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
In order to provide the best care, nurses must not break patients’ rights nor their trust. When a patient walks in a health facility, health care providers (HCP) must respect the patient health privacy.
My knowledge about the concept of privacy and dignity and its importance to health care and the benefit to service users has increased, however I will also be conducting more research on privacy and dignity in relation to patient care.
Which is very important for nurses or any medical professional to do in the healthcare profession. Nurses are receiving these patients in their most vulnerable state, nurses are exposed and trusted with the patients’ information to further assist them on providing optimum treatment. Keeping patient’s information private goes back to not just doing what’s morally right but also it also builds that nurse – patient relationship as well. We also have provision three that specifically taps on this issue as well, as it states: “The nurse seeks to protect the health, safety, and rights of patient.” (Nurses Code of Ethics,
Provision 3.1 of the ANA’s Code of Ethics states that the nurse will promote, advocate, and protect patients’ privacy and confidentiality (American Nurses Association, 2012). The protection of our patients’ privacy is fundamental. The ANA Code of Ethics is not a suggestion; it is a mandate to all nurses. The code calls for nurses to act when the rights of the patient or the nurse are violated through the actions of others (Edmonson, 2010). Even under FERPA guidelines, it is difficult to make an argument for the release of the student’s personal information in the manner of the large staff
Disclosing confidential patient information without patient consent can happen in the health care field quite often and is the basis for many cases brought against health care facilities. There are many ways confidential information gets into the wrong hands and this paper explores some of those ways and how that can be prevented.
Therefore, nurses are expected to comply with legislation, policies, standards, and guidelines that will guide nurses to follow both legal and ethical duties. One of the ethical and legal obligations of a registered nurse and student nurse is to protect the privacy and confidentiality of patients (NMBA, 2013, p.6). Similarly, code of ethics for nurses has also outlined this nursing responsibility in their value statement 7 (NMBA, 2008, p.3). For example, Butts (2013), explained that the nurses can maintain physical privacy by draping the patient's body while providing care. Likewise, nurse and patient should discuss in a private room to maintain auditory privacy. Another duty of nurses is to keep the patient information confidential. This information can be either in written, oral or in electronic form. Other members of health team, like doctors who are directly involved in the patient care, can have access to patient data. Nurses cannot disclose the patient's information to patient's families, friends or third party without patient consent. However, if a patient's right and safety are jeopardized, then to protect patient, the confidential information can be disclosed. But when a nurse acts outside the code of professional conduct a nurse is held accountable by law. Therefore, in order to protect nurses and nursing students from ethical issues,
Privacy. It is the capacity to control who you see, when you see them and what others think about you. A superior comprehension of a person’s backgrounds gives data for making physical and social situations to meet their privacy and security needs. Make sure that a confidentiality policy is mandated and monitored by all staff working in a healthcare facility or those involve in the care planning of the patient. In private facility care, respect individuals' space by empowering them to customize their own
Cross and Sim (2000) cite Reid (1981) who defines confidentiality as “ the principle of maintaining the security of information elicited from an individual in the privileged circumstances of a professional relationship”. It has been highlighted by the Health Care Professional Council (HCPC, 2012) that when working in healthcare and dealing with personal information regarding patients, it is every health professionals role to ensure that information is handled correctly and kept safe. If for any reason personal information is required to be shared or passed on then the patient should provide informed consent (HCPC, 2012). The HCPC (2012) also note that if confidentiality is broken this may affect the care and patient relationship and result in patients being reluctant to share information important to their proper care.
In conclusion, technology has changed the world, as we knew it. Positive and negative come with change. The goal of the ACA, HIPPA, and EHRs is achieve positive patient outcomes, while protecting the integrity, trust and confidentiality, and decreasing health care cost. Privacy is a fundamental right of a patient, and nurses are expected to maintain confidentiality (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). A breach in confidentiality will result in lack of trust between nurse and patients. As a nurse, it is my responsibility to ensure my patients privacy, and to provide nursing care that is patient centered, not technology centered.
Every patient that is admitted to hospital, or seen by a health professional has a right to his or her own privacy, and it is through ensuring professional boundaries are upheld that this basic right can be achieved. According to Levett-Jones and Bourgeois (2011, pp. 237) confidentiality is an obligation made by a professional to respect the information given by a patient to healthcare professional. In this modern age, privacy can be hard as society relies on technology as a form of communication, allowing for information to be more readily available. However, by posting on Facebook about a patient or informing a friend, the trust created in a therapeutic relationship is breach and is called a boundary crossing. Thompson (2010, pp.26) understands that “At times, boundary crossing may be unintentional, but emphasizes th...
As a nurse, it is within your role to safeguard the right to privacy for individuals. To ensure that nurses are adhering to this, ethical strategies have been proposed and implemented from a legal and regulatory body.
A norm in society is when an individual sees danger, they are supposed to report it to the authorities, therefore preventing any further damage. Breach of confidentiality is when a nurse shares information about a patient with others who are not authorized to know about the patient's personal information. Due to this, patients are afraid to be honest with their physicians and nurses that are treating them. In order to assure patients’ confidentiality, health professionals created the patient bill of rights to ensure that patient’s personal information is kept safe from outsiders.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA), Confidential Information and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA), and the Freedom of Information Act all provide legal protection under many laws. It also involves ethical protection. The patient must be able to completely trust the healthcare provider by having confidence that their information is kept safe and not disclosed without their consent. Disclosing any information to the public could be humiliating for them. Patient information that is protected includes all medical and personal information related to their medical records, medical treatments, payment records, date of birth, gender, and
Throughout history animal testing has had a very important role in finding new discoveries and helping save human lives. However, the companies providing these test tend to ignore the fact that animals are having to suffer unimaginable pain during these experiments. Some scientist believe that animals are non-human, so the pain they suffer does not matter (DeCoux, Elizabeth). Companies put animals through unnecessary torture for human benefit and selfish intentions. Animals have rights and humans are ignoring these rights as if they do not exist. Animal experimentation for human benefit is unethical and should be against the law.
Doctor patient confidentiality, is a fundamental element of the practice of medicine. Patients can expect that doctors and their support staff will hold confidential information about them in confidence, unless the release of the information is required by law or for public interest reasons. Ensuring confidentiality is retained allows doctors to examine their patients and receive all relevant information about their condition without a worry of judgement or sharing of the information.