What are some examples of when you might have to pass on information given in confidence to you by an individual in your care?

Answer 1

In healthcare, patients often assume that everything they say is confidential and can never be shared. That is untrue. There are numerous situations in which all health care providers are mandatory reporters under State and Federal Laws.

Examples that would require mandatory reporting are:

• An 80-yr-old woman tells her home health aide that the elderly woman's middle aged daughter claimed her husband is abusing their teenage daughter.
• An 83-yr old man tells his home health aide that he gave the other home health aide $1,000. last month.
• A 53-yr old woman hospitalized for broken ribs confides to the nurse that the woman is being beaten by her husband.
• A teenager reports that she stays home from school several times a month to take care of her 3 younger siblings while her mother calls the teen in "sick" to the school.
• A 34-yr old man lost his job, has chronic health problems, and admitted after a traffic accident that he wished he had died; the police forced him to go to the E.R. for a mandatory psych evaluation and 72-hour hold.
• A 40-yr old woman tells her doctor a "secret"-- her infant daughter did not die of S.I.D.S. 3 yrs ago. The doctor calls the police.
• A man tells that he stole his daughter-in-law's oxycontin and sold them. He is reported to the police and the DEA.
• These are not all the types of situations that could be reported.

Answer 2

The type of information that would normally be considered to be confidential that might need to be passed on in a care setting would be anything that could implicate a person's safety and well-being. Such situations include threats of self-harm or causing hurt to another person.