Specializing in Per Diem Nursing, Travel Nursing, International Nurses, Allied Healthcare, Employment Services and more.

I was shocked while browsing a common nursing website to see the following headline.

Hospital Seeks To Fire Five Hospital Employees For Privacy Breaches On Social Network.

Since I am part of the baby boomer generation that doesn’t understand Facebook, Twitter, etc., I have a hard time with what I hear people post on these sites. I do, however, understand HIPPA laws, and I’m astonished that some nurses, judging by this article, do not.

Do we need a review of exactly what Patient Privacy Information Means? Sharing thoughts on how hard you’ve worked during a particular shift is harmless, but naming a patient or even a diagnosis is considered a violation and will lead to disciplinary action that could include termination.

This seems like Common Sense to me. I was educated in the dark ages before HIPPA, but I was schooled in Patient Confidentiality and what that means.

So please, THINK before you Post anything related to your patients, their diagnosis, their problems, the doctors attitude…this includes pictures of unusual conditions, wounds or you and your colleagues sharing cake in the break room.

Remember, once you send something into cyber space it’s out there! Let’s all use COMMON SENSE! - Donna Couturié, Director of Clinical Operations

As most of you may know, we officially moved into our new location at 505 City Parkway West, Suite 100, Orange, CA 92868 on May 21, 2010. To celebrate, we are hosting an Open House on August 6th from 4p-9p. We would like to invite you and a guest to join us in the celebration of our new corporate home. There will be cocktails and hors d’oeuvres served throughout the night. For more information and to RSVP by July 30, please contact Dannielle by phone at 800.575.9674 or email. We look forward to seeing everyone there.

Westways Insurance Open Enrollment starts today (June 14th) and ends on June 21st. All insurance enrollment or changes for 2010 will be done during this time. Click here to access the open enrollment page and please contact Connie by phone at 800.575.9674 or email for Company Code and to answer any questions you may have.

July 18th is quickly approaching…have you reserved your tickets to watch the San Diego Padres take on the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park? If you haven’t, you might want to contact Kimberly in our SD office at 858-514-1244 for more info about this event and to reserve your tickets before they are all gone!

Photo: Courtesy of the San Diego Padres

Westways Staffing Services is proud to be the sponsor of the Key Note Speaker at the ACNL’s Regional Forum for Southern California on Friday, June 18, 2010. The forum is scheduled from 9a - 2p and will be held at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center. Dr. Brian Wong of The Bedside Trust will be speaking about Where Patient Centered Care Begins - Rational Answers to Operational Problems, followed by Dorel Harms, SVP, Clinical Services of California Hospital Association. If you are interested in attending, please click here for more info.