Confidentiality-Being a pregnant health care provider

[HotI]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience being a pregnant woman, whilst working (or having worked as) as a healthcare provider or lab technician in womens health.

Has anybody been able to have pregnancy blood tests or other procedures under a different name (to keep your results private when potentially people you know will be handling the sample at some point)?

Were you able to keep work and home (your health) separate as much as YOU wanted to?

thanks,

k

[Mother Goose]

Kate, most places have rules and regulations in place for this sort of thing. Only certain people will be able to access results/open your history (usually senior people). This is certainly the way it is in the major public hospital I work in - even I can't access my file or history. Perhaps check to see if they have a similar policy where you work.

When we have high profile people come through our hospital, they are usually given an alias as well though.

HTH!

[Junglemum]

Can you go to a different lab? When i was working and first suspected i was preg, i went as far away from the hospital i worked at as possible.

[Trillian]

Yeah, I would do what Ange said and find another lab to use.

[HotI]

Um, for some tests there is only one lab in each State.

I have kinda worked through the industry in quite a few areas (through employment and study), from lab to health care provider in clinical setting.

I am trying to stay away from areas i have worked as much as possible but not always so easy. Even sitting in the waiting room, i am hoping i don't see colleagues or clients.

Will chat to the doc this week to see if there is policy in place, or arrangements that can be made.

Thanks

[Trillian]

Ahhh OK, that's a bit trickier then. I guess if you don't have any choice about which lab, you will just have to trust that anyone who handles the results has professional integrity and wont gossip about it. I don't think you would be able to get away with using a different name as you will need a medicare number etc, unless you can use your maiden name?

[HotI]

That is a possibility. Thanks.

[Schmickers]

This is certainly an issue. At the hospital I work at, I know of more than one occasion where staff working in Maternity pulled another staff member's file to have a sticky at the progress of their pregnancy. So very inappropriate. I hope you have more luck!

[HotI]

Yeah, i have already had some experience with how the principles of confidentiality and privacy don't always work in the real world.

Thanks

[scarypinkfairy]

can't really offer any advice, just i have the same problem. my results are there on the comps should anyone suspect anything and i don't think they would think twice about looking me up either. just hope they don't.

[Inanna]

I too have experienced this & I know no way around it. It didn't really bother me too much though... Except when I was working for a pathology company and the results of my amnio were known by all...

It's a tough one Kate...