I feel that my father’s medical records have been compromised by the staff of the hospital where he is a patient. While visiting last week, I walked by the nurses’ station and overheard a nurse talking openly and loudly to others about my father’s condition, including his lack of bowel movements and his possible dementia. Some were joking about his calling one of them his wife. The nurses’ station is in the center of the ward, and anyone walking by or in many of the rooms could hear the nurses. I feel that his right to privacy has been compromised, and I’d like to know how to deal with this.

While private discussions in an in-patient setting may be difficult to manage, we believe that you have cause for concern. Each patient or facility resident has a right to privacy with regard to his/her personal and clinical records. By law, your father’s records must be kept confidential. Staff discussions about his medical condition should take place in a manner that does not compromise the duty of confidentiality. And idle chitchat and jokes about patients in earshot of other patients and family members have no place in a health care facility. While we realize that staff members are very busy and that the job is hectic, public discussions such as you have described are inexcusable, and should be reported to the facility administrator.