A nurse who went live on TikTok at her workplace is facing backlash after she filmed herself organizing patients’ medications, drawing numerous comments with concerns about patient privacy and possible HIPAA violations.
The nurse who goes by Yazz Scott on TikTok went viral after a portion of one of her TikTok Lives was screen-recorded and shared across social media platforms.
In the live, Scott, an LPN, is seen on her shift in front of a patient’s room at a nursing home as she prepares pills and a pain relief treatment. Several people left comments saying she was violating HIPAA and could lose her nursing license for her actions.
“I’m not showing any patient information, so just relax,” Scott states in response to the comments.” I’m not showing nothing, I’m just at work, so just chill. Y’all just be doing the most. Y’all suck the fun out of everything. Damn!”
As she’s preparing the medication, she also opens a package with her teeth to remove a Lidocaine pain relief patch while saying to the camera, “This is not sanitary.”
She then goes into the patient’s room with the medication, comes out, then says, “Oh shoot,” and returns to the patient’s room again to retrieve the Lidocaine. When a viewer asks what happened, she clarifies that the patient was only supposed to be given the patch during the daytime, not at night.
As more comments pour in, Scott begins to block viewers giving negative feedback.
“As long as I’m not showing any patient information, I don’t understand why y’all be on here doing so much, just doing way too much,” Scott says. “I know what HIPAA is. I’ve been in the health care field a very long time, even as a CNA.”
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA for short, establishes strict standards for health care providers to prevent unauthorized access or misuse of a patient’s protected health information, including names, phone numbers, medical history, and treatment information. HIPAA violations can occur when health care providers fail to get proper authorization from patients to share their records or share protected information over unsecured networks and through personal emails, texts, or on social media.
In one video on Scott’s TikTok, she shows herself at work organizing and preparing medication again. Some viewers noted that some of her footage shows items with patients’ information, even if those details are barely noticeable.
After news of her TikTok Live made the rounds online, Scott took to her channel again, this time to apologize for her actions and her attitude toward viewers voicing their concerns.
In one video, she said, “I’m well aware of what I’ve done and how extreme it is, and I do take full accountability for that,” while thanking viewers for their guidance and constructive criticism.
“In no way, shape, or form was that appropriate or the right thing to do,” Scott said of her actions. “What I did was not right … I am a brand new nurse and I love being a nurse, I love my job. I love being able to say I’m a nurse. And I think I just took it overboard. I got a little bit excited.”
In other videos, Scott shared that she graduated from nursing school and passed her licensing exam (NCLEX) last summer.
Scott said Thursday that her actions were reported to the nursing board in the state where she works. Nurses who violate HIPAA laws can face disciplinary action from their employers or licensing board, or must undergo retraining. In serious cases, health care providers can face penalties like fines, job terminations or suspensions. Scott confirmed that she is suspended until the investigation is completed.
