Reflective essay on confidentiality

The Data Protection Act (1998) requires that personal details and information must be kept secure and confidential. Confidentiality is necessary in any Health and Care Social setting because it maintains between the individuals and the organisation. An environment of trust encourages people to be open and honest with those who care for them. They provide all the details necessary so that they receive the best care possible. The employers are accountable to the regulators for protecting confidentiality .Preserving privacy and confidentiality is essential so that they do not risk the discipline of being struck off a professional register. Each member of the staff has a responsibility to ensure that the care record are accurate recorded. A clear information will aid patients to participate fully in decision making about their

Throughout I will maintain all individuals who were involved confidentiality in accordance with Nursing And Midwifery Council; the code of conduct (NMC,2010) states that all practitioners must respect people’s right to confidentiality

Confidentiality is a concept of vast importance for professionals in the medical field. It is a professional obligation in this field and is considered to be an ethical concept that falls in line with integrity, compassion, veracity, charity, and fidelity as explained in both the International Council of Nurses Code for Nurses (1973) and the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics (1985). However, in today’s ever growing world of technology and demand for information, challenges continue to arise that force doctors and nurses to reexamine virtues such as confidentiality.

Within the health and social care setting there are numerous peices of legislation and codes of practice designed to protect individuals.These are there to protect from breaches of confidentiality were the information held on that individual is only viewed by staff directly involved in their care.

Disclosing confidential patient information without patient consent can happen in the health care field quite often and is the basis for many cases brought against health care facilities. There are many ways confidential information gets into the wrong hands and this paper explores some of those ways and how that can be prevented.

For this assignment I will be writing a reflective account which will identify a significant episode of care in which I had been involved with, by identifying the pathophysiology and the disease process for the chosen patient; this will be presented by giving a brief outline of the psychosocial influences of the illness for the patient and others who may have been involved with the care. I will also reflect upon this episode by using a reflective model and examining the nursing process, using a holistic perspective throughout the reflective framework. Maintaining confidentiality is a key element, outlined in the Nursing Midwifery Council the Code (2008).

Confidentiality in the Healthcare arena can be simply defined as the moral and ethical duty of the Practitioner to keep all the patient’s bio-data under lock and key, and offer a disclosure of those facts that the patient is legally mandated to disclose or deems fit to enhance their positive health outcome. According to the Segen’s Medical Dictionary, “Confidentiality is the ethical principle that a physician may not reveal any information disclosed in the course of medical care, unless the patient who disclosed that information poses a threat to him, herself or others’’

Confidentiality is considered a core value or principal in the medical practice. Confidentiality is a right that all people have within the medical field. This is the requirement of health care providers to keep a person’s information exclusive unless the patient or the person consents in the form of a release to share that information with other people that practice. Usually the consent is given when a doctor wants to consult with a different doctor for example. In this case it would be for the betterment of the person.

This assignment tries to explain the role Nursing and Midwifery Council plays in safeguarding the public and maintaining standard care within the UK. Establishing and maintaining standard rules and regulation and legislations which are there to safeguard people. In order to do that, the author will discuss how the MNC seeks to safeguarding the patients specifically restricting discussing on mental health by regulating mental health nursing. Key terminologies such as regulation and Mental Health Nursing, confidentiality, advocacy, person centered care, fitness to practice, accountability and whistleblowing will be considered and at the same time stating their significance in nursing profession. Furthermore the Author will briefly outline the responsibilities of the NMC and the code of practice. It will then look at by the Mental Health user’s duty to maintain confidentiality and what happen to a care worker if they break confidentiality. The author will then consider if the NMC has properly seek to protect the public or not and said which areas do they need to improve.

The main focus of the article is to look at the absolute value of patients’ confidentiality. Blightman et al. look at the pros and cones of breaking patient’s confidentiality and conclude that a breached of confidentiality is in order when it is necessary to obtain consent, as required by law, or when it is in the best interest of the public. The article is useful to my subject, since it examines in details the main issues involving the safeguard of patients’ information. In addition, the authors define confidential information, looks at breaching confidentiality for consent, audits, protection of children, disclosure to family and friends, statutory disclosure, prevention of crime, public interest, public safety, public health, and disclosure to the media. The paper publication is Continuing Education in Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain, which s a joint publication of the British Journal of Anaesthesia and The Royal College of Anaesthetists in the UK. It is also the official journal of The Faculty of Pain Medicine and The College of Anaesthetists of Ireland. Publication in such an esteemed journal requires utterly scrutinized of reliability and credibility of the information provided. I found the article educational and thorough in its coverage of aspects of breach of patient information. It is also well written and easy to understand.

I agree with you Cira, although I would add that the Labor Laws, the Code of Ethics and Medical Deontology and the Deontological Code of Nursing. All these regulations currently in force regulate and protect confidentiality. It is respect for privacy, the right to the elements that constitute it is not a public object of general information, recognized in all constitutions and legal frameworks. It responds to the general objective of improving the quality of people who request our care and assistance. The right to the intimacy of the sick generates in professionals the duty of confidentiality the obligation not to tell anyone what they know of their patients, except to the other professionals involved in their attendance.

This means that nurses, along with student nurses, have a duty of care towards patients and this duty includes maintaining privacy, i.e., protecting the patients from undue intrusion and confidentiality by managing the information provided by the patient discreetly (Price, B., 2015). This must be upheld at all times by the registered nurses as well as the nursing students. Furthermore, nurses should not divulge information about a patient without their consent. The patients have the right to decide if they wish to share confidential information with their relatives or friends (Mazqai, M.,

There are many reasons that healthcare professionals should ensure the privacy of their patients. Not only does HIPPA require (De Bord, Burke, & Dudzinski, 2014) confidentiality, healthcare professionals are bound by codes of ethics as well as state and federal agencies (Fordney, 2014, p. 23). The healthcare industry is highly regulated and ever one in the healthcare industry are held to the highest levels of scrutiny (Fordney, 2014, p. 23). We, as healthcare professionals, must know all Federal, State, and Local laws pertaining to a patient’s health information. In my opinion, one of the basic rules we should follow is learning what is ethical and moral. This only makes common sense to me that we should keep our opinions to ourselves, not gossip about other’s, and keep private individuals' personal information. We should respect all individual’s privacy and maintain complete confidentiality.

This essay will discuss why confidentiality is important within nursing practice and the reasons why a registered nurse and student nurse are accountable and to whom they are accountable to in relation to patient care. It will further discuss patient’s rights in relation to law.

The ANMC (2010, pp.6) states on the topic of confidentiality, that nurses must ensure that information obtained in a professional setting remains private. Boundary crossings cause a breakdown in nurse/patient relationships. Nurses should examine any boundary crossing and be aware of its potential implications so that they avoid repeated crossings.