NUR3020 Assignment: Professional Transitions in Nursing Ethics

This report addresses a breach of patient confidentiality by a Registered Nurse (RN) who posted about a patient on social media. It highlights the ethical and legal implications of such actions, referencing NMBA standards, HIPPA regulations, and the Privacy Act 1988. The report emphasizes the importance of maintaining patient privacy, not only for ethical reasons but also for its impact on patient trust and healthcare outcomes. It outlines the responsibilities of nurses in protecting patient data and suggests strategies to prevent future breaches, including the implementation of strict policies, comprehensive training programs using the ADDIE model, and the importance of de-identification when sharing information. The report concludes with recommendations for educating nurses on social media use and reinforcing the importance of confidentiality to ensure ethical and legal compliance.

PROFESSIONAL
TRANSITIONS IN
NURSING
Name of the student
Name of the university

OVERVIEW OF THE ISSUE
 A Registered Nurse has posted comments a
popular social media platform, Instagram which is
related to a patient
 The comment has been posted about how difficult
the patient is to treat
 This information has been given to me by another
RN and I have been asked to discuss professional
responsibility with them.
 Considering the fact that it is a confidentiality
breach, my aim is to make the RN aware of her
responsibilities
 I also aim to find out effective strategies through
secondary data analysis to deal with confidentiality
breaches of the patients by nurses.

ETHICAL BREACHES
CONDUCTED BY THE RN
 As per the NMDA standard 6.5, it is the
responsibility of the nurses to practice
keeping accordance with relevant policies,
guidelines, standards, regulations and
legislation
 As per the HIPPA regulation as well as the
Privacy act 1988, it is illegal to post any kind
of information about a heath care service
providers on social media platforms.
 Hence it can be clearly understood that by
posting the comment about he patient on
social media platform, the RN have conducted
an unethical as well as illegal act.

IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING
PRIVACY OF THE PATIENTS
 Privacy protection of the healthcare
service users along with ethical
healthcare provides value able
benefits to the society.
 Lack of confidentiality wile getting
treated, will prevent healthcare
service users to opt for heath care
service.
 Not only this, it imposes negative
impact on the career as well as
reputation of the healthcare service
user. Breaches of confidentiality can
even result in termination
 Along with this, protecting the
privacy of the patient is crucial since
privacy permits complex activities
that includes research and public
health activities to be carried out in
different ways which possess the
potential to protect individuals’
dignity

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE
NURSES
 One of the basic
responsibilities of a nurse
includes demonstrating
respect to the healthcare
service users while
providing care to the same.
 efficient maintained of the
privacy an confidentiality of
the patient can be
considered as a process of
demonstrating respect.
 It is the responsibility of the
nurses to ensure that the
confidential data given by
the patient are not
accessible to any external
sources.

STRATEGIES TO DEAL
WITH THE ISSUE
 A good number of health care
organizations have
incorporated the ADDIE Model
to educate the nurses about
their responsibilities.
 It is constitute of five phases
namely, Analysis, Design,
Development, Implementation,
and Evaluation.
 Nurses are educated about the
importance of privacy through
care curriculam
 Reflective quizzes are held in
order to encourage the nurses
to reflect on their behaviour by
this they develops the
potential to understand their
own loopholes.

STRATEGIES TO DEAL
WITH THE ISSUE
 Strict policies should be
implemented by the
management of healthcare
homes against sharing of an
y information that breaches
the confidentiality of the
patient
 Violation of the mentioned
rule not only results in large
amount of fine but also may
result in suspension or even
termination.
 The establishment of such
policies possess the potential
to diminish the concerns
associated with online
posting of pictures as well as
other patient information

STRATEGIES TO DEAL
WITH THE ISSUE
 In case any
information is shared,
de-identification
should be conducted
(Lachman, 2013).
 Effective training will
be provided to the
nurses so that they
can use social media
appropriate when it
comes to posting
information about
their profession.

IMPLEMENTATION
 THE RN needs to made aware of the NMBA
standards 6.5 that includes each and every
nurses should practice keeping accordance with
relevant policies, guidelines, standards,
regulations and legislation
(Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. 2019).
 Strict policies should be incorporated by the
organization (Lachman, 2013).
 Effective education and training session should
be incorporated for the all the employees where
they will be made aware of the importance of
maintain confidentiality and privacy of the
clients on social media platforms.

REFERENCE LIST
Househ, M., Borycki, E., & Kushniruk, A. (2014). Empowering patients
through social media: the benefits and challenges. Health informatics
journal, 20(1), 50-58. DOI: 10.1177/1460458213476969
Hsu, T. C., Lee-Hsieh, J., Turton, M. A., & Cheng, S. F. (2014). Using the ADDIE
model to develop online continuing education courses on caring for nurses
in Taiwan. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 45(3), 124-131.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane_Lee-Hsieh/publication/26021527
7_Using_the_ADDIE_Model_to_Develop_Online_Continuing_Education_Cours
es_on_Caring_for_Nurses_in_Taiwan/links/54b49bce0cf26833efd027bd/Usin
g-the-ADDIE-Model-to-Develop-Online-Continuing-Education-Courses-on-Ca
ring-for-Nurses-in-Taiwan.pdf
Lachman, V. D. (2013). Social media: managing the ethical issues. Medsurg
Nursing, 22(5), 326-330. Retrieved from:
https://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA349112106&sid=g
oogleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10920811&p=AONE&sw
=w
Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. (2019). Nursing and Midwifery Board of
Australia - Registered nurse standards for practice. Retrieved 20 October
2019, from
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Pr
ofessional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx