Just a longer message about ER UA's in general. We run them sometimes, not necessarily as a tool to diagnose anything, but to RULE OUT drugs because imagine this, some people don't tell the truth even after being Medivac'd in with their life on the line.

Sometimes it is imperative to ascertain this information because being doped up can mimic/mask many other symptoms. Giving Narcan and/or charcoal to someone is not something we take lightly.

I have never in my years in the ER seen one malicious UA ever drawn where it was not in some way, shape, or form indicated. It is that simple, but then again this is a 1000+ bed University hospital's Level 1 Trauma, not a small place, we don't have the time or resources to UA everybody willy-nilly.

As for breaking HIPAA, never cool and in this litigious society, not something we hardly ever see any more "in-house". People these days are far more apt to break HIPAA via Facebook than at their place of work. I've seen more than a handful of people lose their jobs over Facebook postings. They are smart enough to toe the line at work but get retarded and forget the rules when they get home.

But... it's not a HIPAA violation if both people are involved with the patients care and the conversation is not in earshot of non-staff. Not sure why two RN's or MD's discussing someone's drug seeking should diminish your opinion of health care workers in general to be honest? I'm there to take care of sick people and don' have time when we are slammed to have to deal with someone who is there for no other reason than to have their pain med addiction fed. Take that for what you will.