Confidentiality- Role of a Nurse in Healthcare Management

Running head: HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
Confidentiality- Role of a Nurse
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1HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
The concept of confidentiality is debatable in healthcare settings. It reflects on the fact
whether private information of a patient should be safeguarded or shared among paramedical and
health care staff for research purpose or quality improvement. The term confidentiality suggests
that there is an agreement related to protection of information between a healthcare provider and
his patient, until the presence of any explicit permission to share that information. Failure to
adhere to duty of confidentiality often makes patients reluctant to seek medical advice (Vallance
and Chalmers 2013). Healthcare professionals are expected to maintain confidentiality of all
kinds of information that they obtain during the course of providing treatment to their patients.
This duty focuses on protection of the information that has been created, or directly and
indirectly acquired, in the context of the concerned patient, and prevents its disclosure under
general circumstances. This duty of confidence does not end with cease to the therapeutic
relationship. Nor does it end when the patient dies.
There are a plethora of laws, legislations and protocols that have been formulated with
the aim of regulating interaction between healthcare staff and their clients. Several changes have
been made in legal framework of each state to ensure equal importance to both the partners to
form an effective therapeutic relationship. The NMC Professional Codes of Conduct suggests
that all nurses and midwives should maintain duty of confidentiality to their clients. It illustrates
the importance of respecting right to privacy, and ensures that the patients and their family
members are informed about the ways by which their information is shared (NMC 2015). These
codes also emphasize on sharing necessary health information only when it is in the best interest
of the patient. Most confidentiality protocols abide by the regulations proposed by the Care Act
of 2014 and Human Rights Act of 1998 (Loveland 2012) (Legislation.gov.uk 2018). The Data
Protection Act was formulated in 1998 to safeguard all kinds of personal data present in

2HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
electronic devices such as tapes computers and other filing systems, in order to prevent they are
unethical use (Islam et al. 2015).
Duty of confidentiality also states that prior consent should be obtained from the patient
before any sort of information is disclosed to researchers or healthcare organizations. Consent
must also be taken prior to seeking help from an interpreter while providing care. According to
the Health Information Protection Act, it is mandatory to obtain consent from the patient or they
are decision makers who have been authorised to formally or in writing to represent the patient
during the course of nursing (Lowe, et al. 2012).
There are certain situations where patient confidentiality can get breached in the
beneficence of patients. Such cases might arise while treating patients suffering from contagious
infections such as HIV. The healthcare staff should be given information about such patients,
which will help them in protecting themselves against spread of the germ (Chan 2013).
According to the International Council of Nurses, the international code of ethics states that all
nurses hold in confidence personal information regarding their clients, and should use their
judgement while sharing such information.
Patients suffering from mental disorders often do not want their personal information to be
disclosed at the workplace or to family members. The society often holds stigmatizing attitude
towards mental illness, which in turn results in social isolation of the patients. It also creates a
negative impact on employment and education, thereby affecting well being. Thus, there is a
need to withhold information related to such patients. This information can only be disclosed
under conditions which put the well being of the society at stake. However, disclosing such