| Course | HIM 422 Ethical and Legal Considerations in Health Information Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | undergraduate reflective journal on workplace law and incident reporting |
| Length | About 440 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | BS Health Information Management |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HIM 422 Module 5
Module Five Journal
Where the Report Goes, and Who Reads It
On Saturday night, one of our emergency registration clerks was shoved into a counter by a visitor who was angry about the wait, then threatened as he left. She was bruised but not seriously hurt. On Monday the charge nurse called me with a practical question: should the incident report be scanned into the patient's chart, since the visitor was the patient's brother and the event happened during the visit? My answer was no, and this week's readings helped me explain why and see what the question was really about.
Incident reports are quality and risk management documents, not part of the legal health record. Keeping them separate, and never mentioning them in clinical notes, helps protect them under the state laws that shield quality improvement work from discovery, and it keeps the chart focused on the patient's care. The facts relevant to care belong in the chart; the report belongs in the safety reporting system.
The larger issue is the law protecting workers. Phillips (2016) describes health care workers as facing some of the highest rates of workplace violence of any occupation, and notes that federal safety law has no standard written specifically for it, leaving employers to the general duty to provide a safe workplace and to voluntary guidelines. Washington fills part of that gap with a state law that requires hospitals to maintain workplace violence prevention plans and keep records of violent acts against employees. Our hospital's records only work if people report, and the evidence says they often do not. Arnetz et al. (2015) compared what hospital workers said in surveys with what appeared in the formal reporting system and found that most of the violent events workers described had never been reported. Wax et al. (2016) argue that a culture treating violence as part of the job is a major reason.
The governance question is who sees the numbers. At Tamarack, workplace violence events go to the safety committee but are not part of the quarterly report to the board's quality committee, which reviews patient falls and infections in detail. I plan to ask our compliance officer to add staff injury from violence to that report, broken out by department. If registration staff, who are not clinicians, are being assaulted at the front desk, the board should know that as clearly as it knows our infection rates.
I also caught myself treating the clerk's injury as a records question first. She was in my department's extended team, and the most important thing I did that week was make sure she knew that filing the report would not be held against her.
References
Arnetz, J. E., Hamblin, L., Ager, J., Luborsky, M., Upfal, M. J., Russell, J., & Essenmacher, L. (2015). Underreporting of workplace violence: Comparison of self-report and actual documentation of hospital incidents. Workplace Health & Safety, 63(5), 200-210. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165079915574684
Phillips, J. P. (2016). Workplace violence against health care workers in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(17), 1661-1669. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1501998
Wax, J. R., Pinette, M. G., & Cartin, A. (2016). Workplace violence in health care: It's not "part of the job." Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, 71(7), 427-434. https://doi.org/10.1097/OGX.0000000000000334
What the HIM 422 Module 5 instructions ask for
The HIM 422 workplace law journal usually asks you to reflect on laws that govern the health care workplace and on how organizations govern compliance, often through an event you have seen or a realistic scenario. A journal of about 400 to 500 words that cites two or three sources in APA 7 fits most prompts. Describe the situation, identify the laws or regulations involved, such as occupational safety rules, state statutes, anti-retaliation protections or employment laws, and explain how the health information department is affected. Reflect on governance by asking who in the organization sees the problem and who acts on it, and include your own reactions honestly, because the journal rewards thoughtful reflection over summary.
How this HIM 422 Module 5 journal example is built
After a visitor shoves an emergency registration clerk at Tamarack Valley Medical Center, a nurse asks whether the incident report belongs in the patient's chart. The journal explains that incident reports are risk management documents kept outside the legal health record to protect quality improvement privileges. Phillips describes high violence rates and the lack of a specific federal standard, Washington's prevention plan law is noted, Arnetz and colleagues show that most violent events go unreported and Wax and colleagues challenge the idea that violence is part of the job. The writer proposes adding staff violence to the board's quality report and reflects on supporting the clerk first, a reminder that records questions sit inside human ones.
Where the HIM 422 Module 5 rubric puts the points
Workplace law journals in HIM 422 are usually assessed on accurate identification of the laws involved, thoughtful connection to health information management practice, meaningful reflection on governance and personal response, appropriate use of sources and clear writing. Entries that stand out answer a practical question correctly, such as where an incident report belongs, and then widen the lens to the policy or governance issue behind it. Graders reward specific proposals, like adding a measure to a board report, over general calls for awareness. Honest reflection about the writer's own priorities shows the maturity that journals are designed to develop in future health information leaders. Correct terms for each record type also matter.
HIM 422 Module 5 help: the mistakes that cost points
Workplace law journals lose points when they list employment statutes without applying them, place incident reports in the patient record, overlook state law or skip the reflective element entirely. Another frequent gap is treating governance as someone else's job. If your prompt centers on a different workplace issue, such as disability accommodation, wage and hour rules, harassment or whistleblower protection, send it with any course scenario so the journal applies the right law. Mention your state if the prompt asks for it. A custom entry can follow the same path used here: event, practical question, legal context, evidence, governance proposal and personal reflection.
Get HIM 422 Module 5 written to your instructions
Send the HIM 422 Module 5 journal prompt and a short account of any workplace situation you would like to reflect on. The entry will identify the laws involved, answer the practical records question, cite evidence, propose a governance step and reflect honestly, turned around in 24 to 48 hours, the first request free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
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HIM 422 Module 5 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HIM 422 Module 5 Journal sample?
The full HIM 422 Module 5 journal is on this page: an assault on a registration clerk, where the incident report belongs, workplace violence law and board oversight.
Do incident reports belong in the legal health record?
No. They are quality and risk management documents kept separately and not referenced in clinical notes, which helps protect them under state quality improvement laws.
Is there a federal workplace violence standard for health care?
Not a specific one; employers rely on the general duty to keep workplaces safe and on voluntary federal guidelines, while some states add their own laws.
Why is workplace violence underreported in hospitals?
Research finds workers often see violence as part of the job, doubt reports will change anything or find reporting systems burdensome.
How does governance relate to workplace safety?
Boards and committees can only act on what they see, so including staff violence data in regular reports makes the problem visible to leaders.