I’ve just started my New Grad program, and the senior nurses have been pushing me off my computer to look up details about their patients. I’ve challenged them on this but have been told that it’s okay because they are only checking blood results. Is this true?
No. Health organisations are required to maintain the confidentiality of their patient records. You are also required to ensure that you are only accessing the records of patients who are under your care as a part of your registration requirements. Additionally, many organisations have internal policies that mandate staff are to only view electronic health records while logged into the system with their own credentials, and to log out when their computer is unattended.
You are right to challenge colleagues when they sought to access records while you are logged into the system. If they were to do so, an electronic fingerprint would be created showing that you accessed the records of a patient you are not providing direct care to. This could create a disciplinary matter for you should the organisation conduct an audit of your electronic medical record access, which they do periodically.
All nurses and midwives should make sure that they are familiar with their local policies concerning the use of electronic medical records. If your colleagues continue to try and take over your computer, you might consider educating them around their privacy obligations and the potential for them to be unnecessarily involving themselves in a workplace misconduct matter, or you can ask your manager for support.
If you need advice, you can contact the NSWNMA at gensec@nswnma.asn.au.
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