Confidentiality Innursing Essay

1950 Words8 Pages
Confidentiality “The common law of confidentiality reflects that people have a right to expect that information given to a nurse or midwife is only used for the purpose for which it was given and will not be disclosed without permission”. (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2009) The subject of confidentiality is clearly a broad one with many different aspects documented. The continual changes to our healthcare system and how this impacts issues of confidentiality will be discussed. Accross society, the internet has transformed our relationship with information. High speed web access is found in millions of homes. By 2012, 74 percent of uk homes are expected to have broadband internet access, transforming how people will seek and use information in their lives. (the Darzi Report, 2009). One topic for discussion is the effects of an ever increasing popularity of the internet and IT age, particularly the use of social networking sites, and the challenges in maintaining the patients privacy and confidentiality from a nurses perspective. The ethical dilemma of protecting a patients confidentiality whilst expanding access to information to improve our healthcare system will be explored. Confidentiality can be seen as how we, as healthcare practicioners, treat private information once it has been disclosed to us. It had been documented that information usually results from a relationship of trust. According to the NMC (2002) ‘to trust another person is a significant matter’. In a clinical setting someones confidentiality is viewed by some as the key factor in establishing trust and therefore building a good relationship and interaction between a patient and professional. According to Hogston and simpson (1999) In the absence of this, it may be that nurses may not be able to offer the client the recquired quality of care that they would perhaps expect. Arnold and Boggs
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