A nurse approaches a computer workstation in the hospital hallway to document client care and notices the previous nurse left a client's electronic health record (EHR) open and unattended. Arrange the following actions the nurse should take in the correct chronological order from first to last.
- 1Close the currently open client record to protect their privacy.
- 2Log out the previous user from the computer system completely.
- 3Log in to the electronic health record system using your own personal credentials.
- 4Document the required client care assessments in the correct medical record.
Answer
The correct sequence is to first close the open record, then log out the previous user, log in with personal credentials, and finally document the care.
When an unattended, open EHR is discovered, the nurse's first priority is to mitigate the immediate breach of confidentiality by closing the visible record. Next, the nurse must ensure system security by completely logging out the previous user. Only after securing the workstation can the nurse log in using their own unique credentials to establish a proper audit trail, and finally, proceed with documenting their own client care.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Immediate mitigation of privacy breaches and maintaining secure, accountable access to electronic health records.