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Policies and Guidelines

There are a number of policies and expectations that apply to all nursing students who complete their clinical placements at Mount Sinai Hospital.
  

Before Providing Patient Care

Prior to performing any patient care procedure, please review the appropriate policies and procedures. Policies and procedures are available electronically from any computer on the nursing units. Once in your clinical area, go to the Intranet and click on Policies and Procedures.
 

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

In 2005, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) was passed with the goal of creating standards to improve accessibility across Ontario. At Mount Sinai Hospital, we are obligated and committed to meeting the requirements of this law.

 

Student Goals and Objectives

All precepted students are expected to bring written goals and objectives for their placement experience and to share these with their preceptor.

 
Clinical Placement Evaluation

All students are expected to complete a Student Evaluation of Clinical Placement form at the end of the placement experience. Forms are available online or at your student placement office.

 
Illness Reporting

If you are ill and unable to attend on a given day, please call the unit and report off.

 
Dress Code 

Standard uniform for students are clean scrubs, appropriate footwear and Mount Sinai Hospital Photo ID.  As some units have more specific dress requirements, please ask the unit contact person about dress code for the unit.
  

Confidentiality and Privacy: Guidelines for Students

On November 1 2004, the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 came into force. This Act provides, among other things, rules governing the collection, use and disclosure of patient health information. As a student learning at Mount Sinai Hospital, you are considered an “agent” of Mount Sinai Hospital under the Act.

These guidelines will give you more detailed advice on meeting your privacy obligations than what is provided in the Confidentiality Agreement you signed when you first joined the Hospital.

  • As a student, you may be asked to collect and use patient health information. If the nature of the assistance you are providing involves collecting, accessing or disclosing health information, apply the “need to know” rule. Only collect, access, use and disclose as much information as you need to in order to be able to perform the task.
  • Never discuss outside of the Hospital any patient information you learn at the Hospital. Even then, ensure that those at the Hospital with whom you are sharing the information need to know the information.
  • If you are ever concerned that the nature of the activity you are being asked to perform may breach one of the privacy “rules”, ask your supervising clinician about how patient’s privacy is being respected or contact the Corporate Privacy Officer.
  • If any non-Mount Sinai Hospital personnel request information about a patient, check with your supervising clinician first prior to disclosing any information.
  • If you are provided with access to any application containing patient health information, like PowerChart, the Mount Sinai Hospital electronic patient record, ensure that you never share your password with anyone; always log out of the application prior to walking away from the computer; and keep in mind that your access to electronically stored patient health information may be audited.
  • Do not leave the Mount Sinai Hospital paper health record unattended. This prohibition includes never leaving the record alone with the patient. If a patient wants access to his/her health record, contact the primary care giver to arrange a time when the patient can access the record, with a caregiver knowledgeable about that patient’s care plan present.
  • If a patient asks you for information or has a complaint related to accessing or correcting health information or about how his/her health information has been collected, used or disclosed, refer them to his/her primary caregiver, the Privacy: A Guide for Patients brochure and/or the Corporate Privacy Officer.
  • If you witness a breach of privacy, report it to the Corporate Privacy Officer.
  • When you are finished with a paper document containing health information that does not belong in the patient’s health record, always place it in one of the “shred-it” bins; don’t recycle it. For other media, refer to the “Secure Disposal of Health Information” policy.
  • Never remove any paper records containing patient health information from the Hospital.
  • If you are found to have breached any of these rules, your placement at Mount Sinai Hospital may be terminated