Why Do Some Nurses Prefer Night Shift?

April 24, 2017March 21, 2017 / Jordyn Redwood / 6 Comments

I was reading a newly released medical thriller when I came across this passage:

“Nurses on night shift were often young (lack of seniority meant they had no choice but to work unpopular hours) and surly (i.e., pissed off about it.)”

Yes, that’s a quote. Perhaps I’m being oversensitive (okay, of course I am), but this is my profession and I don’t like me or my colleagues to be painted in such broad strokes so I thought I would give some reasons why some nurses actually prefer to work nights and are even very happy about it. These are not numbered according to importance.

1. Night Shift Differential. Nurses are generally paid a nice differential for working nights. This varies widely depending on the institution but can be a nice bump in pay. This may translate into working less and being able to spend more time with family or getting more bang for your buck for working the same hours.

2. We’re just night people. I know day shift people don’t understand that it is easier for some people to stay up all night. Our clocks are a little bit different than most other people. That’s a good thing, right? You don’t want your night nurses falling asleep and it’s a good thing some nurses like working nights because hospitals run 365/24/7. Personally, I think a crime has occurred if I have to be up before the sunrise. It feels wrong on a cellular level.

3. Child Care Reasons. Some families like to juggle one (or even both) parents working nights to limit or stave off daycare costs.

4. Less Administration on Site. This might be the night shift untold secret, but there are infinitely less administrators around during the night shift which means less overall scrutiny. I don’t mean to say night nurses are crazy with power and do inappropriate things, but there is a more relaxed feeling on nights because of this. Government entities don’t pop in at 0300 for a surprise inspection— though they might now that I’ve written this.

5. More Relaxed Pace. Many nurses prefer nights because of the more relaxed pace. Fewer tests and procedures to take your patient to. In the ER setting, less overall patients as the night goes on (though you also have less nurses to take care of those patients.) For inpatient and ICU nurses, doctors round during the day which is when the most orders are generated. Not having as many tasks leaves more time to truly connect with your patient. When we have only one or two ER patients at 4AM— we can spend a lot of time teaching and/or visiting with families.

6. They are smart, scrappy people. Not to say this isn’t true of day shift nurses, but night shift nurses usually have less resources available to them overnight. There are fewer people— fewer bodies to help in a code. Support services like lab, pharmacy, central supply, etc may not staff people 24/7 so if a patient needs something, night shift nurses have to think outside the box.

Overall, what raised my ire about these two small sentences from this author (a male physician) was the “surly” connotation. Even if a nurse doesn’t like to work nights, they do not take it out on their patients because of it. Are there cranky, surly nurses? Sure.

However, you can find them on both days and nights.

Love your night shift nurses. They are there for you when everyone else sleeps. And many are highly professional, excellent nurses with years of experience.

Civil War Medicine: Part 1/4

April 10, 2017March 16, 2017 / Jordyn Redwood / 1 Comment

I’m pleased to host Erin Rainwater as she shares her expertise concerning Civil War Medicine.

Welcome, Erin!

Pre-war medical system.

This year marks the Sesquicentennial (150-year anniversary) of the beginning of the Civil War. If you’ve never studied it much, I recommend you use these four commemorative years as an incentive to expand your knowledge of it.

That war was a watershed time in our nation’s history like no other event before or since, in war or peacetime. It even changed the way citizens referred to their nation. From the time of the Revolution until then the country was thought of as a collection of independent states. Shelby Foote, the Civil War historian who made you feel like you were there, said that prior to the war people would say, “The United States are…” As a result of the war, it was grammatically spoken as “The United States is…” That’s what that war accomplished, Foote said. It made us an is.

There are many interesting facets regarding the standards of medical care and how it was delivered back when we were still an are. Some of what we read about seems barbaric to us now, yet American surgeons were up to international standards of medical science of the time. Furthermore, as often happens in time of war, this conflict quickly propelled physicians into the role of leaders in medical and surgical breakthroughs.

Prior to the war, cleanliness was regarded as insignificant except in respect to gross contamination by foreign matter. Surgeons operated in street clothes or donned a surgical apron. They might wipe bloody and pus-laden instruments on their aprons or a rag, but washing them wasn’t routine. Clean linens and washed hands were statistically proven to be of value but rejected as non-scientific.

Medical school in the 1860s was normally two years long. Microscopy was taught, as was the cell theory of tissue structure. Tissue samples were stained and analyzed, urinalyses and stool studies were performed.

The primary anesthetics available were ether and chloroform, each having its pros and cons. Chloroform was non-flammable, which made it preferable during the war when gunpowder was lying about and bullets flying about. It was also faster acting. On the down side, it was easier to overdose a patient with chloroform, and anesthesia-related fatalities were higher. Surgeons and attendants, however, were more easily overcome by the vapors of ether while performing surgery.

At the outbreak of hostilities, there were few military physicians, fewer military hospitals, and lack of a hospital corps. Nursing and other duties were performed by soldiers temporarily assigned to hospital detail, and who were not necessarily qualified nor of upstanding character. After the fighting began, civilian doctors flooded into the military system. Others chose not to join up but worked as contract physicians. Doctors not only were required to be skilled but were expected to organize, equip, supply and administrate their hospitals. The enlisting, training and disciplining of subordinates was also in their job description.

Female nurses were rarely tolerated. They were believed to lack the physical strength to help wounded men, and especially in the South they were considered too delicate and refined to assist a rough soldier in bathing and tending to personal hygiene. It was generally conceded, however, that women were more attuned to the emotional needs of the sick and more skilled at “sanitary domestic economy.”

As word of Florence Nightingale’s notable work in the Crimean War spread, women’s abilities in the field of nursing became more widely acknowledged. Some American physicians who had gone to the Crimea to assist the British came home reporting that the female nurses were undeniably competent and able to care for soldiers with war-related wounds and illnesses. It was finally becoming more seemly for females to care for male patients. Their pay, however, was half of what civilian male nurses received to care for military patients. In my novel, True Colors, Cassie Golden receives the standard pay for civilian female nurses working in a government hospital—twelve dollars a month plus meals. That is for twelve-hour shifts, usually five days per week but often more. And she was glad to have it.

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Erin Rainwater is a Pennsylvania native whose trip to Gettysburg when she was twelve enhanced her already deep interest in the Civil War. She attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and entered the Army Nurse Corps upon graduation. Serving during the Vietnam War era, she cared for the bodies and spirits of soldiers and veterans, including repatriated POWs and MIAs. Now living in Colorado, she is a member of a Disaster Medical Assistance Team, and has been deployed to disaster areas around the country. True Colors is partly based on her military and nursing experiences as well as extensive research. She also authored The Arrow That Flieth By Day, a historical love story set in 1860s Colorado, and Refining Fires, a uniquely written love story that was released in July, 2010. Erin invites you to visit her “virtual fireside”.

***Contest reposted from January 10th, 2011.***

Sarah Sundin: WWII Nursing Part 3/3

December 16, 2016December 3, 2016 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

This is Sarah’s final installment concerning her research into WWII nursing. I want to thank Sarah for all the great information she provided. I know I learned a lot. What was one interesting thing you learned?

Click the links for Part I and Part II.

US Army Nursing in World War II—Part 3

“Lieutenant Holmes is going into anaphylaxis.”

Harriet’s elfin face blanched. “Oh no. Thank goodness Dr. Sinclair is on the ward.”

“Not yet.” Ruth grabbed a tray and put two sterilized syringes on top.

“So—so why are you already getting the meds?”

“I want to be ready when he comes. I can’t waste any time.” One vial of adrenaline.

“But he hasn’t ordered them yet.”

Ruth leveled a look at the girl. “I know the treatment for anaphylaxis.”

“That—that’s presumptuous of you. You’ll make the doctor angry.”

Ruth pulled a vial of morphine. “I don’t care about the doctor’s feelings. I care about my patient’s life.”

In my World War II novel, A Memory Between Us, the heroine, Lt. Ruth Doherty, serves as a US Army Nurse in England. The amount of research seemed daunting, but I found fantastic resources, read intriguing real-life accounts, and gathered fascinating facts about nursing in World War II.

On November 24th, I covered requirements to serve in the Army Nurse Corps. On November 26th, I discussed the training the nurses underwent and rank in the Army Nurse Corps. And today I’ll provide some details on uniforms, nursing practices, and a list of my favorite resources.

Uniforms

On the job, nurses wore a white ward dress with the white nurse’s cap. They were also issued a set of “dress blues,” a dark blue service jacket and a medium blue skirt, a white or blue shirt, black tie, black shoes, and a dark blue garrison cap or service cap. This uniform is pictured on the cover of A Memory Between Us. A dark blue cape lined with red and an overcoat were also used for outdoors wear. Starting in July 1943, the blue uniform was replaced with an olive drab service jacket and skirt and cap, khaki shirt and tie, and brown shoes—but implementation was slow and sporadic.

In combat areas, white ward dresses and skirted suits were absurdly impractical, but the Army was slow to provide appropriate clothing for women. In 1942 during the early campaign in North Africa, the women resorted to wearing men’s fatigues and boots—in men’s sizes. In time the nurses were issued WAC (Women’s Army Corps) field uniforms and the popular Parson’s field jacket, as well as easily laundered seersucker ward outfits, both dresses and pantsuits.

Nursing Practice

On the ward, the nurse was assisted by a male medic, an enlisted man. Some men had serious problems taking orders from women, and some didn’t. In stateside hospitals, Red Cross nurses’ aides also served. Physicians entered the Medical Corps with the rank of captain and only male physicians were admitted to the Corps. As was typical in the 1940s, the physicians expected unquestioning, speedy obedience from nurses.

For the writer, it’s important to remember this was long before our disposable, single-use, universal precautions era. Syringes were made of glass and were sterilized in bichloride of mercury before reuse. Gloves were washed and reused—and holes were even patched. Improvisation was the rule, especially in combat areas, and nurses used their creativity and imagination to turn trash into useful items.

Resources

http://history.amedd.army.mil/ANCWebsite/anchome.html (The official website for Army Nurse Corps history.)

Sarnecky, Mary T. “A History of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.” Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. (A comprehensive history with a thick section on WWII).

Tomblin, Barbara Brooks. “G.I. Nightingales: the Army Nurse Corps in World War II.” Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996. (A wonderful history, including all theaters, full of personal stories).

Brayley, Martin. “World War II Allied Nursing Services.” Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. (Detailed information on military nurses’ uniforms).

http://library.uncg.edu/dp/wv/ (The Women Veterans Historical Project—a vast collection of oral histories, letters, photographs, diaries and other treasures).

http://history.amedd.army.mil/books.html (Prepare to get lost…this website contains dozens of on-line historical medical texts, from detailed—800 page!—books describing medical services in each theater, to period textbooks used for neuropsychiatry to infectious disease to orthopedic surgery).

***This blog originally posted 11/29/2010***
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sarahsundin2 Sarah Sundin is the author of the Wings of Glory series from Revell: A Distant Melody (March 2010), A Memory Between Us (September 2010), and Blue Skies Tomorrow (August 2011). She has a doctorate in pharmacy from UC San Francisco and works on-call as a hospital pharmacist.

Sarah Sundin: WWII Nursing Part 2/3

December 14, 2016December 3, 2016 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

We’re continuing our three part series with historical author Sarah Sundin about her research into WWII nursing. You can find Part I here.

US Army Nursing in World War II—Part 2

Ruth hugged her knees to her chest, her dark blue cape tented around her against the gray chill.

Where would the money come from? Promotions were meager in the Army Nurse Corps. All the nurses were second lieutenants except the chief nurse, a first lieutenant. At twenty-three, Ruth was too young and inexperienced to become a chief nurse.

She’d always solved her own problems, but now she longed for advice, and she kept thinking about Major Novak.

In my World War II novel, A Memory Between Us, the heroine, Lt. Ruth Doherty serves as a US Army Nurse in England. The amount of research seemed daunting, but I found fantastic resources, read intriguing real-life accounts, and gathered fascinating facts about nursing in World War II.

On November 24th, I covered requirements to serve in the Army Nurse Corps. Today I’ll discuss the training the nurses underwent and rank in the Army Nurse Corps. And on November 29th, I’ll provide some details on uniforms, nursing practices, and a list of my favorite resources.

Recruitment and Training

The American Red Cross served as the traditional reserve for the Army Nurse Corps. On October 9, 1940, the ANC called the reserves to active duty, to volunteer for a one-year commitment. At first there was no formal military training for nurses. On July 19, 1943, the first basic training center for nurses opened. Training centers were located at Fort Devens, MA; Halloran General Hospital, Staten Island, NY; Camp McCoy, WI; and Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio, TX. The nurses trained for four weeks, learning military courtesy and practices, sanitation, ward management, camouflage, the use of gas masks, and map reading. They also drilled and underwent physical training.

To train the increased number of nurses needed during the war, Congress authorized the Cadet Nurse Corps on July 1, 1943. The government paid for women to attend civilian nursing programs in exchange for service in the Army Nurse Corps upon graduation. The women in this accelerated program (two and a half years instead of three) had their own special cadet uniforms.

Rank

Nurses entered the ANC as second lieutenants, and the vast majority of them stayed at that rank. The chief nurse of a hospital was usually a first lieutenant, but sometimes a second lieutenant or a captain. The highest rank in the ANC was held by the superintendent of the ANC, a colonel.

Even so, nurses held “relative rank.” They held the title, wore the insignia, were admitted to officers’ clubs, and had the privilege of the salute, but they had limited authority in the line of duty and initially received less pay than men of similar rank. On December 22, 1942, Congress authorized military nurses to receive pay equivalent to a man of the same rank without dependents, and on June 22, 1944, Congress authorized temporary commissions with full pay and privileges.

One of the main reasons nurses were granted officer status was to “protect” them from the great crowd of enlisted men, and—it was often thought—for male officers to keep the women for themselves. The Army had rules against fraternization between officers and enlisted personnel.

***This blog originally posted 11/26/2010.***

********************************************************************************************* sarahsundin2 Sarah Sundin is the author of the Wings of Glory series from Revell: A Distant Melody (March 2010), A Memory Between Us (September 2010), and Blue Skies Tomorrow (August 2011). She has a doctorate in pharmacy from UC San Francisco and works on-call as a hospital pharmacist.

Sarah Sundin: WWII Nursing Part 1/3

December 12, 2016December 3, 2016 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Redwood’s Medical Edge is pleased to host historical author Sarah Sundin who has done extensive research regarding nursing during WWII.

US Army Nursing in World War II—Part 1

“I love this smell, don’t you?” May said.

“Bichloride of mercury?” Ruth laughed and shook water from a pair of gloves. “Only a nurse would like this smell.”

May rolled syringes in a pan of the blue green disinfectant. “In the orphanage I had no control over my life, but with soapy water and a stiff brush, I could scrub away the smells and pretend I lived in a castle.”

Ruth draped the brown latex gloves over a clothesline to dry before being sterilized. “Cleanliness may not be next to godliness, but it beats back the demons of poverty.”

In my World War II novel, A Memory Between Us, the heroine, Lt. Ruth Doherty serves as a US Army Nurse in England. The amount of research seemed daunting at first, but I found fantastic resources, read intriguing real-life accounts, and gathered fascinating facts about nursing in World War II.

Combat produces injuries. Injuries require treatment. If you write a novel set during World War II, you may have to write a medical scene—and you’ll want to get the details right about your nurse characters.

During World War II, 57,000 women served in the US Army Nurse Corps (ANC), 11,000 in the Navy Nurse Corps (NNC), and 6500 in the Army Air Forces. More than two hundred nurses died serving their country.

Today I’ll cover requirements to serve in the Army Nurse Corps. On November 26th, I’ll discuss the training the nurses underwent and rank in the Army Nurse Corps. And on November 29th, I’ll provide some details on uniforms, nursing practices, and a list of my favorite resources.

Requirements

To serve in the Army Nurse Corps, women had to be 21-40 years old (raised to 45 later in the war), unmarried (married nurses were accepted starting in late 1942), a high school graduate, a graduate of a 3-year nursing training program, licensed in at least one state, a US citizen or a citizen of an Allied country, 5’0”-6’0,” have a physician’s certificate of health and a letter testifying to moral and professional excellence.

Pregnancy was the main cause of discharge from the Army Nurse Corps, or as the women called it, PWOP (Pregnant WithOut Permission). To discourage pregnancy, the Army had a cumbersome process to gain approval for marriage. Other methods to prevent pregnancy included careful placement of nurses’ quarters, discouraging drinking, and encouraging the women to socialize in groups. The second main reason for discharge was “neuropsychiatric,” what we call combat fatigue nowadays.

Remember that gender and race discrimination was still rampant in the 1940s. Male nurses were not allowed in the ANC during World War II, and only a limited number of African-American nurses. Despite a large number of black registered nurses in the United States, fewer than five hundred were allowed to serve, and then only to care for black patients or for prisoners of war.

***This post originally published 11/24/2010.***

What Does a Nurse Do? Part 3/3

October 14, 2016October 4, 2016 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

This week, we’ve been examining the role of the nurse at the beside. Thus far, we’ve looked at the nurse as advocate and safety net. Let’s look at the nurse/physician relationship.

Here is Part I and Part II.

I work in an emergency department. I would say that I have a symbiotic relationship with the on duty physician. One cannot survive without the other. For instance, say there aren’t any nurses to staff the ED. How well do you think that one physician could provide medical care? What if the physician falls ill? Can the nurses provide medical care? What is the difference?

A physician’s role is to diagnose illness and determine the course of treatment. A nurse’s role is to initiate the medical plan of care, monitor the patient’s response to that medical plan, and educate the patient and family regarding their illness. You can see, one without the other and the ER comes to a halt.

Can a nurse refuse to carry out a physician’s order? Let’s look at one hypothetical example: A physician orders morphine for a child at ten times the normal dose. This is clearly dangerous and could kill the patient. What would a nurse do? First, I would have a conversation with the physician about the order. I would state my concerns and the physician will likely change the order. If that doesn’t work, I would approach another physician with my concerns to see if I can get an ally in re-approaching the ordering doctor. Some professionals will better handle being questioned by a peer vs. who they might consider a subordinate. Regardless of my view of having a symbiotic relationship with the physician, some doctors do view the nurse as a subordinate to just carry out the orders as written. This is becoming more rare. If that doctor to doctor talk doesn’t work, then I would call my nurse manager. If the nurse manager agrees the situation is dangerous, she can begin to pull in the medical director who can address the issue.

Say the order isn’t dangerous but I don’t want to initiate the order. Some medications are dangerous for a pregnant nurse to give but are fine for a non-pregnant patient to receive. If I was pregnant and didn’t want to give the drug for that reason, I would ask another nurse or the physician to do it.

What if the nurse has a conscious objection? What can she do then? Thoughts?

What Does a Nurse Do? Part 2/3

October 12, 2016October 7, 2016 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Let’s continue our discussion of what a nurse’s role really is and how you can use this to increase conflict in your manuscript.

You can find Part I here.

Last post we looked at the nurse as patient advocate. This post, we’ll look at the nurse german-shepherd-puppy as the patient’s safety net. Which dog would you rather have defending your house? The cute, furry puppy or the grown dog with the watchful eye? A strong nurse is the patient’s watchdog. I look out for my patient’s interests when they may not be able to do so.

I am often the last line of defense between everything and the patient. Let’s delve into the medication arena. The nurse gives the patient’s medications. It’s my job to ensure that what the physician orders is the correct medication for the illness, for the right patient at the right dose given the right route (by mouth, intravenously, etc…). One of the challenges in pediatrics is there is no standard dose. Every drug dose is based on the patient’s weight. I’m not going to give the same amount of morphine to a 5kg infant vs. an 80kg teen. If the patient is not weighed or their weight is entered incorrectly, this can have disastrous effects when medications are given.

german-shepherd-578929_1920 Medication errors do happen. I want to reassure you that there are a lot of safeguards in place to prevent such occurrences. Most departments are going to computer based medication ordering. This is beneficial in many ways. One, the order is typed and therefore easily read eliminating mistakes in reading handwriting. Second, most medication based ordering systems have built in safeguards that will check the prescribed dose against the patient’s weight to make sure the dose is not too high. In pediatrics specifically, all high risk medications are double checked by another nurse and co-signed on the chart. But as a good nurse functions as a safety net, so should the parent question what is being given to their child and why.

Let’s take a real life example. During my years in the pediatric ICU, I worked at a teaching hospital. At this particular institution, residents could rotate through the unit their second year. I had a second year resident order potassium, which is a potent electrolyte, at four times the recommended dose. Now, if too much potassium is given, it will cause the heart to stop beating. That’s how big this error could have been.

I approached the resident and questioned the order. He stated, “But the drug book says to give 4meq/kg/day.” I explained that the “per/day” was the key term. That the drug should be divided into four doses given every six hours, no more than 1meq/kg at one time. I told him he could order it that way, but the pharmacy wouldn’t fill it and I certainly wouldn’t give it.

Needless to say he changed the order and the drug was given correctly.

Have you ever had a medication error happen to you? How do you think it could have been prevented?

What Does A Nurse Do? Part 1/3

October 10, 2016October 4, 2016 / Jordyn Redwood / 2 Comments

I still find it interesting that many outside of healthcare don’t truly understand what a nurse does. Television, movies, and fiction all have varying takes on the subject– most of which don’t depict reality.

teen-girl What is your definition of a nurse? When you’re in contact with the medical system, what do you want a nurse to do for you? I would love to know.

My ultimate role as a nurse is to serve as an advocate for my patients. In pediatrics, that means my clients range from a newly born infant to a young adult who is most often accompanied by a parent. How can this be a source of conflict? Let’s take a look at an example of how my advocating for a child can become a source of conflict between me and the parent.

A parent presents with her teen daughter and wants her tested for drugs. The mother has concerns that her child may be experimenting and wants confirmation. Can we run a drug test that covers common drugs of abuse? Yes. Will we in this situation? Depends.

How are we going to obtain the urine specimen if the teen is not a willing participant? We would have to hold her down, pull her legs apart, and insert a catheter into her bladder. Legally, this would likely be considered assault if the teen is not having a medical emergency. A medical emergency would be something dramatic– like no pulse and no breathing. Or, the patient is unconscious and we’re trying to determine why. In this situation, the teen is not experiencing a medical emergency. The teen is awake, alert, and communicating appropriately. As a nurse, I am not going to do that to her regardless of the parent’s demands.

What are the options?

First, the physician will have a conversation with the parent and child to discern the parent’s concern. The child will be interviewed alone and asked pointed questions about their drug use. The parent may also be interviewed alone as well. The first issue is to figure out if there is a legitimate concern. If there is, will the teen willingly submit to the drug test? If so, we’ll run the drug screen. If not, in a non-emergency situation, the approach will likely be to get the family into some counseling.

However, if we do drug test the teen, we may or may not disclose the results to the parent. Whether or not this information would be released depends on the state and the age of the child.

How has a nurse advocated for you?

Author Question: Disclosing Protected Health Information Under HIPAA

January 23, 2013March 18, 2019 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Remember the nurse who committed suicide in the wake of the Australian radio DJ’s that posed as the Queen of England to get the medical staff to disclose private details of the Duchess?

I totally get, as a nurse, why she made that choice.

Every day, nurses face critical choices that can have dire consequences. Most often, I can say from being in this field for 25 years, that 99% of the time, medical people DO NOT have ill intentions toward their patients. They are not maliciously trying to harm people. Do mistakes happen . . . yes. But usually it is the result of a system wide problem.

This nurse that patched through the radio personality posing as the Queen of England probably was thinking, “Wow, the Queen! I better patch her through post haste. I wouldn’t want to do anything to upset the monarchy.”

She may have been star-struck– I don’t know. But we don’t ask for credentials over the phone. If you say your Britney Spears’s sister– why should I doubt you?

I can understand the horror this nurse must have felt when she learned of the prank. I know she likely feared for her job (and had every right to be fearful). I know she likely felt horrified that that one simple action of transferring a phone call led to mass attention being drawn her way.

Sadly, since I don’t know this nurse personally and am only guessing, this may have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

HIPAA issues/violations can have dire consequences for the healthcare provider. We can lose our jobs.

In short, HIPAA is a set of laws designed to protect patient’s privacy. I’ve done a series on HIPAA that you can find here. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

However, I recently got an author’s question that kind of took a new spin so I thought I’d cover it here.

Glenda asks:

In the novel I’m writing (my first), I have a young mother of a four-year-old who is in a coma because of an automobile accident hundreds of miles away from her home. There are no other next of kin other than the child. How can a minister who’s trying to help solve a mystery get more information about her condition? Who can the doctor disclose her condition to? What information can be disclosed under HIPAA? If you would address that in one of your future blogs, I would greatly appreciate it. I’ve read through a lot of information but haven’t seen anything that addresses a situation such as this. Thank you so much!

Jordyn Says:

I think it will be hard for this minister to get information unless he became the appointed legal guardian over her (since she’s incapacitated and he’s caring for her son and they can’t find any other family.) This might be a better question to run by a lawyer– how could he become her legal guardian? The hospital is going to want someone they can go to. If he served that way— they would release information to him. Likely, he’d have to fill out a request through the medical records department.

In lieu of that– likely what he would be told would be the condition. Grave, Critical, Poor, Fair, Stable, Good— something along those lines without specific information.

In follow-up Glenda did ask her son-in-law who is a lawyer this question and here is her information after that consultation.

Glenda says:

My attorney son-in-law said that the minister would have to go before a judge to be a guardian ad litem (in South Carolina at least) in order to get medical information on the mother and to make decisions for the child while the mother was unable to do so. Thanks for your advice!

My pleasure, Glenda. And best of luck with this novel.

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Glenda Manus recently retired after teaching 30 years in an elementary school. Her love of reading good books prompted her to try and write one of her own. Though book writing is a challenge (Amen, sister!) she feels God is with her on the journey.