Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers

During her break, Beverly, a nursing assistant at Willow Grove Care Center, sees a pile of photocopied patient records on top of the breakroom trash can. Karen, a volunteer, comes in and grabs them saying, “Oops. I didn’t mean to leave these here. Good thing they didn’t empty the trash.”

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Beverly is concerned about Karen’s actions. She wants to take the papers out of the volunteer’s hands and tell the volunteer that she is violating patient privacy. But a recent memo from the volunteer coordinator has asked that staff treat the volunteers more respectfully. While Beverly wonders what to do, Karen leaves and Vu, another nursing assistant, enters the room. Beverly decides to ask Vu for her advice.

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Vu tells her, “What Karen did could be violating patient privacy. That’s a big deal, and she shouldn’t have left those records out. I’m not even sure she should have them. You should go to the nursing supervisor and the volunteer coordinator and tell them what you saw.”

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Beverly doesn’t want to get Karen in trouble, but she knows patient privacy is very important. By going to her supervisor, Beverly hopes Karen can learn what she can and cannot do to protect patient privacy at Willow Grove.