Hospital Setting

A patient has come through Emergency with a stab wound through the eye. All staff are in awe that the patient is still talking/walking and alert based on the depth and location of the wound. In order to proceed with operating, the patient needs to go through a scan to see how deep the wound is and assess any impact to the patient upon removal of the object. The staff are all discussing and passing around a picture of the wound between their personal cell phones and work email. This is occurring between multiple staff: nurses/physicians/diagnostic/housekeeping staff. The patients scan has her name/patient number/date of birth/health card number on the scan.

The issue is reported to one of the managers of the departments and they have come to you as the HR manager to report and discuss next steps.

Physician 1, Dr. Wah: Attending doc in emergency has forwarded the scan to colleagues for advice and consultation.Discussed the case with staff and a surgeon in Toronto. Not covered under a collective agreement.

Nurse 1 ER Nurse, Jessica: attending nurse was consulting with the physician on the case. Sent the scan to the OR nurse for consultation via email.Covered under the ONA collective Agreement.

Nurse 2 OR Nurse, Maggie: consulted on the case. Engaged in discussion/gossip with other colleagues about the case. Covered under the ONA collective Agreement.

Nurse 3 ER nurse, Brianne not involved in the case heard about it through others within the department. Looked up the scan and forwarded it to several other staff within the organization.This starts a massive sharing within the organization regarding the case. Covered under the ONA collective Agreement.

Imaging Staff 1, Larry: Took the scan on the patient and engaged in discussion as a consultant on the case.Covered under the OPSEU Collective Agreement.

Image Staff 2, Moe: Heard about the case and looked up the scan and forwarded to 5 others within the organization. Covered under the OPSEU Collective Agreement.

Housekeeping staff 1, Curly: received the scan from the imaging staff via work email and forwarded to her husband who does not work for the organization explaining the case in detail and in disbelief.Covered under the Unifor Collective Agreement.

Housekeeping staff 2, John: received the email from housekeeping staff 1 and reported it to her manager. Covered under the Unifor Collective Agreement.

Question- Make employers case

The following questions will assist you in what my expectations are:

What steps will you follow for your investigation?

What questions will you ask? And to whom?

What kinds of breaches apply here?

What other reports do you need to make and to what bodies/agencies?

What is the liability for the organization?

What do you suspect will be your outcomes?