Patient Confidentiality In Health Care

WHO defines policy as decisions, plans, and actions that are followed to achieve a particular health care goal within a society. A detailed health policy can achieve several things such as defining a vision for the future, which in turn helps to establish goals and points of reference for the short and medium term. Healthcare settings have various policies which are continuously updated to keep up with the growing demands of the field. Nurses have a lot of ethical and legal responsibilities in their professional role. This includes, but not limited to the duty to maintain patients’ privacy and confidentiality (McGowan 2012). The issue of patient confidentiality and electronic security problems among health care professionals normally evolve
Though patients have the responsibility to provide their health care providers with the information necessary for their care, they have the right to confidentiality of any of such information from demographic data to sensitive personal information. Mehnke (2010) explains that there is the need to review policies on privacy and confidentiality to achieve optimal results. He further explains that, the day to day life of health workers from the common copy machine, to trash, to hallway conversation, discussion in elevators and cafeteria poses challenges to patient confidentiality. Also the pressure from friends and close family members of patients to know the progress of their loved ones which may or may not include disclosure of patient information is a major hurdle. Regardless of the challenges all what the patient expects from healthcare providers is for their right to privacy and confidentiality to be respected. This helps patient to seek help when needed and to freely discuss their problems with their care givers. It is the client’s expectation that that bond is never broken without their consent unless required by
At every point of client contact must be assured of confidentiality. Though it seems to be a managerial duty, every single employee, students, volunteers, researchers including those with or without patient contact has a role to play. It is therefore everyone’s business to do their best to protect patient privacy and confidentiality. Any information which can in anyway identify a patient directly or indirectly whether electronic or written is subjected to the law and must be treated as confidential.
Though protecting patient’s confidentiality is not absolute and there are situations where health care givers are permitted by law in instances where public health overrides patient right to confidentiality. Even in such situations, the disclosure must be done respectfully following the law McGowan (2012).The Confidentiality policy is very important in any healthcare institution and needs to be reviewed from time to time in accordance with the