October 30, 2005 | Filed under: Uncategorized
There’s a subject I’ve been wanting to tackle for awhile, blogwise, but I’ve been hesitating (and I can be such a hesitator) and that subject is My Work. That’s My Work with a capital “M-W”. Not my housework or my schoolwork or my work out…I mean the stuff I get paid to do at my place of employ. One of the reasons there can be such long gaps between posts is the fact that all I want to talk (type) about is work, and I’m not entirely certain I should. There are three reasons for this:
1. I work in Labor & Delivery, and because my hospital does not have a seperate gynecology unit, we see some Womens’ Health cases that don’t fall into the Labor and Delivery category. Why sugarcoat it? I’m specifically refering to terminations. These cases cause some hot debates, both where I work and pretty much everyplace else these days, and I have very strong beliefs on the subject (and all Womens’ Health issues) and I feel like in blogworld I’m sitting on the fence between “I really don’t want to offend anyone ” and “I really don’t give a crap what anyone thinks of me”. I can think of no other issue that polarizes people so instantaneously, and that people refuse to budge on. Mostly, I think that’s cool: it’s an important and serious topic and people should have passionate feelings about it no matter what their opinion is on the matter. But on the other hand, why should I (unintentionally) taunt or goad?
2. Sometimes I get really upset about how things are run at the hospital I’m employed by, and I’m not quite sure how much I can say about it in a public forum without getting fired for it. Sometimes I’m so upset about the place that I couldn’t care less whether they fire me or not, but then I realize that it would be better to quit on my own terms and cash out my vacation time. There is a policy whereby you cannot speak to the press about anything that transpires on hospital property, but I don’t know that it extends to publicly accessible internet postings. It can take days for us to get necessary nursing supplies in that joint, so I can’t imagine that they’ve been moving swiftly with the times as far as communications are concerned but you never know. We have a PR department, but I don’t want to ask them because, well, duh. There’s also some confusion about whether this is a hospital policy or if it is in my union contract. That’s important because our contract expired years ago–before I was even hired–so I figure if it’s a contract issue, and it’s expired, then I should be free to say whatever I want, who cares?! Except that I can’t, really, because of
3. …great, big, giant, super-important patient privacy laws. Ever hear of HIPAA? I won’t get into it all here, other than to say that it is what keeps all your medical information–from your name to your diagnosis to your medications all the way to the flavor of jello on you AM tray–as private as possible. Perhaps you’ve been in a hospital recently (although I hope not) and seen the little signs posted asking medical personnel not to discuss their patients in the elevators? That’s part of HIPAA, but it’s way more far-reaching than that. Sure, I could simply change people’s names when I write about them, but I don’t think that’s really enough. There are a lot of medbloggers out there, and some seem to divulge more than others, but I don’t want to cross that line. It’s one thing to refer to your second-cousin as “Dink-Ass” on your blog and hope that none of your other relatives see it, but it’s another to call a patient “Jane Doe” but then go on to discuss that she’s 29, this is her 8th pregnancy, she’s had 5 terminations, has every Hepatitis in the alphabet, is high as a kite, and doesn’t want you to take her socks off because they’re full of stolen methadone. That’s a lot of information right there. Anyone computer savvy enough, with a strong enough will and enough free time could figure out exactly who I was talking about. I don’t know why someone would, but that’s not the point.
I’m hoping I can get around these issues by not naming which hospital I work at, and changing details enough to protect the privacy of the patient. I can’t think of how else to approach it; I’m willing to take any and all suggestions, though! Then I could feel free to tell you about the patient who showed up with a gigantic blue suitcase who was furious that no one would help her find her husband, and that she came all the way from Arkansas by bus to find his lyin’ cheatin’ self, and she knew he was around here someplace, that evil man who beat her up in a motel and got her pregnant. After we calmed her down a bit she said “It’s no wonder I can’t find him. He’s very busy. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Bill? Bill Frist? My Billy? And where the hell are my french fries?”. After we got over worrying about whether or not she had Mr. Frist stuffed inside that blue suitcase of hers she was gently escorted to our psych emergency department because (aside from the obvious) she wasn’t really pregnant and was therefore none of our concern.
One thing I can say about the giant, public, nameless, Level One trauma center where I work, is that it is never boring. That’s for damn sure.
October 31, 2005
@ 10:00 am
It’s a good thing you do, and if you need to blog about it, do. Don’t use names, try not to use identifying physical features, and if you give co-workers names, try to remember which is which. The only other real peice of advice I can give you is this, everyone is going to have their oppinions of what you do, what you say, what you believe, and what you don’t. Just do what’s right for you, if you think something goes to far, stop it in it’s tracks, and if you think it needs to be discussed more, go for it. This is YOUR space, and YOU are the only one that needs to feel comfy here.
October 31, 2005
@ 4:41 pm
You are in a bind.
I’m not sure if I have told you this, but I was a therapist once, and there are so many similar restrictions. To be safe, I used to talk only about how something affected me, not about the characteristics of the person. Another trick I used was only saying those things I’d say in front of my clinical supervisor. If you can’t do it, it’s best not to print it.
Now that I’ve adviced you all out . . .
I think you have such a good sense about you - you’ll know if you’ve gone too far.
October 31, 2005
@ 6:51 pm
having gone through labour and delivery less than 5 months ago; I salute you….the nurses that got me through it were AMAZING.
November 1, 2005
@ 1:06 pm
Ditto Kris; I blog about MY feelings, my reactions, my actions and only clients who are friends as well with their written permission–such as photos of a friend, etc, who was also my client and I attended their birth, etc.
Awesome thought provoking post.
I’ve linked your blog to my site!
Hh
November 1, 2005
@ 6:11 pm
About not offending anyone … my personal rule is that I try to: (1) be genuine and honest instead of vicious and rude and (2) think, “how would I feel if ___ said something similar about me.”
When I stick to those two things, I’m fine.
November 5, 2005
@ 1:28 am
Better to be safe than sorry–you just never know. The internet is too powerful, for sure. I enjoyed the post.
November 6, 2005
@ 2:16 pm
I think HIPAA is a little out of control. I understand the need for privacy but we should be able to blog about whatever we want as long as we change the names and location. Anyone can think that we are talking about their friends and family, but if we are sensitive about people, we can do it fairly. Thanks for stopping by my blog! How about a link? I’ll put yours on my link page too.. Be back later after I do some more homework!!
November 8, 2005
@ 1:00 pm
Hey Missb,
“I really don’t want to offend anyone ” and “I really don’t give a crap what anyone thinks of me”.
I feel exactly the same about my blog! ; )
And, I mostly stay on the fence, but sometimes when I get really upset about an issue, I jump off. Like before the last presidential election.
I think as long as you don’t name names and too many specifics, you should be fine. ALthough all the lines for blogs have not yet been drawn. They are somewhere between free press and free speech. Can be kinda tricky.
I for one though, would like to hear your stories.
November 9, 2005
@ 11:20 pm
Hi MissB!
I love your stories, hospital or no. kris’s advice is cool.
Or you could disguise names, locations, and traits, AND add a disclaimer about how all characters and events portrayed are fictitious. It works in movies (and they’re making that fictitious up too, in many cases!)
Hmmm… I think I took a friend to your big city level 1 trauma hospital which-shall-not-be-named (or one like it, anyway) last year. We spent all night in an ER (he had a kidney stone, poor thing.) The ER was replete with a crazy drunk Irish woman singing and yelling, and a very, very angry security guard who would not let me into the ER (even though the sweetie doc kept telling me to ignore her.)
April 4, 2006
@ 5:55 pm
Man libel is a tricky thing. I CAN say that HIPPA is a bitch. I work at a medical billing company and HIPPA has taken almost every ounce of fun out of my job. I work in the mailroom so I handle out-going claims and stuff. Well a piece of mail jammed in the postage meter and the envelope ripped open while my supervisor was in the room and he actually made me call the department where the claim originated to have someone come down to put the claim in a fresh envelope. I felt like an idiot.
November 12, 2008
@ 6:22 pm
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