witness nurse is asssigned to another pt and/or another floor. Best of Luck to you guys.
• 

  rebel8

  Whoa.....!!! I know everyone feels strongly about this issue, but there is no reason to see a lawyer because no disclosure has been made to the elders. This was just a theoretical question, "what if". I am certified in healthcare regulatory compliance.....the only thing that can be done right now is to file a complaint with the hospital about the lack of professionalism of the nurse. It appears no violation of the law has occurred yet. At the most it could be reported to the licensing board as I suggested and they may find she didn't have any business looking in that particular patient's record as I said....but that is iffy.

  Plus everyone says yeah you can sue, but can and will are 2 different things. If you've only sat through basic HIPAA training, you are told lawsuits are a risk, but it is not quite that simple. If the nurse has no assets and the hospital is not liable b/c it exercised dilligence to prevent illegal disclosures, there again would be no reason to sue someone with no assets. Try to find an attorney willing to sue someone with no assets, and you'll see. What few assets she has will probably be gone after she serves jail time, loses her job and nursing license, and pays a fine. Justice can be served without lawsuits, ie, by reporting it to the authorities who will impose jail time etc.

  Some day such a disclosure will occur by a JW and I hope the victim will report it to the OCR. We will have to wait until then.
• 

  Lady Lee

  I agree with you rebel. So far the nurse has done nothing except notice the paper and ask about it which the patient found an excuse for.

  No law was broken. No threat was made.

  I think the problem however is of concern. Knowing that the WT S has given guidelines for JW practioners to report those who go against the mandates of the WT there is an implied threat not so much from the nurse but from the teachings.

  I think that if the patient does anything to report the nurse the patient would be in greater danger of being reported to the elders.

  I foresee a problem if the patient has surgery. She signed a paper giving permission. And after the nurse's visit I presume the paper has been destroyed or altered. Now THAT might be a cause for complaint. But eventually someone will have to look in the file to make sure she has signed the paper before surgery. If the doctor knows she sighed it then he is going to wonder what happened. If the patient signs another form then the nurse will know and "could" go to the elders.

  I can't see anyway through this and if it is needed she gets the blood.
• 

  Gerard

  Yes. She can sue: http://community.nursingspectrum.com/MagazineArticles/article.cfm?AID=4925

  As a nurse, you have a legal and ethical duty to protect patient confidentiality. Your obligation to maintain the privacy of patient information is clearly spelled out by the American Nurses Association’s Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements 1 and by your state’s nursing practice act, as well as by other state and federal laws. 2,3

  Child abuse or neglect represents one long-standing exception.