Nurse fired for informing teenager’s family of pregnancy

An Iowa hospital nurse who was fired for allegedly informing the family of a teenage patient that the girl was pregnant has been denied unemployment benefits.

State records indicate Erica Hulsing worked for the Waverly Health Center as a registered nurse from September 2016 through May 11, 2025, when she was fired for allegedly violating patient privacy regulations and rules concerning professional conduct.

The Waverly Health Center alleged that on April 17, 2025, Hulsing received a phone call from a relative of a patient, inquiring about the patient’s stay at the hospital. The patient was 17 years old and had not given the hospital permission to discuss her personal health care information with her family.

The hospital alleged Hulsing informed the family member the girl had been pregnant. The patient did not want her family to know of her condition, and the hospital subsequently fielded complaints from both the patient and her family.

After an investigation, the hospital fired Hulsing, concluding she had communicated highly sensitive private patient information to a person who did not have permission to receive that information. Hulsing allegedly told her employer she had not realized the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 prohibited sharing patient information with unauthorized family members.

Hulsing then filed for unemployment benefits and collected $4,214 before a hearing on her unemployment claim was held. Administrative Law Judge Duane Golden ruled recently that Hulsing was ineligible for benefits due to job-related misconduct and ruled that the $4,214 already paid out must be paid back.