What Is Privacy Or Improper Use Of Privacy

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.

This says to me that social media used in an unprofessional way that impacts others is not professional. As stated in the case study ‘Later that evening, after your shift has finished, you discover that your friend and peer has posted the image to a social media website. In the image the patient's details are clearly identifiable, as are other hospital staff who were unaware that their photo was being taken. If we read the (code of professional conduct for nurses 2008), point five this states ‘Nurses treat personal information obtained in a professional capacity as private and confidential.’

While advancements in technology have positively impacted the nursing field, it has also created huge concerns with patient privacy and sharing of protected health information leading to detrimental effects to patients and their families. Indeed, technology is changing the face of healthcare with positive innovations to reduce medication errors and documentation errors. However, technology at our fingertips has created immense concerns with sharing of protected health information of patients via social media, email and other means of communication via technology. This paper addresses why I feel the advancement of technology has numerous deficits that need more research and implementation of new laws and policies to safeguard the

165). The HIPAA regulations are set as a protection of Personal Health Information (PHI) and all of its areas of concern, i.e. – name, condition, symptoms, etc… Legally, the nurse is not subjected to any clearly defined healthcare related laws, at the federal level, liable under the Privacy Acts of 1974 which protects any personal identification records or information relating to the patient’s privacy. The nurse takes photographs of the patient’s demographic information from his electronic health record which violates the regulations set forth by the Privacy Acts of 1974 (Privacy Act of 1974, n.d.). In many aspects of this scenario, a major concern lies on the nurse’s ethical, unethical, practice. The American Nurses Association (ANA) delineates in Provision Three of the Code of Ethics for Nurses “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient.” (ANA, 2015). The nurse is in many violations enough to end their career in this situation. The privacy of the patient is a right not a privilege. With the increase usage of social media, this invasion of privacy on the patient could potentially be leaked and could lead to jeopardizing the patient’s safety while in the hospital.

“Facebook remains the most popular platform for those using just one social media site—fully 79% of those who use just one site report using Facebook. Most Facebook users are actively engaging with their networks on the site. As opposed to simply reading or viewing content, 65% of Facebook users frequently or sometimes share, post or comment on Facebook” (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, et al, 2015). As discussed previously, privacy and confidentiality is a right that everyone has no matter what. Therefore, healthcare professional’s privacy and communication cannot be entered and examined however; rules and guidelines have been put into place to manage confidentiality in the healthcare setting. In 2003, these guidelines were manifested and are known as the Privacy Rules, which are controlled by HIPAA. These rules were established to safeguard personal identifiable health data, which include an individual’s date of birth, social security number, address, photographs that may identify the patient, and past and current medical history (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). HIPAA defines “individually identifiable health information” as information that is a subdivision of health data, including demographic information gathered from an individual and is generated or received by a health care provider, health plan, employer, or health care clearinghouse and connects to the previous, current or future physical or

In the world today, smartphones are becoming the “norm”, with basic phones becoming nearly obsolete in recent years. Pairing the overwhelming presence of social media with the rise in usage of smartphones brings to light an entirely new set of problems and challenges regarding patient privacy. According to a 2010 study conducted regarding various boards of nursing, 67% of executive officers surveyed reported receiving complaints about nurses misusing social media (Spector & Kappel,

Another way nurses use freedom when it comes to social media and technology “Trust—the hallmark of the nurse-patient relationship” Brous explains about this saying that “nurses should avoid talking about any patients or their situations online…that includes adding their name or other protected information.” By doing this nurses won’t be breaking any rules and they can avoid any mishaps.

The rapid development of technology throughout modern society has initiated the widespread use of social networking. Social networking plays a positive role in healthcare when educating, communicating, or advertising. However, poor judgments have the power to turn this positive into negative and damage professional reputations. Griffith (2014) stresses the importance of understanding that protected health information is not a matter of open secrets. Whether a lawyer, doctor, nurse, or a secretary, it is important to avoid conditions that may influence the health and security of patients or clients, as well as their own professional reputation (Aylott, 2011). The Purpose of this paper is to explore the appropriate use of cell phones and social networking in healthcare and the importance of understanding the ethical boundaries between professional uses opposed to personal use.

In nursing school HIPAA is one of the first and foremost topics covered. It is not simply a skill that can be tested on paper and filed away into the back of your mind. HIPAA is a crucial concept and practice that all workers in the field of healthcare must strictly adhere to. Although it should seem like common sense to respect the privacy and rights of a patient, there are far too many incidences where boundaries have been crossed, and information breached. The case of Carolyn Strom should serve as a pertinent example reinforcing how rapid the response can be when posting on social media, even if you think you are being discreet or anonymous. Patients need to be looked at not as chart numbers, but as humans who have a sense of pride

The American Nurses Association defines privacy as: is the right to control access to, and disclosure and nondisclosure of, information pertaining to oneself and to control the circumstance, timing, and the extent to which any information can be disclosed (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 9). Nurses must defend the patient’s right to privacy while advocating for an environment that provides sufficient physical privacy that includes privacy for any discussions of a personal nature. According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) (2011), any information may only be disclosed to other members of the health care team for health care purposes. Any confidential information shared should be done only

Another drawback of smartphone and social media use in healthcare is the negative repercussions of breach of patient confidentiality. To follow with HIPAA Privacy Rule, clinical vignettes posted via web-based media concerning patients must have all individual perceiving information and any uncovering references removed. This “de-identification” should be possible by changing or disposing of key patient components (e.g., names, insurance or Social Security numbers, date of birth, and photos), by keeping up a vital separation from the portrayal of uncommon therapeutic issues, and by excluding specific time ranges or territories without the patient's consent. In any case, there have been numerous coincidental breaches of HIPAA Privacy Rule involving online networking. A study of medical blogs composed by HCPs found that individual patients were portrayed in 42% of the 271 samples studied. These samples, 17% were found to sufficiently incorporate data for patients to distinguish themselves or their providers, and three included conspicuous photos of the patients (Ventola,

In the third scenario the student nurse took a photo of the patient with his room number visible in the background and posted it on Facebook. She did not realize that others could still access the post even if there are privacy settings and ultimately was expelled from nursing school because she had breached the patient’s confidentiality. This scenario resonated with me because there was no intent to harm the patient and because it happened to a student nurse. Not to dismiss that she did something wrong, but the student nurse was probably very caught up in the emotional aspect of caring for the patient and probably thought she was doing something good by applauding the child. She was feeling proud of the patient as well as privileged to be a part of his care. As a nurse and a human being I can understand this, however as nurses we always need to be very careful of being caught up and acting out of emotion. Just as you must take the time to think things through and the repercussions of you actions when providing actual care for a patient this must be done using social media or any action that could violate the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality. As a nurse the priority should be to protect your patient and she did not do so because she acted based on emotion and possibly did not understand or think through the full implications of her

Privacy and confidentiality are basic rights in our society. Safeguarding those rights, with respect to an individual’s personal health information, is our ethical and legal obligation as health care providers. Doing so in today’s health care environment is increasingly challenging (OJIN, 2005).

Privacy and confidentiality are one of the significant topics of legal in the health-care setting because it is necessary for the management of patient information. Providing excellent nursing care for a patient requires that each nurse acquires relevant information from the patient concerning the patient’s symptoms, their lifestyle, their medication, etc. Therefore, nurses routinely see, hear, read and record things about other people that are not commonly discussed outside the health-care setting and have exceptional access to matters of patient privacy. This brings with it certain legal and moral obligations. According to the ANMC’s (2008) Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia, nurses in Australia are obliged to ‘treat

The current controversy that needs addressing is a dating website has been asked to hand over user information to the public health department because of a STD outbreak on the site, even though their policy is against it. Normally, the health department needs a warrant to get this information but because the department is not able to the company that hosts the chatroom needs to make the decision to give out personal user information. The main proposal being presented is the company should give out the user’s personal information because if it does not the STD could continue to spread without the carriers even knowing. So, the department believes that for the betterment of public health it is okay to breach privacy in this instance.