"HIPAA has made it illegal, under threat of severe penalty, for health care practitioners to disclose confidential health information about patients to unauthorized sources."

Questions

1. A second-year nursing student is completing their surgical rotation in a community hospital. At the breakfast table, the student's husband asks her to find out what is wrong with one of his employees, who has been hospitalized for several days. He is interested in knowing when the employee may be able to return to work. Is it ethical for the nursing student to give her husband the information? Explain your answer.
2. What should healthcare practitioners do when family members or friends ask them for information about others that they have discovered in the course of their employment?