Confidentiality In Nursing Case Study

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In this log, one of the most important aspect of law in reference to the role of nurses and decision making will be discussed. I chose Confidentiality as the topic to be discussed and this log will also define it with regards to how it affects and make an impact to the nursing practice. Maintaining confidentiality is fundamental and essential for the nurse and patient relationship as it gives confidence and expectation to them that the nurse will be able to respect their right to privacy and by ensuring confidentiality(Griffith & Tengnah, 2014). Nurses are also obligated to maintain and respect the confidentiality of the patient professionally and legally because it is emphasised in the NMC code and is also stated in HPC standards (Gallagher …show more content…

A duty of confidence occurs when a person shares information to another in any circumstances where it is sensible to expect that the informations will be held in certainty (Griffith & Tengnah, 2014).This obligation is a lawful commitment derived from case law, a professional codes of conduct requirement and in the employment NHS contract, connected to disciplinary procedures. Therefore, it is very important that all the nurses should be well aware and understand that they should only use the informations they receive from the patient to deliver a service and not for any other purpose (Beech, 2007). In 2012, Jacintha Saldanha who is a staff nurse treating Kate Middleton in a central London hospital committed a suicide and was found dead after a hoax call regarding Middleton’s medical condition (Nursing times Press Association, 2012). This phone call were the nurse disclosed the informations put the confidentiality of the patient at risk and shows the significance of confidentiality to be implemented in the nursing practice at all times. It is clearly shows that without her consent or authorisation, her confidentiality …show more content…

Nurses need to consider the issues of confidentiality before deciding whether information disclosure is appropriate. The best practice is to obtain the consent of the patient unless their safety is at risk of harm or a serious crime committed. This log outlined some of the key issues of confidentiality and noted that confidentiality can be complex concept. Therefore, nurses must carefully balance the need to maintain confidentiality against the needs and welfare of individuals. I attended a full day trust induction before my placement and surprised that they did not discuss confidentiality and information sharing. In addition, we had our Information Governance training that we need to do before placement and learned the importance and our responsibility when it comes to confidentiality and handling patient’s informations. However, all student and registered nurses will benefit from ongoing confidential training and it will help them with

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