Breach of Trust
Running Head: THE BREACH OF TRUST AND PROVIDING GOOD CARE
THE BREACH OF TRUST AND PROVIDING GOOD CARE
JOLY S. PHILIP
Grand Canyon University: NRS-437v
Instructor: Amy Salgado
07/27/2012
Introduction
The concept of confidentiality in nursing is founded on the philosophy and principles laid out by the Hippocratic Oath and Nightingale Pledge. The ethical need for confidentiality emerges from the need for establishing a trustful relationship between the patient and the nurse. The patient needs the assurance that whatever private/personal information communicated to the nurse will be kept in confidence and will not be divulged to a third party in order for him/her to feel free to open up the complete information regarding the case at hand. In fact, the confidentiality is a crucial right of a patient and it is very much related to the notion of privacy. Hence it is unlikely for a patient to be comfortable to discuss matters related to the sex life, habitual drug use, and other issues that are considered to be taboos in the society, if they are not sure about the fact that their information would remain confidential. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of confidentiality in nurse-client relationship in the context of Nurse Hathaway’s dilemma, and describe author’s perspective on the concept of maintaining or breach of confidentiality while providing good care to the patient.
Ethical Implications of Breach of Confidentiality A breach of confidentiality is a release to a third party, without the permission of the patient or an order from a court, private information that the nurse has collected within the ambit of nurse-patient relationship. The legal base for enforcing obligation of confidentiality is more far-fetched than the ethical parameters, which demands the morally right thing to do. If the confidentiality is breached patients will be uncomfortable to open up to a physician or nurse about the true story of the problem/case, and
THE BREACH OF TRUST AND PROVIDING GOOD CARE
JOLY S. PHILIP
Grand Canyon University: NRS-437v
Instructor: Amy Salgado
07/27/2012
Introduction
The concept of confidentiality in nursing is founded on the philosophy and principles laid out by the Hippocratic Oath and Nightingale Pledge. The ethical need for confidentiality emerges from the need for establishing a trustful relationship between the patient and the nurse. The patient needs the assurance that whatever private/personal information communicated to the nurse will be kept in confidence and will not be divulged to a third party in order for him/her to feel free to open up the complete information regarding the case at hand. In fact, the confidentiality is a crucial right of a patient and it is very much related to the notion of privacy. Hence it is unlikely for a patient to be comfortable to discuss matters related to the sex life, habitual drug use, and other issues that are considered to be taboos in the society, if they are not sure about the fact that their information would remain confidential. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of confidentiality in nurse-client relationship in the context of Nurse Hathaway’s dilemma, and describe author’s perspective on the concept of maintaining or breach of confidentiality while providing good care to the patient.
Ethical Implications of Breach of Confidentiality A breach of confidentiality is a release to a third party, without the permission of the patient or an order from a court, private information that the nurse has collected within the ambit of nurse-patient relationship. The legal base for enforcing obligation of confidentiality is more far-fetched than the ethical parameters, which demands the morally right thing to do. If the confidentiality is breached patients will be uncomfortable to open up to a physician or nurse about the true story of the problem/case, and
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