Patient Safety & Communication

01HIPAA & the Minimum Necessary Standard

HIPAA's minimum necessary standard means staff should only access or share the patient health information needed to do their specific job. Discussing a patient's health information with coworkers who aren't involved in their care — even casually — is a violation.

02Patient Identifiers

The Joint Commission requires at least two identifiers (such as full name and date of birth) before any care, treatment, medication administration, or specimen collection. A room number or bed number is never an acceptable identifier.

03Duty to Report Abuse & Neglect

Nearly all healthcare workers, including CNAs and medical assistants, are mandated reporters. You must report a reasonable suspicion of abuse, neglect, or exploitation through your facility's required channel — you do not need proof, and you cannot wait to see if it happens again.

04Physical Restraints

Per CMS rules, restraints may be used only as a last resort for a documented medical symptom, after less restrictive measures have failed, under a physician's order tied to the care plan. They can never be ordered PRN, or used for staff convenience, discipline, or solely on a family's request.

05Chain of Command

The chain of command is the reporting structure staff must follow for clinical or safety concerns — a CNA or MA reports to their supervising nurse or provider first, rather than skipping levels or going directly to a physician or the patient's family without following facility protocol.

06Recognizing Types of Abuse

Abuse and neglect can take several forms: physical, emotional/psychological, sexual, financial/exploitation, neglect, and abandonment. Recognizing the signs of any of these is part of a healthcare worker's duty to report.