Emails and employers

Be very careful what you put in an email (or an online posting for that matter). Remember that anything you put in writing can have the potential to harm you. Here is a recent case that should even drive that home more:

In Scott v. Beth Israel Medical Center, Inc., 2007 WL 3053351 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.
October 17, 2007), the court held that e-mail messages between the plaintiff
and his personal counsel were not privileged because the client's e-mails
were all sent thru his employer's server and the employer's e-mail policy
stated clearly: (i) its e-mail system should be used for business purposes
only; (ii) all communications over the hospital's system were the hospital's
property; (iii) no employee had a right of privacy w/ respect to messages
sent or received over the hospital's systems; and (iv) the hospital reserved
the right to access and disclose such communications at any time w/o prior
notice. The court cited In re Asia Global Crossing Ltd., 322 B.R. 247
(S.D.NY 2005) and Long v. Marubeni America Corp., 2006 WL 2998671 (S.D. NY
October 29, 2006). The court in Long reached the same result on similar
facts. The court in Asia Global Crossing did not find a waiver of privilege
because the substance of the employer's policies and the extent that the
employer's policies had been made known to employees were disputed.

Do patients really know about themselves?

I was sitting in a patient waiting room today and overheard one patient ask the person with them, "What is that medicine I am allergic to?" The two then proceeded to try to remember which medication it was and listening to them was frightening. The lack of knowledge about something so important serves as a reminder to caregivers:

Be sure to stress the importance to patients that they keep a list of allergies in their wallet and that it applies to any allergy, not just medication.

Question patients carefully regarding allergies and the reactions experienced to the allergic incidents. And document everything.

Peer Review Rules - Pay Attention

The Board of Nursing has proposed new rules concerning Peer Review in Texas. Be sure to read these today and if you disagree or agree with any of the proposed rules, send a comment immediately to the Board and contact your nursing organization and let them know your thoughts. These rules have the potential to affect your license, so do not sit by and be uninformed.