I have ruminated and contemplated and agonized and stalled this narrative journey. It is difficult to tell the truth about your life, because writing a good memoir/personal narrative means risking yourself, and sometimes risking the confidences of those people in your life. I am reconciled with that. My concern is honoring the privacy of the people I care for as a nurse, while still telling the very full and deep stories and lessons in a way that is true to my experiences.
Legally, I am covered so long as the information I include is “de-identified.” See below regarding HIPPA’s Privacy Rule and methods to de-identify health information so that it is no longer protected health information:
De-Identified Health Information. There are no restrictions on the use or disclosure of de-identified health information.14 De-identified health information neither identifies nor provides a reasonable basis to identify an individual. There are two ways to de-identify information; either: (1) a formal determination by a qualified statistician; or (2) the removal of specified identifiers of the individual and of the individual’s relatives, household members, and employers is required, and is adequate only if the covered entity has no actual knowledge that the remaining information could be used to identify the individual.15
My approach to protecting my patients’ private information will be the second method listed above. I will be removing specified identifiers: names, dates of birth, etc, and changing them to a fictitious name of my choosing that is in no way related to the individual. Furthermore, I will not be identifying my employer, nor the location of my home or office, nor the location of my patient’s residence in any geographic locations smaller than a state.
Next, I recognize that dates, including dates of treatment, could, in some cases, be used to identify individuals. Dates of blog postings will not directly coincide with actual events. Any allusions to a date or time for the sake of the story will be fictitious.
Finally, while it is my desire to allow comments from readers, I will be screening all comments prior to posting them for the sole purpose of screening for potential identifiers. If a particular comment alludes to my geographical location, employer, or other identifier, I will be unable to post that comment.
