Patient Privacy

640 Words2 Pages

When caring for a patient, every step is taken to ensure optimal service is given in order to prevent any breach in patient right. The Magna Carta of Patient’s Bill of Rights and Obligations dictates the guidelines to be followed and ensures that equal care is given to every patient and at the same time empowers the patient to take action if any of his/her rights has been breached. One of these rights is the Right to Privacy and Confidentiality which states that “The privacy of the patients must beassured at all stages of his treatment. The patient has the right to be free from unwarranted public exposure”. According to Department of Health (DOH) 2008 in the UK, Privacy and dignity is embedded in the care delivered to patients, as well as in the …show more content…

Patient privacy can be broken down into two topics, information privacy, which pertains to patient’s personal data and information regarding said patient whereas, personal privacy as stated is in regard to privacy provided to retain patient’s dignity. In Jay Woogara’s study ‘Patient’s Privacy of the Person and Human Rights’ published in 2005, patients believe that no privacy can be obtained in a hospital ward and the fifth principle of the entitled “A patient’s Bill of Rights” document published in 1975 by the American Hospital Association (AHA), affirm the patient’s right of privacy. Showing that despite the nurses efforts in providing privacy, patients still feel expose feeling the relationship between privacy and health are inversely proportional. According to Levine: “Privacy is the freedom an individual has to determine the time, extent, and general circumstances under which private information will be shared with or withheld from others. In this study we’re focusing on to what extent will nurses provide privacy in order to uphold the patient’s

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