Confidentiality Mandates Of The Female Nurses Essay Example

to do with ethics in this medical field were becoming an issue that was widely discussed. The International Council of nurses (ICN) was the pioneer in the development of a code of ethics for the nurses Confidentiality refers to the overall general standard of professional acts and conducts that states that no medical professional be it the doctors or the nurses should discuss information pertaining to her clients health condition with anyone else apart from the client concerned. This confidentiality exist in the laws and statutes that tends to imply a promise between the patient or the client and the nurses and doctors not to reveal or expose anything pertaining the clients health status except under certain circumstances agreed by both the parties.

Although the roots of this concept of confidentiality are in the professional ethics rather than the law, the law recognizes the nature of the relationship between the client and the nurses and other medical practitioners. The extent at which nurses, if ever, go ahead to violate this confidentiality still remains a matter that has for long been faced with controversy despite similar agreements that has been made from time to time. Patients being handled by nurses have a right to know the limits on confidentiality. Both the state and the federal law requires that this information about the confidentiality between the two parties. In the year 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability was enacted into law leading to a significant impact on the health care. It also called for very many changes even in the way nurses and other medical practitioners handled and communicated with their patients.

The current code of ethics for

the nurses (ANA) of the year 2001 tries to relate to the role of the nurses in the promotion of their clients rights that are related to confidentiality and issues to do with privacy. To the side of the nurses, HIPAA is a laid out responsibilities to their clients or patients and it reminds them of the importance of keeping their clients health information as private as ever. The nurses are so much aware that privacy and confidentiality have become basic rights in our modern society and that safeguarding this information is a part of their ethical and legal obligation even though this has proved to be challenging to them at times. The connection that exist between the nurses and their patients depends on how confidential they keep their clients information. With the current technological advancements, nurses have more to do so as to make sure that this advancements in technology does not be the reason behind the leaking of their client’s personal health information.

Through the Nightingale pledge, all the codes of nursing have widely emphasized on the need for confidentiality. The nurse’s code that was published by the American Nurses Association (ANA) has become the standard through which ethical conduct is evaluated by this profession. It provides interpretive information and is clear on the language regarding confidentiality and privacy of their clients. Nurses and health workers are exposed to confidential information on a daily basis as their practice is full of this kind of information and this means that there is a tendency of forgetting how important this information is. Is thus a matter of concern and importance to do reviews on (HIPAA) and

use them to point key opportunities where patients’ confidentiality can better be protected.

HIPAA had established requirements that were to allow electronic transmissions of patients’ personal health information. This can include health claims or possible referrals to other physicians. It protects the right of confidentiality to clients against exposure of their personal health information as this would provide a federal civil and penalties if there is noted disclosure of such information or improper use of this private information. In the event where a nurse fails to protect this information from disclosure, the erosion in the relationship can bring about dire implications to both the nurse and the patient. However, the reality of the world I which the nurses operates in raises a lot of troubling confidentiality questions that leaves nurses in dilemma wondering what to do. For example, despite the fact that nurses are expected to keep this in formation as confidential as possible, the nurses are put in the positions where they are at times expected to give information about their clients health condition to his or her friends, family and the majority well-wishers.

Their commitments to serving patients and protecting the information pertaining their personal health escalates from a mere abstract of tactic understanding to an active and visible place where they all decides not to tolerate anything less than the strict observation of this rule of confidentiality. There are two criteria that raises the topic of confidentiality. One of this criteria is asking ourselves what we would do in for instance we were the medical information in question. The other criteria would be to ask ourselves if we would really need to know the

content of this information in order to do our jobs or what is expected from us. Only then we would find out that we probably need not to know (Radoccia, 2013) Distinguishing between privacy and confidentiality can be trick to many. Privacy refers to the right which every individual is entitled to keeping information which they feel are private from disclosure.

Patients decide who where and when to share their information and that’s their right. When we come to confidentiality, this refers to how nurses treat this private information since it has to be disclosed to hem so as to facilitate treatment. Remember that nurses and medical practitioners are expected to find out every details about their clients so as to deliver effective treatment. The disclosure of this information by the patient is based on trust and the clients discloses this information to this nurses with the assurance that it will be protected from further disclosure. The emergence of electronic messaging would not be secure as we all would want it to be and that’s why nurses do not necessarily include their patients name even in electronic correspondences.

This is because electronic messages can often by mistakes go to the wrong party and due to hacking the internet is no longer a secure channel to transfer confidential information. It would be so incorrect to assume that nurses are completely maintaining the required confidentiality as they perform their day to day duties. This is because as we have seen, there are countless channels through which this confidential information would be disclosed. This means that nurses and other medical practitioners need to be sharp and redouble their efforts so

as to make sure that their clients personal health information are handled with lots of privacy and that this chances of disclosure are minimized as possible since of late this information has not been kept as confidential as required. Many are the times you will walk into a hospital and as you walk through, you come across a document or a trash bad that has been accidentally ripped open only to find a lot of information that’s meant to be confidential disclosed yet the client who discarded this information did so with the best of his trust and intentions that this information was to be confidential only to be let down by the nurses or any other practitioner in charge. In the guidelines of confidentiality, the client’s personal health information should also not be discussed in places where one can be overheard.

This includes the public joints, cafeterias and restaurants and also in the hallways. If any nurse does this, it raises doubts even among other patients about the level and respect for confidentiality (Hampton, 2013) There are several strategies that can help in promoting of this privacy and confidentiality of the patients by the nurses. The nurses are the best positioned to advocate for the patients privacy, confidentiality and safety. Their duties puts them in a position of strength.

In the patients units of care, the nurses, they field calls from family, sometimes it might be the media who are enquiring about a patient’s information. If this happens to be a member of her organization’s public relations department but if they don’t know the person all the can do is promise to call back in their

office. This helps to ensure that the person calling is whom he says he is. The nurses never seem to forget that it’s the patients right to decide what information they need shared about them, when and to who it is to be shared to.

To summarize it all, the nurses should keep their patients interest in mind when they are communicating to their client’s family members. This may translate to the long distance family member so that they are properly able to respond and verify their identity as executors if need be. Nurses should also not assume that they do have a right to look at any files which they know contains confidential information about clients unless they need that information in the course of carrying g out their duties. The nurses should hold their colleagues accountable as they hold themselves. The confidentiality of patients is so important and is a sacred trust. The nurses are so important in ensuring that an environment that protects privacy and the confidentiality of patients’ personal health information as stated by the (ANA) code of ethics.

It’s the duty of nurses to ensure the wellbeing of those who are kept under their care and this can only be possible if observation of those issues that will not interfere with the privacy of their clients (Fowler, 2013)

References

1. Davies, R., N. Holt and S. Nayagam (2014) “The care of spines with external fixation” bone and joint journal
2. Fowler, M, D (2015) Heritage ethics towards a thicker account of nursing ethics. Nursing ethics 0969733015608071
3. Radoccia, R, A and Hampton R.G (2013) US patent No: 8,423,385 Washington DC, US patent and information
   

trademark office