Technology and Client Confidentiality in Nursing - Essay Example

?TECHNOLOGY AND CLIENT CONFIDENTIALITY IN NURSING. Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction. 3 Client confidentiality in nursing. 4 My Perspective on Technology and Client Confidentiality in Nursing. 7 Recommendations 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction. Nursing values are prospects that add to public fortification. They enlighten nurses of their responsibilities and the community of what to anticipate of nurses. Principles relate to all nurses not considering their position, job depiction or area of application. Nurses have moral and official responsibilities to uphold the discretion and privacy of customer wellbeing information obtained while giving nursing and health care. One of the methods that nurses use to sustain limits and put up nurse-client relations based on confidence and discretion is by respecting clients’ privileges around discretion and privacy. Canadian Nurses Association’s privacy legislation gives support and impacts the values to the nurses’ in relation to clients’ private health data and information. The legislation entails a summary of Canadian nursing principles in relation to discretion and privacy of individual health data and information. Individual health data and information is any information regarding clients that is spoken, recorded on paper or electronic form. This contains information gathered by nurses throughout the course of beneficial nurse-client relations. This type of information relates to the following: Physical and mental health, including family health account. Health care previously accorded to the patient. A strategy for service. Expenses or capability for health care. Contribution of body parts or information obtained from examining these body parts. An individual’s health number or the names of the client’s alternate decision-maker. Clients do not have to give their names for information to be categorized as private health information. Health care information is “discovering” if an individual can be acknowledged, or if it can be pooled with added data to recognize an individual. A staff record consisting of a note from a medical doctor acknowledging a nonappearance from their job is not recognized as private health information. On the other hand, a depiction of the employee’s symptoms and management that might be catered for by an occupational health nurse when giving health care is acknowledged as private health information. Client confidentiality in nursing. I believe that patient confidentiality is very important and for a long time I have always believed that each and every patient should have their own confidential information remaining confidential. This however becomes a very tough decision to make when the patient’s health is in danger and the confidential information is needed to ensure that they are safe. In this case however, it becomes very hard for the nurse to decide on the right action to take. In any case, the nurse should avoid making promises surrounding confidentiality at all costs. To win and sustain the client’s trust, the nurse ought to explain to him/her that such information as suicide plans cannot be kept secret because it poses threat to the client’s safety. (Guido 2013). The health sector is heading towards an incorporated, two-way approach to the provision of health care services. The field of nursing has sturdily advocated for such an approach. On the other hand, greater assimilation and cooperation may be needed to improve distribution of health care information if the different members of the health care team are to tread in safely and successfully. Confidentiality in health care details has the likelihood to slow down information distribution. Nurses are advised to notify the people in their concern that their health details will be shared with the health care panel for the reason of giving care successfully. This opinion appears to be hinged on the supposition that approval is not necessary for distributing information among members of the health care team. It is a subject of question in some circumstances such as the psychological health grounds and small communities where citizens may want at least some of their health details not made public to some people who may be drawn in during the course of their care. One major benefit of computerize records is that they make possible the patient’s choice in withholding bits of their details from some health quarters. Nevertheless, whether as a subject of procedure such preference should be allowed, only when circumstances and limits, are put into question. In spite of how this matter is sorted out in the guiding principles, it is essential to talk about policies that concern this issue both to patients and members of the healthcare team, not only out of reverence for the patients but also in order to evade mystification or improbability among members of the team. In mental healthcare, monitoring of patients has been made possible by the use of closed circuit televisions. Such technology, to some extent, jeopardizes the client’s privacy rights as well as dignity. A nurse is duty-bound to guard confidential information about a patient’s health details, save for if it is necessary by law to make known the information. The nurse reveals patients’ health care details on a need to know basis, when it is necessary by an individual to offer health care to the patient. Authorization to make known classified details ought to be achieved by seeking the patient’s consent, or when situation without a doubt gives the person the chance to be in agreement or object. When the person is debilitated or in an urgent situation, health care providers may normally make disclosures if it is indomitable to be in the greatest benefit of the person in question. Passwords ought to not be made public, and private information should stay confidential. Failure to guard patients’ health details by a professional nurse can result in significant penalties. (Coxx & Hill 2010). Large databases are now accessible, therefore creating new decision-making processes and improved client outcomes. The addition of information technology (the use of computers to gather, organize, process and communicate information) is one of the highest priorities in healthcare organizations today. Acute care setting brought about by technology has also been invaluable in nursing. Medical procedures such as fluid flows can be monitored with machines. Machines can also be programmed in such a way that patients can control them and thus communicate with the nurses. Wireless systems allow nurses to communicate with one another in acute care settings. Paging systems allow nurses to be contacted regardless of their location. Wireless hospital telephones allow nurses’ prompt attention to clients’ needs and promote rapid communication with other personnel. Nurses can also carry electronic phone devices like cell phones that allow two-way communication from any location. Technological advancements and benefits are also evident in ambulatory care, home and community-based nursing practice, maternal child systems and home care monitoring devices. In ambulatory care, free-standing birthing centers are now popular. In community-based nursing, nurses are able to access healthcare records from wherever they are; they can also answer to health-related questions via phone. As far as home care monitoring devices are concerned, nurses can monitor clients’ change in condition through programmed systems. Advances in technology may bring new threats to privacy. Imaging technology, for instance, may increasingly predict mental events and behaviors with far-reaching ramifications, including such areas as insurance, employment, education, immigration and counterterrorism. Research postulates that brain scans might one day be used to screen passengers at airports for their propensity to violence. Electronic patient records present another confidentiality challenge. This is because once they are kept in remote areas and seldom viewed, they become easily accessible readily available. Nurses need to constantly update their documentation skills. This will be seen in the quality of healthcare accorded to patients. Maintaining the sense of balance between individual guard and proficient deliverance of health care can be easier said than done. There has been perplexity and half truths on the subject of the privacy rule. Nurses over and over again conjecture how to take action to questions as regards to a patient’s condition, explaining diagnosis and measures to patients in areas where the dialogue may be leaked out, and doing away with medications and other confidential medical apparatus in a suitable and confidential manner. Although the Privacy obligations does offer nurses some autonomy in using proficient judgment concerning disclosures, practical safeguards must be engaged for personal health details and data. My Perspective on Technology and Client Confidentiality in Nursing. It is a moral responsibility for nurses to keep confidential client information. However, in some cases, disclosure is necessary. Such cases include situations where disclosure would be of help to the client’s well being. Disclosure could be to the patient only, the family or an external team. Any information disclosed to whichever party should take into consideration its relevance to that party. Nurses can also share information amongst themselves. This is because they are responsible for the client’s progress. The client’s status of health may require discussions and consultations, and as such, discussing client’s information however much confidential is necessary. This should apply to nurses working within the same ward as it may be irrelevant to disclose the information to nurses in other words. (Kathleen & Shelly, 2009). In any case, the patient should always be approached for his consent. All the nurses and any other party to whom confidential information is disclosed should understand the mandate to keep the information within the given context. The family institution is sensitive when it comes to disclosing a patient’s health situation. This is especially in regard to the patient’s role or position in the family. Nonetheless, the family has a right to access confidential information because either way it will be affected by the patient’s health situation. Sensitive health conditions that call for disclosure include HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. The patient should therefore be counseled beforehand so that he is able to come to terms with his situation and how his family may perceive it. Disclosing confidential information to third parties is only necessary when seeking for advice when inevitable. Otherwise, the information should be limited to the patient, the medical practitioners and family only. Information revelation is sometimes inevitable. This is apparent when giving a patient’s appraisal when peripheral parties can hear by ability. Revelation can also occur when nurses are handing over shifts. In addition, it can be inevitable to obtain a patient’s approval before disclosing information. This can be attributed to emergency situations where the patient requires quick consideration, and also where the patient is debilitated by his health to give approval as discussed in earlier sections of this paper. Another instance where disclosure is unavoidable is when medical bills have to be settled by a health insurance. In such cases it is impossible to keep information private because the insurance provider needs to know the medical state of the client and thus the cumulative medical bill. Researchers are often provided with medical records to facilitate research. Medical laboratories where examinations are conducted also access confidential information. Recommendations Nursing practices should take into considerations the contemporary debates surrounding the use of technology and client confidentiality in nursing. There is a need to acknowledge the role culture plays. Nurses should understand that culture sensitivity directly affects ethical practice as far as confidential information disclosure is concerned. All hospitals should devise principles that serve as guidelines to nurses’ ethical practice. This should also be incorporated in the nursing education curricula. This way, nurses will be well-equipped with skills and know-how regarding client confidentiality. Research should also be widened to unearth the long-term effects of confidential information disclosure. Disclosed information may affect the well being and psychological state of mind of the clients. Such research would establish more ways to deal with moral distress that may affect clients without end. (Canadian Nurses Association 2013). Legislations should be set to protect the privacy of medical information transmitted through fax, email and the internet in general. Propagation of medical records via fax, their convenience to inquisitive eyes, their receptiveness to copying and general publication, and the official and principled implications of such portentous developments of discretion should be put in check. Conclusion Centralized and regional legislation lawfully protects a person’s right to confidentiality of personal and health details. Health care bodies and professionals are obligated to exercise care in the compilation, use and revelation of personal data and health information. The precise legislation that obligates a nurse’s practice hinges on the work surroundings and the nature of the nurse’s work. Nurses have an ethical responsibility to uphold information obtained in the context of the nurse-client connection. When clients entrust their healthcare and health information to a nurse, they expect and rely on it being kept confidential. Employers are responsible for providing necessary systems and supports to meet legislated requirements for the collection, use and disclosure of personal and health information. It is natural for nurses to conduct themselves ethically and stand by the oath that governs their practice. Client discretion should be upheld at all costs, information should be disclosed only when necessary. Cases have risen frequently of patients suing nurses or hospitals for violating confidentiality. To shun this, confidentiality should be a top precedence. References Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Top of Form Top of Form Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Canadian Nurses' Association. (2013). Code of ethics for registered nurses. Canadian Nurses Association. Canadian Nurses' Association. (2009). The Canadian nurse. Canadian Nurses' Association. Canada. (2009). Bill: An act to incorporate the Canadian Nurses Association. S.E. Dawson. Carol Lynn Coxx & Marie C Hill (2010) Professional issues in primary care nursing. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Ginny Wacker Guido (2013) Legal and ethical issues in nursing. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Jeannie Scruggs Garber; Monty Gross; Anthony D Slonim; et al. (2010) Avoiding common nursing errors. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Journal. (2012). A phenomenological perspective on clinical communication and interactions; the case of electronic health records. Published by Emerald Publishing Group Limited. Kathleen Oberle & Shelley Raffin Bouchal (2009) Ethics in Canadian nursing practice: navigating the journey. Toronto. Pearson Prentice Hall Katherine M Fortinash & Patricia A Holoday-Worret (2012) Psychiatric mental health nursing. St. Louis, Mo, Elsevier Mosby. www.cno.org Read More