Reflective Journal/ Annotated Bibliography
Confidential Communication
Cox, C. (2015). Understanding confidentiality in health care. Journal of Diabetes Nursing, 19(10), 378-384 4p.
This article describes the dilemma that healthcare professional faced regarding patient confidentiality. Often, healthcare professionals are confused about what they can freely disclose and what type of information can be shared. A breach of privacy by knowingly or accidentally sharing patients’ personal information to others that are not directly involved in the patient care can lead to a lawsuit and legal issues. Additionally, healthcare workers are always required to get consents from patients before talking to any family members. The author clearly elaborates …show more content…
The author mentions that all nurses have for duty to respect patients’ privacy even after death. The author gives many examples of different ways a healthcare provider can breach a patient confidentiality. Additionally, the author mentions that nurses need to be properly trained on how to use electronic medical record. The article stresses the importance of only access information of patients that you are directly taking care of. The author did an excellent job presenting the material. The importance of keeping information safe and what to do to protect people information was clearly explained. A unique feature of this article is the fact that the author mentions the legal aspect of confidentiality and elaborates the components that need to be broken in other for the law to consider a breach of secrecy. The article also talks about the Human Right Act 1998 which covers all aspect of privacy and reinforces the fact that peoples’ private information should be respected. However, the author fails to mention the consequences if one fail to follow protocol and breach patient confidentiality. More research needs to be done in this particular area if more information is …show more content…
According to Marsh, H., & Reynard, J. (2009), “In the case of a patient with dementia or who is unable to consent (e.g. the unconscious patient in the Intensive Treatment Unit) the decision whether to divulge confidential information is based on the ‘best interests’ principle. It will usually be in the patient’s best interests to inform relatives of the patient’s situation unless there is real evidence that the patient had expressed a desire that such information should not be disclosed. In these situations, it is usual practice to share such information with the relatives” (p.3). After reading this article, I have a feeling that we have been doing something wrong by not providing information to individual patient family members. As a psychiatric nurse, it is often that I get these phone calls at random hours of the night. An anxious daughter was searching for her aging mother. I could almost feel the fear and panic in her voice. I have been looking all day, she said. I just need to find my mother. As a caring person, I am tempted just to provide comfort to this person on the phone by telling her that her mother is here and safe. However being a patient advocate should be my ultimate goal, without any signed consents no information should be given. The fear of
Confidential Communication
Cox, C. (2015). Understanding confidentiality in health care. Journal of Diabetes Nursing, 19(10), 378-384 4p.
This article describes the dilemma that healthcare professional faced regarding patient confidentiality. Often, healthcare professionals are confused about what they can freely disclose and what type of information can be shared. A breach of privacy by knowingly or accidentally sharing patients’ personal information to others that are not directly involved in the patient care can lead to a lawsuit and legal issues. Additionally, healthcare workers are always required to get consents from patients before talking to any family members. The author clearly elaborates …show more content…
The author mentions that all nurses have for duty to respect patients’ privacy even after death. The author gives many examples of different ways a healthcare provider can breach a patient confidentiality. Additionally, the author mentions that nurses need to be properly trained on how to use electronic medical record. The article stresses the importance of only access information of patients that you are directly taking care of. The author did an excellent job presenting the material. The importance of keeping information safe and what to do to protect people information was clearly explained. A unique feature of this article is the fact that the author mentions the legal aspect of confidentiality and elaborates the components that need to be broken in other for the law to consider a breach of secrecy. The article also talks about the Human Right Act 1998 which covers all aspect of privacy and reinforces the fact that peoples’ private information should be respected. However, the author fails to mention the consequences if one fail to follow protocol and breach patient confidentiality. More research needs to be done in this particular area if more information is …show more content…
According to Marsh, H., & Reynard, J. (2009), “In the case of a patient with dementia or who is unable to consent (e.g. the unconscious patient in the Intensive Treatment Unit) the decision whether to divulge confidential information is based on the ‘best interests’ principle. It will usually be in the patient’s best interests to inform relatives of the patient’s situation unless there is real evidence that the patient had expressed a desire that such information should not be disclosed. In these situations, it is usual practice to share such information with the relatives” (p.3). After reading this article, I have a feeling that we have been doing something wrong by not providing information to individual patient family members. As a psychiatric nurse, it is often that I get these phone calls at random hours of the night. An anxious daughter was searching for her aging mother. I could almost feel the fear and panic in her voice. I have been looking all day, she said. I just need to find my mother. As a caring person, I am tempted just to provide comfort to this person on the phone by telling her that her mother is here and safe. However being a patient advocate should be my ultimate goal, without any signed consents no information should be given. The fear of