2 Manitoba nurses fined $1K each for breaching patient privacy

Two Manitoba nurses have been slapped with $1,000 fines each in two separate incidents in which the confidential medical information of a patient was shared — in violation of privacy rules.

In one instance, a nurse was training others and opened her own computerized health information file to demonstrate.

She also opened another person's file to show how the electronic health information system worked and the kind of information it contains.

But in so doing, she breached the patient's privacy. 

The College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba said the nurse has apologized to the patient for her poor judgment. 

Another nurse working with one patient opened a file belonging to another person, again, breaching the second patient's privacy.

In that case, the nurse admitted to accessing the file, but denied disclosing the patient's information to the other patient. 

The college said neither nurse had a disciplinary record and they were both ordered to pay the fine.