NURS2011 Quality & Safety in Health Care Assessment Answer

Introduction

In the healthcare industry exact comprehension of the ethical principles and legislations is a crucial part of qualifying professional standards for healthcare workers. Legislation and ethical principles in Health Care teaches applied ethics and legislation in a way that exemplifies how these crucial facets of practice are used in the actual world. Further, regular users of the internet and social media may not be entirely aware of the ease with which their behaviour can jeopardise their professionalism (Noroozi et al., 2018). Digital technologies spread information at an unparalleled rate and scale, but frequently its content lacks security and/or confidentiality. These things also compromise the confidentiality of the patients. Moreover, the Blogs and Tweets, Social Media and Online Professionalism in Health Care details the dos and don'ts for the healthcare workers as well as involves the potential repercussions of negligent behaviour. Healthcare professionals have a major part to play in ensuring the ethical delivery of care since ethical challenges in healthcare arise on a daily basis. Every day, decisions are taken and care is provided while keeping ethical beliefs and principles in mind. This essay draws upon the steps 1-3 of the decision-making framework to explore and analyse the ethical and legal implications of the case study (Hathaiya et al., 2020).

Identify issues and collect information

It is essential for all healthcare professionals and institutions to ensure the security, privacy, and protection of patients' medical information. This is truer than ever in our fast-changing information technology era. In the past, healthcare professionals frequently gathered patient data for research purposes and typically just withheld the names of the patients (Hady et al., 2020). This is no longer allowed; instead, protected health information (PHI) must be redacted before being used for research if it contains information that might be used to identify a patient or the patient's family, friends, employers, or household members. In this case, the main issue is the Ethical violation by the registered nurse (Dejong et al., 2014). As in the professional blogs of the registered nurse, the confidentiality and privacy of the patients is getting compromised, which is the arising issue. Concerning ethical principles, this issue refers to autonomy. Regarding how the information of the patient is used and delivered, patients have specific rights for that. In this context, health care practitioners must be aware of these rights and have a duty to uphold those (Lustgarten et al., 2020). Patient rights are based on autonomy and informed consent. Described as a foundational ethical principle in healthcare, patient autonomy. The patient has the right to make decisions regarding their privacy and data they have shared with the healthcare workers. Healthcare personnel should always work to prevent treating patients against their will. Patients have the right to participate in the decision-making process surrounding their privacy, confidentiality and care. A competent, independent person making a choice, non-coerced decision to accept or reject a suggested course of action is said to have given their informed consent (Reamer et al., 2018).

According to the code of ethics, value statement 7 stated that RNs should value ethical information systems. In order to manage information ethically, it is necessary to respect people's confidentiality and privacy without endangering their health or safety. No matter the medium in which the data is stored or generated, including clinical and research data, this holds true for all sorts of data. Only the individual's consent or legal authorization are required for the sharing of personal information. A lot of healthcare companies and nurse practitioners use social media for business. These accounts are used by them to network professionally, educate the public, and interact with the public, including patients or patients' families (Turcotte-Tremblay et al., 2018). Individuals must be careful not to breach patient confidentiality or the therapeutic nurse-client line when utilising a professional social media account. Recognize the conditions that must be met for a patient and their family to give permission for the use of their photo or other personal data on a business social media account. Patient confidentiality is not protected when the healthcare professionals are blogging or uploading information even without including the information of the patient. According to the Code of Conduct, nurses are responsible for upholding professional boundaries with patients and should refrain from posting identifying information about patients on social media. So, in this scenario the main issue is the ethical violation by the registered nurse. Deliberate wrong-doing or incompetence of the registered nurse comes under ethical violation (Karasneh et al., 2019). 

Evaluate the issue

Concerning ethical principles, this issue refers to autonomy. RNs should appreciate ethical information systems, according to value statement 7 of the code of ethics. Respecting people's privacy and confidentiality without jeopardizing their health or safety is essential for managing information ethically. This is true for all types of data, regardless of the format in which they are created or kept, including clinical and research data. The informed consent procedure emerged from a social push for greater autonomy as well as from life-saving medical developments that some patients questioned the necessity of. The patient and the healthcare professional each contribute to the creation of an acceptable medical care plan with informed consent (Mars et al., 2019). Important elements of informed consent are the ethical obligations to maintain autonomy, convey data, and avoid unethical kinds of bias. A person has the freedom to make choices if they are capable of doing so, on their privacy and confidentiality which are based on moral, ethical, or other grounds. Ethical principles state that before sharing any content related to the patient's privacy, informed consent is required. If this happens, it will be considered as an ethical violation whether it is intentional or not. No matter their age, individuals should participate in healthcare choices to the amount that their capacity allows. Under the ethical principle, the patient's right to privacy regarding his or her confidential information is crucial, and it should be upheld (Maher et al., 2019). Every person has the freedom to the privacy and confidentiality of their private and medical details. Only the client and his physician, clinician, healthcare professional, or healthcare insurance supplier should discuss such delicate and confidential information. The patient must give consent before a healthcare professional can reveal any of the people's clinical data to third parties. Since individuals depend on their physicians to keep their medical information private and exposure of that data could have negative effects on the participant's personal or professional life, it is important to preserve that information (Mouton Dorey et al., 2018).

 Under the legal concerns, The Privacy Act of 1988 (Commonwealth), often known as the Privacy 1988, promotes and safeguards individual privacy and confidentiality. Additionally, it governs how Australian government institutions and agencies handle personal data. There are a number of remedies available to protect individual confidentiality when Australian Government agencies or some private sector enterprises or organisations violate a privacy standard (McDonald et al., 2019). A lack of understanding of the confidentiality in healthcare can make medical practitioners prone to covering, patient confidentiality breaches, and confidentiality breaches in nursing. Privacy refers to handling an individual's personal data (Carter et al., 2022). Contrarily, "confidentiality" refers to the preservation of information about other persons or organisations that has been shared in confidence and is not generally accessible to the public. Examples of secrecy in the healthcare industry include medical confidentiality, which mandates that medical workers, such as doctors and nurses, safeguard the private information and conversations involving their patients (Maher et al., 2019). In general, this is the responsibility under the Privacy Act and APPs as a healthcare provider not to reveal personal information for ancillary reasons like marketing or on social media. Healthcare professionals also have a common law obligation and an ethical obligation to keep such information private. If they have violated confidentiality, they may be subject to legal action to recover damages. Discipline from the organisations that represent healthcare professionals may also follow. If consent is acquired, along with additional specific conditions, one can release confidential information as a health care practitioner. Medical research, public interest, and to other health care practitioners or agencies are a few of these specific situations. Additionally, you can in certain instances be obliged to divulge private information in court proceedings (Pang et al., 2020).

Action- What to do in practice

No other technological advancement has connected the world and given us quick access to knowledge like social networking. Moreover, the majority of progressive employers in healthcare now support the appropriate use of social media as a channel for communicating health information with the individuals after realising the advantages of social media (and that it is not going away). On the other hand, we are all aware that using social media for work-related or personal purposes has a bad side. In healthcare, the confidentiality and privacy of the patients are also compromised (Vimalachandran et al., 2018). Finally, and perhaps most crucially in a healthcare setting, using media for blogging, as demonstrated in the scenario raises the possibility and simplicity of improper use or disclosure of confidential information. A large number of healthcare professionals have access to a variety of sensitive confidential information, ranging, in some situations, from confidential organisational information to sensitive personal health information of patients. In the era of the internet, protecting that information becomes much more crucial and complicated. Therefore, it is the responsibility of healthcare workers to protect patient autonomy and confidentiality. Personal privacy is not always a priority as social media platforms spread throughout society. However, for those of us in the healthcare industry, privacy must always be a major priority, particularly on social media. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), personal medical information about a person should not be transmitted in any kind of media, including electronic ones, unless the subject has provided express authorization to do so (Eastwood et al., 2020).

Personal privacy is not always a priority as social media becomes increasingly widespread. But for those of us in the healthcare industry, privacy is something that must always be prioritised, particularly on social media. Personal medical information about a person should not be shared in any way, including electronically, unless that person has expressly consented to the sharing (Cowin et al., 2019). It is negative to expect healthcare employees to avoid social media in today's tech-driven world, especially given how many healthcare organisations use social platforms for marketing and instructional purposes. Instead, healthcare leaders can inform healthcare professionals about the dangers of social media, provide best practices, and put in place sensible social media rules. Further, individuals can consider various guidelines like healthcare workers should get training on ethical principles and legislations which state privacy regulations as well as information on the repercussions of breaking these laws by sharing content on social media that contains patient information or other identifiable information (Wolf et al., 2019). Moreover, provide concrete examples of both intentional and unintentional privacy violations. Request signatures on confidentiality agreements from employees, and save a copy of each signed agreement in each worker's personnel file. Ensure patient consent is obtained before uploading any content with patient sensitive information to the organisation's social media pages. The use of the information should be made clear in the consent. Review social media posts with someone who is knowledgeable about the privacy and confidentiality laws to make sure nothing violates patient confidentiality. Further, recognize the technological restrictions and usage policies of any social media platforms if any healthcare worker intends to use (Noiseux et al., 2019).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the main issue in this case scenario is the ethical violation by the registered nurse. The privacy and confidentiality of the patients are being violated, much like in the registered nurse's professional blogs. This problem relates to the ethical ideals of autonomy. Patients have distinct rights regarding the use and delivery of their personal information. Health care professionals in this situation have a responsibility to uphold these rights and must be aware of them. Informed consent and autonomy are the cornerstones of patient rights. Patient autonomy is referred to as a fundamental ethical element in healthcare. The patient has the right to decide how to handle any personal information they have given to medical personnel. Ethical principles state that before sharing any content related to the patient's privacy, informed consent is required. If this happens, It will be considered as an ethical violation whether it is intentional or not. Regardless of age, all patients should be involved in medical decision-making to the extent that their capacity permits. t is negative to expect healthcare employees to avoid social media in today's tech-driven world, especially given how many healthcare organisations use social platforms for marketing and instructional purposes. Instead, healthcare leaders can inform healthcare professionals about the dangers of social media, provide best practices, and put in place sensible social media rules.

References

Carter, D. J., & Hartridge, S. (2022). Privacy breaches and electronic communication: Lessons for practitioners and researchers. Aust J Gen Pract, 51(7), 497-99. 10.31128/AJGP-05-21-6008

Cowin, L. S., Riley, T. K., Heiler, J., & Gregory, L. R. (2019). The relevance of nurses and midwives code of conduct in Australia. International Nursing Review, 66(3), 320-328.https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12534

DeJong, S. M. 2014, ‘Chapter four – confidentiality’, in blogs and tweets, texting and friending: social media and online professionalism in health care, 2, 47-60. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Q15GFLIyZXYC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=DeJong,+S.+M.+2014,+%E2%80%98Chapter+four+%E2%80%93+confidentiality%E2%80%99,+in+Blogs+and+Tweets,+Texting+and+Friending:+Social+Media+and+Online+Professionalism+in+Health+Care,+pp.+47-60&ots=0L67WVbDOc&sig=6to3fuUQHXUbiT_BsD0G-vMveoU&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Eastwood, J., & Maitland-Scott, I. (2020). Patient privacy and integrated care: The Multidisciplinary Health Care Team. International Journal of Integrated Care, 20(4).10.5334/ijic.5591

Hady, A. A., Ghubaish, A., Salman, T., Unal, D., & Jain, R. (2020). Intrusion detection system for healthcare systems using medical and network data: A comparison study. IEEE Access, 8, 106576-106584.10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3000421

Hathaliya, J. J., & Tanwar, S. (2020). An exhaustive survey on security and privacy issues in Healthcare 4.0. Computer Communications, 153, 311-335.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2020.02.018

Karasneh, R. A., Al-Azzam, S. I., Alzoubi, K. H., Hawamdeh, S. S., & Muflih, S. M. (2019). Patient data sharing and confidentiality practices of researchers in Jordan. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 12, 255.doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S227759

Lustgarten, S. D., Garrison, Y. L., Sinnard, M. T., & Flynn, A. W. (2020). Digital privacy in mental healthcare: current issues and recommendations for technology use. Current Opinion in Psychology, 36, 25-31.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.03.012

Maher, N. A., Senders, J. T., Hulsbergen, A. F., Lamba, N., Parker, M., Onnela, J. P., & Broekman, M. L. (2019). Passive data collection and use in healthcare: A systematic review of ethical issues. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 129, 242-247.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2019.06.015

Mars, M., Morris, C., & Scott, R. E. (2019). WhatsApp guidelines–what guidelines? A literature review. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 25(9), 524-529.https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X19873233

McDonald, F. & Then, S. N. (2019), Ethics, law & health care: A guide for nurses and midwives, 2nd edn, New York: MacMillan International, Red Globe Press. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/128450/

Mouton Dorey, C., Baumann, H., & Biller-Andorno, N. (2018). Patient data and patient rights: Swiss healthcare stakeholders’ ethical awareness regarding large patient data sets–a qualitative study. BMC Medical Ethics, 19(1), 1-14.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0261-x

Noiseux, J., Rich, H., Bouchard, N., Noronha, C., & Carnevale, F. A. (2019). Children need privacy too: Respecting confidentiality in paediatric practice. Paediatrics & Child Health, 24(1), e8-e12.https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxy047

Noroozi, M., Zahedi, L., Bathaei, F. S., & Salari, P. (2018). Challenges of confidentiality in clinical settings: compilation of an ethical guideline. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 47(6), 875.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6077627/

Pang, P. C. I., McKay, D., Chang, S., Chen, Q., Zhang, X., & Cui, L. (2020). Privacy concerns of the Australian My Health Record: Implications for other large-scale opt-out personal health records. Information Processing & Management, 57(6), 102364.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2020.102364

Reamer, F. G. (2018). Ethical issues in integrated health care: Implications for social workers. Health & Social Work, 43(2), 118-124.https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hly005

Turcotte-Tremblay, A. M., & Sween-Cadieux, M. (2018). A reflection on the challenge of protecting confidentiality of participants while disseminating research results locally. BMC Medical Ethics, 19(1), 5-11.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0279-0

Vimalachandran, P., Zhang, Y., Cao, J., Sun, L., & Yong, J. (2018, November). Preserving data privacy and security in Australian my health record system: A quality health care implication. In International Conference on Web Information Systems Engineering (pp. 111-120). UK: Springer, Cham

Wolf, G., & Mendelson, D. (2019). The my health record system: Potential to undermine the paradigm of patient confidentiality?. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 42(2), 619-651.https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.456345803901163

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