If you do not know then do not reply, Do you even know what HIPAA is? you made some conversation to fortune telling and at will employment. This person is looking for advice not someone to tell them "oh lawd, your screwed" better get your at will self prepared for termination. The patients are the ones who would have to be offended and bring law suit against the Hospital not you, there are so many rules and regulations that when it comes to healthcare it is really a gray area. So much so that the uninsured, the ones with ZERO insurance actually get better care and stay in better hospitals thanks to your federal grant money going to research University hospitals who bleed money every year, than do most Americans who get some sort of company sponsored programs. At that point, it is take their Social Security checks and most all people have no money these days so they are hoping to catch a major hospital in these type of violations cause they can make hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more. They could care less about the nurse and their 50-70 grand a year, and I have known and heard stories of several nurses who lost their careers from 2-3 violations and the administration just loves it since there are not many careers in America today that pay that well. Again, even if you are student I would try to find out if the administration people are the only ones who know about it and who is actually leading the investigation. Then I would contact my attorney and deny and hide until all the burden of proof is on them. That is of course if you want to keep your nursing career together and not go into another field. Good luck with it but the least you say the better off you are.
Speaking of nonsense! The poster says "Will I be fired?" and the response is, we don't know, no one can predict this, but if they
do decide to fire you, they certainly can, due to at-will employment. Uh, yes, I'd say cbg has "even heard of HIPAA" a time or two. This whole employment issue has very little to do with whether or not the patient's family is going to sue the hospital because they "care nothing for the nurses" or "people with zero insurance get better care" or some such garbage as that.
The employer may have just been looking for an excuse to fire this particular employee, and may use this as an excuse, whether or not they are being sued by the patient or family, or whether or not there was an actual documented incident of HIPAA violation. There is no mention that this is happening. The poster wants to know if she can be fired for the alleged violation, and the answer is oh yes, she can.
All this mess you post about how the patient would have to sue the hospital (....before the OP could be fired? I think not!) and you'd contact your attorney (which you apparently have on retainer) and "find out if the administration is in on this and who is leading the investigation...." blah blah blah. What are you going to do that for? You won't have any legal reason to go after them, even if you do go to all the time and trouble and mess of hiring an attorney to tell you this. And no, it may not totally destroy the poster's health care career. Based on the proof they have of actual wrongdoing, or lack of it, the poster may be able to get approved for unemployment insurance, but otherwise, that's about it.