Nursing

In the news: Medical blogs leak patient secrets, study finds

Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, August 11, 2008

Blogs maintained by nurses and physicians can be used to share interesting information about the world of healthcare. They can help stressed out providers let off steam and share a laugh. But do they reveal too much information?

A recent study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine looked at 271 Web diaries maintained by nurses or physicians and found that 42% of them contained accounts of private interactions with patients. Three of the blogs even showed recognizable photographic images.

The study, conducted by Tara Lagu, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar, also found that 65% of the blogs were written anonymously. The rest included identifying names. You can view an abstract of the study online.

Sources: kaisernetwork.org and the Los Angeles Times

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