Patient privacy and confidentiality is paramount in modern data-based healthcare systems. Various new privacy concerns involving personal health data have been brought up after the recent use of electronic health records (EHRs) and cloud computing platforms within this medical sector. Medical privacy and confidentiality issues associated with nurses’ responsibilities toward safeguarding patients’ privacy rights are discussed herein.
Definition of the Problem
Such a change is occurring in the healthcare landscape thanks to EHRs. However, such changes are likely associated with issues, for example, patient data security and the confidentiality of health care records. This paper will seek to identify the breach of medical information privacy or confidentiality, which may arise if digitization is employed to manage the current system. This has to do with the patient-nurse relationship, which also involves one of the moral duties of all health providers regarding confidentiality.
Nevertheless, it is essential to understand the current healthcare problems that make this an urgent topic. However, this is an easy way for unauthorized persons to access patients’ information. Patent health information, such as data breaches, is a risk since it exposes sensitive healthcare information, which can be associated with advanced cyber threats. I will be objective in my effort to include client confidentiality measures in my discussions. This study will therefore investigate the best ways of protecting EHR data’s confidentiality and securing it. In addition, cloud computing is flexible and scalable, hence another critical component of the hospital information infrastructure. However, ensuring the security of patients’ data becomes more complicated. Therefore, the complexity of these complications must be understood to include adequate actions.
It is a crucial issue because healthcare is changing every day. Today, the digitalization of keeping records, as well as the exchange of information, has made privacy matters vital issues. This implies that there exists an assurance that a given patient’s information is secured such that they can trust it. The same thing can be applied to the cases where the patient’s privacy is breached. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to attain these purposes. Thus, a systemic review of the risks of disclosing their medical data. This involves revisiting old cases regarding invading one’s privacy and newer cases, tracking how hackers operate, and identifying the loopholes in previous anti-cybercrime strategies.
Context and Precise Issue
There are also many benefits associated with adopting an electronic health record system. At the same time, specific issues like patients’ assurance of privacy, security, protection, and confidence still need more attention. Health records digitization has also enhanced information accessibility, improving service coordination, especially during HMPs. Like any other modern technology that is supposed to have problem-solving capabilities, implementing such innovations comes with pitfalls. Other issues include focusing on electronic patient health records and privacy breaches. Currently, patient information is keyed in, while the records can be accessed via several platforms regardless of their area of presence. They are rather complicated and can go wrong; thus, it is a matter of general safety that must be discussed during preoperative care.
Hence, this study aims to find safe and secure approaches to ensure that the patients’ EHRs stored under public cloud services are safe. Although cloud computing is flexible, reliable, and affordable, it provides a new line of attack in the overall information security management system. As suggested by Baibaramen and Monawara (2021), other methods like OrBAC (Organisation-based access management) and AES (Advanced et al.) can enhance data that are used in clouds. However, there are some challenges in implementing these strategies and pragmatism for ensuring patient privacy through this channel. This study will address the ‘Why is not “better” care just because a child can access a computer or tablet.’ This helps construct an argument on ethics and the safe handling of patient data argument. This allows healthcare organizations to set up privacy policies and standards of practice and avoid injuring patients while helping themselves.
Relevance of the Problem
This is so since it is not just about the health professionals concerned about their right to patient privacy and confidentiality. However, such matters are a patient issue by themselves as well. Moreover, we should note that these findings have effects on an individual beyond her/himself. Other issues associated with patient empowerment are relevance and trust by health care providers. Besides, patients usually share some of their deepest secrets inside a doctor’s room. Hence, the data should remain private by nature. The medical profession becomes weak when trust breaks down; every instance of breakdown threatens interpersonal and, thus, each given doctor-patient relationship.
However, it is also for morality and legality purposes. Nevertheless, it goes much beyond the researcher’s egocentric needs. Healthcare ethics include this.
This study will help nurses and other healthcare providers and assist future researchers in similar work. This article is a significant aid towards equipping nurses on patient confidentiality in today’s society. Therefore, theory building can be guided by policymakers, legislators, administrators, and researchers to help pass new laws and guide practice for similar topics. As Davis said, “Researchers need sometimes to choose their favorite and important topic, but they can also restrict their readers.” This research will help healthcare providers, policymakers, educators, and researchers to identify challenges as well as suitable resolutions for ensuring patient’s safe, private life at
Objectives of the Research
This paper aims to assess the issues surrounding the development of privacy guidelines about nurses’ patients’ healthcare. They all lead to the safe storage of health records as a whole.
- Analyze Challenges and Vulnerabilities: This will be important in determining how bad actors have made data breaches into healthcare and outlining the gaps left by the current security apparatus. Therefore, a detailed study of the challenges should lead to crafting relevant answers on handling them fully.
- Evaluate Access Control Mechanisms: Therefore, the research of Babrahem and Monowar (2021) mentioned the security of patient data with a cloud base; this will be the focus point for such a survey. Here comes the critical appraisal or clinical perspective on how these techniques perform or are efficient or inefficient at what they do.
- Explore Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Considerations: Recognizing the interconnected nature of healthcare, this research will delve into the ethical considerations surrounding patient privacy. It involves understanding the principles of patient autonomy, informed consent, and the legal obligations governing health information handling. Cultural considerations are also paramount, requiring sensitivity to diverse beliefs and practices related to privacy within different patient populations.
- Provide Recommendations and Guidelines: The ultimate objective of the research is to provide actionable recommendations and guidelines for healthcare professionals. These recommendations will be informed by a synthesis of the challenges, the effectiveness of access control mechanisms, and a nuanced understanding of ethical, legal, and cultural considerations. By offering concrete guidance, the research aims to contribute to the development of a robust framework for ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality in nursing.
Some topics on nursing and psychology are currently being discussed.
In addition, this study surpasses nursing. It is also suitable for other branches, such as psychology. Trust perception and breach by people as they relate to patient privacy and confidentiality. This directly relates to the nature of ethically, sensitively, and caring-based patient care in nursing. However, several things should be considered other than technological details and professionalism among them. As nurses are the first care providers in complex environments, they must juggle with information technologies and consider patient privacy and data confidentiality.
The world of psychology can better explain why individuals react differently to any health systems they adopt. The patients’ psychology also influences what should be shared or not due to the potential psychic disturbances caused by that information. In most cases, this method considers the human factor as an interface point to link the nursing practice with psychology to enhance health service delivery.
Ethical/Legal/Cultural Development Nursing Considerations
The first thing I will be discussing is the ethics of patients and nurses in these two terms. Healthcare ethics includes consideration of patient’s rights and ensuring privacy while giving him/her time to consent for treatment plan implementation. However, it means the ethical responsibility of health care providers to protect but also make accessible for such purposes as improved patient services or medication processes as EHR.
Healthcare providers are responsible for data protection and the healthcare law. Breaking such laws is very expensive as it attracts stiff sentences, causing less patient trust, specifically in healthcare facilities. As a result, it is essential to be law-abiding and follow the right path in ethics.
This also presents another problem, layering, usually expected within multicultural health environments. Nevertheless, the meanings of such challenges can vary according to culture. Therefore, there is a great demand for nurses who observe everything and notice nuances of every patient, being able to work out specific methods oriented at a particular person.
Conclusions
In conclusion, this paper adds to this debate about nurses’ and patients’ privacy rights. Therefore, this research will be broad-based and address problems before examining issues related to access controls, culture, ethics, and the law. It will then offer appropriate alternatives to improve health information assurance. The summation starts by summarizing the problem under inquiry and the revised thesis statement. This kind of analysis would tremendously benefit health service providers, policymakers, teachers, and other scientists as it highlights the depth of these privacy issues. This collectively puts forward the picture in which the principles, best practices, and policies can be designed to preserve patient confidentiality against the background of technological advancement. Therefore, this research states that nursing practice is related to the interconnection of technology, ethics, law, and culture. This would allow them to concentrate on ethically sound, safe, and personalized care amidst a complex healthcare environment.
References
Babrahem, A. S., & Monowar, M. M. (2021). Preserving confidentiality and privacy of the patient’s EHR using the OrBAC and AES in cloud environment. International Journal of Computers and Applications, 43(1), 50-61.
Bani Issa, W., Al Akour, I., Ibrahim, A., Almarzouqi, A., Abbas, S., Hisham, F., & Griffiths, J. (2020). Privacy, confidentiality, security and patient safety concerns about electronic health records. International nursing review, 67(2), 218-230.
Hulkower, R., Penn, M., & Schmit, C. (2020). Privacy and confidentiality of public health information. Public Health Informatics and Information Systems, 147-166.
Kayaalp, M. (2018). Patient privacy in the era of big data. Balkan Medical Journal, 35(1), 8-17.
Tariq, R. A., & Hackert, P. B. (2018). Patient confidentiality.
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