No doubt it happens, but as a health care professional, I can tell you that it is monitored and as one of 13,000 employees at my hospital, I don't know anyone who is casual about it. It is taken very seriously. And unless it is a first time offense, mild, unintentional, and caused no harm - you would easily get fired. Doctors lose privileges. It's just not worth it to not pay close attention. And talking about patients in a hair salon - omg - can you imagine? Nurse "A" tells a stylist about a patient. Then the stylist tells others at the salon. Then Nurse "B" comes in who is asked about it. Nurse "B" reports it, and Nurse "A" is in serious big trouble - especially with the prosecutor of these kinds of crimes.

It's up to you whether you trust the law to protect you, but I can promise you that it does NOT happen "all the time." Health care professionals have too much to lose if they are careless. And unless you work in health care - you might not really be aware of how big of a deal it is in our world. Seriously.