Ethics Assignment Introduction Confidentiality is an ethical value that remains deeply rooted in the nursing profession and has always been the cornerstone of the nurse-patient relationship. Since the days as nursing students, we were constantly reminded of the significance in maintaining patient’s confidentiality. The Oxford dictionary defines confidentiality as intended to be kept secret while the Cambridge dictionary defines it as the state of being secret. The Singapore Nursing Board (SNB) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct states that confidentiality means to protect the privacy of clients’ personal information (SNB, 2014). According to Lockwood (2005), confidentiality could be viewed as information that a doctor learns about a …show more content…
According to Beauchamp and Childress (2013), the principle of beneficence is the promotion of good and removal of harm while non-maleficence is to do no harm to others. Promoting the welfare and doing no harm to people has always been the goal of nursing. Therefore, we should inform his family so that they can take precaution, which will reduce the risk of HIV transmission. For instance, his wife can avoid unprotected sex with him if she knows about his HIV status. Also, family members can go for a HIV test and seek treatment if …show more content…
If we as nurses respect the confidentiality of a patient, we should do so for all the patients. However, Griffith (2007) argues that the duty of confidence should not be absolute and nurses should always consider sharing information if required. Though the principle of respecting patient autonomy and their right to confidentiality is broken here, the principle of beneficence and non-maleficence is uphold. Nurses have an obligation to protect patient’s confidentiality but the duty to warn an innocent party of imminent harm is far more critical. Therefore, breaking confidentiality here is potentially doing more good than
Privacy is of the utmost importance within a medical practice, ethically a patient’s privacy is very important as a medical record contains information regarding a patient’s health. According to
The nurse must maintain privacy and confidentiality involves only sharing patient information on a need-to-know basis. Actions in healthcare delivery are structured and governed by HIPPA law. The nurse must act to prevent breaches of confidentiality. For example, the supervisor did not agree to allow two students in the room with the doctor in other to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Fidelity: Fidelity is referred to integrity, which is done by loyalty, fairness, truthfulness, advocacy, and dedication that is motivated by an underlying principle of care.
LP 7 Assignment: Patient Confidentiality I would be sure to tell Ms. Morry that I understand her concern about having her problems made public, but would also assure her that all calls and information are kept extremely confidential. I would explain that it is important to have information about these problems, and any subsequent treatment, recorded in her chart and why. It is crucial to the continuity of care, and coordination among providers. If a physician at my clinic prescribed a sleeping medication, and then she went to another clinic, it is important that she not be prescribed something that reacts with the previous medication. It is also vital to have information about her drug and alcohol problems document, as treatment can
When it comes to health care, confidentiality is one of the most important things. Confidentiality is needed “to develop the trust and confidence important for a therapeutic relationship between consumers and providers.” People have the entitlement to be provided mental health services by people who will treat them and their information with full confidentiality. However, there are some cases were confidential information will be disclosed.
Confidentiality in the healthcare field is a patient’s vital and mandatory entitlement to the distribution of their medical records. This right is otherwise regarded as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which pronounces the protection of patients in several aspects such as healthcare accessibility, the prevention of healthcare fraud, etc. Due to the law’s commitment to protecting the consumer, it is absolutely essential for the medical profession to become fully aware of the HIPAA law and its policies. The ideology of confidentiality and the HIPAA law possess several issues, including the progression of the concept, confidentiality in minors, and the consequences of disregarding the legislation.
The types of information that is considered confidential are things such as, name, date of birth, age, sex and address, assessments or reports, bank details, incoming or outgoing personal correspondence and medical history or records and personal care issues. Other information relating to ethnic or racial origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health or sexual lifestyle should also be considered confidential. Adult clients have the right to determine what information they consider personal and confidential. There is, however, no such thing as absolute confidentiality in the health and social care industry. Workers are required to keep notes on all interactions with patients and often to keep statistics about who is seen and what issues are addressed.
If nurses make mistakes, they have to admit it. In addition, Nurses have an ethical responsibility to keep their patients ' medical record confidentiality. Nurses shouldn 't release this confidential data to other persons. Furthermore, Nurses need to be trusted with a great deal of high profile information. A patient counts on a nurse 's professionalism and integrity to keep their medical information confidential.
Disclosing, divulging or explaining, the purpose and interests of a case, making secret information known. When responding to an adult at risk regarding disclosure, a health or social care professional should follow the guidelines in the disclosure policy for the institution they work for. A health care professional should never promise to keep information to themselves. Confidentiality should continue to exist up until a staff member is concerned for the wellbeing of a patient, if they believe they are harmful to themselves or others, or if they feel as if a patient is at risk of abuse or neglect. Before disclosing confidential patient information for purposes not directly related to his or her care and treatment, there is currently a responsibility upon health professionals to consult with a patient wherever practicable.
Discuss some implications to the (a) client/worker relationship, (b) the client (c) to the agency when confidentiality is violated. (a) Under conditions of trust, such as confessions made in most patient-provider relationships, the patient is betrayed when confidences are broken. They have disclosed personal information to the worker supposing that the worker will not unveil what they have voiced. To do so would be disloyal to that trust. Trust is necessary for communities of citizens to function successfully.
The principle of confidentiality means not passing on personal information about the families, children or colleagues that staff work with. It also means a set of rules or a promise that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information. Confidentiality means not sharing information about people without their knowledge and agreement, and ensuring that written and electronic information cannot be accessed or read by people who have no reason to see it. Confidentiality is important because: -The person who does not keep information confidential, cannot be trusted.
An Enrolled Nurse registration is dependent on adhering to the competency standards which the Enrolled Nurse is assessed by to retain a current registration. One of the standards that governs the Enrolled Nurses practice is standard 3 ‘Conducts nursing practice in a way that respects the rights of individuals and groups’ (NMBA, 2002). This includes caring for patients in a health setting at a time when the patient is in a vulnerable state, a lot of person information is shared with all the nursing staff and medical staff. As an Enrolled Nurse the patient’s right to confidentiality must be protected including all medical records from any unauthorised public members. This required action on the Enrolled Nurse’s part is also required by the Code
Confidentiality is defined as restricting facts to specifically approved receivers, in this case, about a patient’s medical diagnosis, treatments, prognosis, and care. There are laws in place to make sure that all medical personal follow the confidentiality rules, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, and anyone else who works in the field. This medical confidentiality protects patients autonomy by letting the patient make their own medial decisions without meddling from others who are outside of their confidentiality limits (Allen, 2015). For instance, if someone is diagnosed with cancer, that patient would get the say in who the doctor or team may tell and educate about their future treatments or end of life care. If the patient decides
Truth telling and confidentiality depend upon the situations. It is right to tell the truth in certain but it is also right to hide something from the patients in certain situations. According to utilitarianism one should usually tell the truth and keep one’s promise because you should always perform an action that provides maximum utility and if keeping a promise and telling the truth makes someone happy then it is providing maximum utility.
Sources: “Why is Confidentiality Important,” article by Jules Halpern Associates, October 15, 2010. This article outlines why confidentiality is important and what could happen if there is a breach in confidentiality. I will use this article to argue that confidentiality is pivotal for this code of ethics because confidential information can be misused if it is released without knowledge. The article details what kind of information is considered confidential, which will further clarify this tenet. “Why it is Important to Maintain Confidentiality in the Workplace,” article by Aastha Dogra, August 22, 2016.
This can put a patient to danger and at risk for injury. Hence, they must make sure to record down all the patient’s evaluation findings, information and findings. Other than that, nurses should also be discreet, stay educated and follow proper procedure and