Starting work before you clock in and finishing work after you clock out could lead to liability and confidentiality problems.

Liability Issues: ECH's malpractice insurance covers RNs if they are on authorized work hours, working within their scope of practice and following hospital policies and procedures. If you are performing work before clocking in and something untoward happens and the hospital gets sued, you may not be covered by the hospital's malpractice insurance. You would be liable for your own legal representation and damages. The same could occur if you clock out and continue to work to complete your assignment.

Confidentiality Issues: If you access a patient or his/her medical record information before you clock in or after you clock out, this could be construed as a HIPAA violation. You only have legal access to a patient and/or his/her medical record when you are on duty, which means from when you are clocked in to when you are clocked out.

All work should occur between when you clock in and when you clock out. You should not be gathering patient information to prepare for your work assignment before clocking in. Also, you should not be clocking out then completing your charting and patient care.