Questions On The Care Values

I believe this is important as it allows the individual to be able to do what they want and acknowledges that everyone is different and has different interests and tastes. Dignity within a caring role is also a very important value within my organisation as it gives the individual the right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times. It allows each individuals care needs to be met in an honourable and person centred way. I believe that my own personal values have influenced the way in which I work and I am guided by the national care standards to fulfil these values even further.

Seeing information about a healthcare user in such terms makes me realise that some information is not necessarily in the public domain and therefore I have a privilege and responsibility to not only care for the patient but also for the knowledge about them that I am privy to. I realise that, although I have a duty to retain confidentiality, I may be placed in a position where the confidence has to also include other healthcare professionals and I need to involve the patient in such a situation (ibid).

Currently, most people generally accept a doctor’s word as truth and do not question him or her. When it comes to the medical field, patients can often feel overwhelmed by all the confusing medical terms being thrown at them, so they tend to sit back and do as the doctor says. Healthcare professionals sometimes take advantage of this fact and withhold important information from their patients. For instance, a study conducted by Lisa Lezzoni, MD, and her peers states that more than half of physicians lied to their patients about their diagnosis to put a more positive spin on it (Lezzoni, Rao, DesRoches, Vogeli, and Campbell). Healthcare professionals should disclose to the patient any information pertaining to the patient.

A pivotal aspect of receiving quality medical care is being able to communicate your health concerns and have confidence and trust in your doctor, which is essentially the doctor patient relationship. Yet, this

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’’

Care providers strive to provide care that is patient focused that maintains confidentiality and respect. This paper is about the maintenance of patient confidentiality and the trusting relationships that must be maintained between the patient and the healthcare providers.

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.

In recent times, in the field of health communication, a shift in beliefs has become apparent. Many feel that the physician-centered approach is no longer the best way to manage the interaction between patients and doctors. A new collaborative approach has been adopted by many. This collaborative approach is more of a partnership between the patient and doctor. More communicating by the patient, and more listening by the doctor. When the doctor and patient speak to one another, they speak to each other as peers sharing ideas,

Communication plays a vital role in the healthcare setting, as the relationship with the healthcare professional sets the tone of the care experience and has a powerful impact on patient satisfaction. It is “the shared process in which messages are sent and received between two or more people which are made up of a sender, receiver, and message in a particular context” (cite, date). This essay highlights the importance of, and some common barriers to, effective communication in the healthcare setting. It involves many interpersonal skills such as effective observation, questioning and listening, giving feedback, recognizing and removing barriers.

“Extensive research has shown that no matter how knowledgeable a clinician might be, if he or she is not able to open good communication with the patient, he or she may be of no help” (Asnani, MR. 2009). Effective communication plays a big role in healthcare and contributes to the quality of patient care and teamwork.

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.

"Good communication skills have been linked to higher patient satisfaction, greater patient adherence to treatment, better patient health outcomes, fewer physician malpractice claims, reduced patient anxiety, increased recall and improved understanding." (Kissane, 2012) Numerous medical programs have executed basic communication skills curriculum. The five key communication skills encompass listening effectively, eliciting information using effective questioning skills, providing information using effective explanatory skills, counseling and educating patients, and making informed decisions based on patient information and preference. "The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education recommends that physicians become competent with these five elements." (Travaline,

Confidentiality and privacy are hallmarks of health care in Ontario. A person’s health information belongs to that person and they have a right to consent to the use, collection and disclosure of that information, with limited exceptions. They also have the right to access their personal health information. Most people are very concerned about their privacy, especially when it comes to matters of their health. Moreover, privacy and confidentiality are cornerstones of establishing trust in the therapeutic relationship between the practitioner and the patient/client. This includes keeping any other personal information about a patient/client confidential. A patient/client who can trust that his/her personal health information is being protected is more likely to provide a complete health history, which would enable more effective treatment (CKO, 2013).

The confidentiality of patient visits and medical records are essential in providing the highest quality of health care. Under penalty of law, a patient's medical records or any other information regarding the patient may only be released with his or her authorization. Exceptions to this are certain cases specified by law for example, health care providers are required to report certain communicable diseases such as measles. Many organizations and laws have been developed to maintain patient's rights of confidentiality and access to their medical record. Guided by the principle that confidentiality is essential in developing strong trust between patients and healthcare providers, the

Yeo (2010) point out that the possibility to retain some information from patients has been ordered for long in Australian law, as in other countries for the benefit of the patient. This has now been combined with the greater autonomy acknowledged to the patient in many jurisdictions. Although a clinical approach reveals that loyalty should guide the patient-physician relationship, there are still some situations in which information consent and truth telling may be controversial: in some circumstances, the physician should or may not tell the truth. The case at hand poses a dilemma regarding the right to know (Cherry & Jacob 2008).