Reviewing The Ethics Of Nursing

On that same day, the patient’s wife stated that her neighbor phoned the hospital to get information on her husband and information was given out. It is clear that the nurse who gave out information regarding the patient was in violation of 3.1, privacy and 3.2, confidentiality of provision 3 of the ANA Code of Ethics. It is the nurse’s duty to maintain all confidentiality and privacy of all patient information. (Nursing World, 2012) Information regarding a patient should only be given out to those who are dealing with the direct care of the patient. It is important for nurses to be aware of those who are not involved with the care of the patient.

Nurses rely on personal knowledge and their professional skills to provide ethical care (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). In everyday practice, nurses must balance the needs of their patients against those of the organization, society and themselves. They strive to deliver the highest level of care for patients, but adjusting for limited organizational and personal resources often requires difficult decisions. This paper explores the following scenario suggested by Maville and Huerta: “You are a nurse providing home care to a mother, and you suspect child abuse after observing the mother’s reaction to her child” (as cited by Arizona State University, 2014). When faced with a moral dilemma, a competent nurse incorporates ethical, bioethical and legal considerations. In the proposed story, incorporating the nursing ethics of advocacy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and collaboration will guide the nurse towards an appropriate and legal course of action.

Confidentiality is critical for nursing professional to understand and undertake. If a nurse did not keep a

Concepts of reasonable limits refers to limiting one’s actions or in reference to nursing, limiting what one can say or do in terms of a patient’s care (Jonstone & Fry, 2002). When discussing reasonable limits, a nurse has to take into consideration at what point is enough, enough. For example, in the case study regarding Mrs. Z, reasonable limit would prevent the nurse from pushing the patient further into pursuing treatment and disclosing her medical prognosis to her family. Mrs. Z is a lucid individual, so the nurse and doctor caring for her would have to limit their interference in disclosing information to her husband due to reasonable limits. In nursing, there are times when breaking a patient’s confidentiality becomes an ethical issue. If the nurse was thinking in terms of Utilitarianism, breaching confidentiality would be the only reasonable thing to do. For example, if a patient who is HIV positive is knowingly having unprotected sex in order to infect other people, it would only be right to break the confidentiality of their diagnosis to prevent further harm to other individuals in the future. Sometimes, in order to protect the greatest amount of people, confidentiality has to be broken. Another example where a healthcare individual can break confidentiality is if a minor is being harmed and the minor does not want to disclose to anyone their situation. For

The nurse protected the patient’s privacy and promoted confidentiality by keeping the patients information safe.

The importance of ethical theory plays a large role in nursing practices. It is often difficult to understand where the lines of confidentiality should be drawn, so in order to help decipher the feelings nurse practitioners have of what they consider to be fair or unfair, there are a number of ethical theories that can be used in order to

The main ethical issues that presented in the case scenario is maintaining privacy and confidentiality. “Privacy is limited access to a person, the person’s body, conversations, bodily functions or objects immediately associated with the person” (CNO, 2009, p. 7). Nurses recognize the importance

Confidentiality is the right of an individual patient to have personal, identifiable medical information kept private; such information should be available only to the physician of record and other health care and insurance personnel as necessary. The only time information should be disclosed is with informed consent, with concern for the safety of other specific persons, or in concern for public welfare (K. Edwards, 2008). This paper will discuss the choices made by one nurse who cared for teenage girls in an

As healthcare providers, maintaining a patient’s confidentiality, human dignity and privacy is expected at all times. Nurses are faced with maintaining patient confidentiality on a daily basis. The Coded of Ethics for Nurses is the framework of nonnegotiable ethical standards and obligations that all nurses are to uphold. Nurses are to be accountable for their actions and are expected to advocate and strive to protect the rights, health and safety of patients (American Nurses Association, 2011).

Evan and the other patients have a right to confidentiality; therefore, legally his HIV status cannot be disclosed to the other patients (HIV/Psychiatric manual, 1997). In assessing Evan's rights and the duties of the nurse, Evan has a right to confidentiality, trust, informed treatment decisions and quality care. An Bord Analtrais "Code of Professional Conduct" (2000) states that the nurse is obliged to dutifully undertake these rules. However, Claire's health and that of the former partner are at stake. The nurse will break the confidentiality and trust rules by telling Claire of Evan's illness. The nurse has a responsibility towards other professionals therefore informed decisions and quality care will not be carried out until information of Evan's HIV status is divulged. The last aspect of "Defining the Problem", is to recognise the main ethical problem to be addressed which is whether or not to dismiss patient-nurse confidentiality and trust in order to get adequate healthcare for Claire and Evan's other partner.

Nurses are subject to a plethora of legal, ethical, and professional duties which can be very challenging on a day to day basis. Some of these duties include respecting a patient 's confidentiality and autonomy, and to recognize the duty of care that is owed to all patients. As nurses our duties are always professional; however there are legal implications if these duties are breached. We also must consider when it is okay as nurses to breach these duties and therefore ethical issues arise. As nurses one of our main priorities is to advocate for our patients, without our own personal feelings on the matter taking over.

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.

Listed in provision 3 of the current code of ethics for nurses is the position statement titled the “Protection of the Rights of Privacy and Confidentiality”. The statement was introduced to nurses due to today’s advancing technology such as the internet, social media, and medical databases. The statement states “The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that protection of privacy and confidentiality is essential to maintaining the trusting relationship between health care providers and patients and integral to professional practice” (Privacy and Confidentiality, 2015). This means that nurses must advocate for and strive to protect the safety, health, and rights of their patients. The title of this statement is a basic right that all patients have and it is vital for nurses to safeguard their patients’ by understanding their roles as protectors and to understand that they are held accountable for whatever actions or decisions they make.

The combination of professionalism and ethics can be equated with an extraordinary nurse because they are core components in the nursing profession and crucial to patient trust, confidence and wellbeing. Having a degree in nursing is not what makes one a professional. Professionalism is

The ethical dilemma is a situation by which it’s difficult to determine whether a situation is can be handled without disappointing both sides. Therefore, an ethical dilemma exists when the right thing to do is clear or when members of the healthcare team cannot agree on the right thing to do. Ethical dilemmas require negotiation of different points of view (potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall 2011pg 78).