Question

How does the issue of nursing confidentiality impact your professional practice as a nurse?

Answer 1

According to HIPPA, every patient has the right to have privacy and confidentiality. Every health care provider has to obligate legally to respect the patient's rights. Every nurse understands the patient's rights and confidentiality, but sometimes it takes the nurse into a position of uncertain situations.

• Nurses have to discuss about the patient's condition during handover which sometimes makes the patient enquire more about his health condition. In such cases, nurses are not in a position to tell everything as the information can be explained only by the physician.
• Nurses label all the IV drugs with the patient's name, drug name and dose to ensure the right patient and right drug. But labelling breaks the patient's confidentiality that indirectly affects the professional practice nurse.
• Usually, the family members, wellwishers, friends asked for the patient information that raises issues with the nurse confidentiality.
• Sometimes nurses share patient information with the colleague and other health professionals will affect the confidentiality of patient information. Only the care providers can know about the health information on the basis of necessity.
• Sometimes the nurse's eagerly knowing the diagnosis of friend's or relatives against the law affects the professional practice of nurse.
• EHR is common in all hospitals, the improper closing of patient's data can be misused by the other staff and affects the patient's confidentiality.
• During research studies the patient's information is accessed without proper consent will impact nursing professional practices.