Ethical Implications of a Breach of Confidentiality Confidentiality is the right of every patient. According to various laws, it is unacceptable to disclose the medical information to a third party without the consent from the patient. Law protects patient's right for keeping their vital information confidently. Healthcare staff should respect and protect patient's confidentiality. According to American nurses association disclosing patient's details without their permission is considering breach of confidentiality (ANA, 2012).
SHC24: Introduction to Duty of Care in Health, Social Care or Children’s and Young People’s Settings 1.1 Define the term ‘duty of care’ “Duty of care” is a legal obligation to do everything witch you can do to keep a person safe from harm, for this you must respect his dignity, to protect him, to be honest with him, and to “upgrade” your knowledge and skills. 1.2 Describe how the duty of care affects own work role “Duty of care” ensure providing care at the highest levels of quality and safety, When rights violations the person can take legal actions against healthcare provider. If the person supports an accident and if I cannot carry out a task safely, I must finde someone who can help. Is my responsibility to report a improper conduct or any operation that could be designated like “abuse”. 2.1 Describe dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individual’s rights My first action must/will be the interest and safety of the individual.
QCF Work Unit 4 Define the term duty of care: The term duty of care can be defined as the legal obligation to safeguard others from harm while they are in your care or using your services. To always act in the best interest of individuals and others, to not act in a way that results in harm and to act within your competence and not take on anything you do not believe you can safely do. Describe how duty of care affects own work role: You have a duty of care to protect my customers from harm, to safeguard confidential information, to pass on any concerns or information that concerns you to the relevant safeguarding body and to provide a high standard of care to all. Describe dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individuals rights; A customer may disclose some private information to you that concerns you. E.G.
Always wash my hands before attending a service user before and after, and wear the correct protective aprons and gloves that are supplied by my company. 2.1 Important medication needs to be taken as a when required otherwise they could become ill if they don’t take them. If the service user refuses to take there medication, I cannot force them to take there medication as it is there right to refuse. I can however encourage them and explain the importance of taking medication, Give the service user reassurance however If they still refuse I must report it to my manager and all relevant parties. 2.2 To get additional support and advice I can talk to either my team leader or manager.
The necessity for nurses to be able to communicate effectively is vital for the continued care of patients. More specifically, it is crucial that Nurses are able the change their language patterns and vocabulary, depending on the person they are talking to. The communications a nurse has with their patient is completely different to how a nurse would speak to a fellow Medical Officers (MO). There must be a strong, clear wording, instruction and diagnosis when talking to colleagues; otherwise there may be confusion as to the treatment of a patient. However, when speaking to a client, using jargon and medical terms can be considered as inappropriate and confusing for the people involved.
The writer established that the role of the nurse is to identify children and young people who may be at risk and to act to safeguard them. It is important to understand that patient confidentiality is a crucial aspect of the health care profession. According to El-Radhi “any health or social care professional who is involved in patient care has a legal duty to keep information about their patients confidential and access to it should be strictly controlled.” (El-Radhi). It is important to maintain patient confidentiality even in the cases where the patient is a minor however; when there is suspicion that the child is in danger it is the role of the nurse to inform the appropriate authorities. The nurse should be able to identify cases that involve minors in which patient confidentiality must be breached.
I had already gained consent from patient A for myself and the nurse to give a bed bath in accordance with the NMC code of conduct (NMC, 2008) and following this I went to collect the correct equipment to perform the task. As patient A had Clostridium Difficile they needed to be isolation nursed. We isolate nurse to “prevent the risk of spreading germs to other patients and staff” (NHS, 2010). Outside of the side room there were red aprons and gloves which needed to be put on before entering. Before entering the side room, it is essential to collect all equipment to avoid leaving the room unnecessarily.
Describe dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individual’s rights Me as a care assistant I have to do everything to keep my residents safe, I have duty of care to that people. Sometimes my residents they want to do something which can be dangerous for them. On the other hand, I have to respect their choices and rights. I have to explain nicely what the risk is and find the way to compromise. All of my action taken should be documented including any risk assessment carried out.
Deafness This can be overcome by the use of sign language or written notes if the client is able to lip read then direct facial contact should always be maintained when having a conversation or when daily chores need to be assessed 2. Blindness This is overcome by explaining in detail all tasks you are about to perform before you begin so that the client is fully aware of what is going on around them i.e. if you were about to assist them to have a bath everything should be talked through for example I am going to remove your shoes and socks first. This will avoid the client becoming nervous and give them the chance to tell you anything you may need to know before the action is performed 3. Dementia With dementia you really need to get to know each individual well to know how best to communicate with them as every person is effected in a different way some may just need to be told they need to do something some may
Risks assessments are extremely important and must be implemented and met all the time. Risk assessments are designed to ensure the Health and Safety of everyone. 2.1 Sometimes individuals may want to do something which could be a risk to their Health and safety. As a support worker you have a duty of care to that person and you must do all that you can to keep them safe but you also have a duty to respect the individual’s rights and choice, so you have a dilemma. It could be that an individual refuses their medication.