The United States nurse practitioners have had the problem of promoting patient confidentiality. This has become a serious ethical concern that currently requires a plethora of research to come up with the best ethical standards that guide how to disclose patient information appropriately. Therefore, it is imperative to take a brief look at how patient records can be made as confidential as possible based on the analysis of existing research materials.
Description of what was learned from the literature review
Through the analysis, I learnt that conversations between healthcare professionals should be kept private to avoid leakage of patient information to irrelevant persons. This can be achieved through compliance with standards of regulations of practice and adherence to professionalism in the workplace. Therefore, healthcare professionals should use technology appropriately to effectively manage the records in question to maximize privacy to patient information. Additionally, it is paramount to provide recommendations to healthcare professionals as regards the disclosure of patient information. Such recommendations should include how to disclose diagnostic tests to prevent unauthorized access unless if it is permissible through the patient’s consent. Again, the information can only be disclosed if there is a compelling need to consult other professionals as regards the type of medication that is appropriate with reference to the test results.
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I further realized that the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in relation to storage and updates interferes with the confidentiality of patient records, and the solution is to apply technological use appropriately. Therefore, it is important that physicians should download patient’s information using their own devices as opposed to those of others to curtail circulation of confidential data. Again, consultations involving medical procedures to be undertaken upon diagnosis should be done privately without involving other unnecessary parties by sharing electronic gadgets. Notably, patient consent is very important and there should be no breach of his/her information even if the access was meant for investigation purposes by the relevant police officers. This implies that even the health information provided by the patient to relevant authorities should never be shared by other irrelevant individuals. By so doing, the healthcare professionals will be effectively complying with the ethical codes of conduct; and they also evade possible litigation as regards failure to obey such safety guidelines. Therefore, I understand that awareness creation through educational workshops will equip nurses with appropriate knowledge and skills on how to appropriately manage patient information and avoid probable breach of ethics of confidentiality.
How it affected my thoughts, feelings, values and action in clinical practice
The issue of insecure patient information inflicted anxiety on my mental thoughts, leading to loss of control resulting from irrational thoughts despite my competency levels. I feel that is not recommended to share information regarding noxious medical operations; and access to this information by irrelevant parties may cause depression and eventually reduce my life expectancy. Again, disclosure of private information made me feel like I have totally lost self-interest with demoralizing apprehensions about my own welfare.
Therefore, I feel that the inappropriate disclosure as regards the ethical dilemma in question would cause a lack of enthusiasm to accept my fortune. In addition, a felt a bit traumatized and lost trust in the healthcare professionals. This led to hyper-stress due to the fact that nurses do not understand information accurately and that they have to consult other specialists, leading to circulation of the confidential data. Hence, it is evident that the medical procedures can as well be the sources of other illnesses that are related to psychological distresses.
