Nursing and Health Care Informatics Ethics and the Law

"Whatever, in connection with my professional service, or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret."
-Confidentiality excerpt from the Hippocratic Oath (as cited in Croll, 2010)

Traditional schools of medicine have a ritual of reciting oath excerpts such as the one above during their graduation ceremonies. Such excerpts usually revolve around a professional's promise to uphold the ideals of patient safety and confidentiality to the best of his or her ability.

With the continued integration of Health Information Technology (HIT), and advances in technology such as hand-held computers, new ethical considerations have evolved within health care settings. For example, wireless capabilities can provide easier access to information from unauthorized outside parties.

While technological advances have led to improvements in health care, they have also created new vulnerabilities. Doctorally prepared nurses need to be aware of ethical issues surrounding the use of patient information, technology, and the respective liabilities.

Reference:
Croll, P. (2010). Privacy, security and access with sensitive health information. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151, 167-175.

To prepare:

Reflect on this week's Learning Resources, focusing on the ethical and legal issues associated with usage of data and health information.
For this Discussion, identify an ethical issue related to data collection or information management at your organization or one with which you are familiar.

Determine the potential liabilities that this ethical issue presents by reviewing the AMIA Code of Ethics.

Consider the legal aspects of your ethical issue and the steps that could be taken to avoid or minimize risk.

Write a minimum of 550 words essay in APA format with a minimum of 3 references from the list in the instructions area. Include the level one headings as numbered below:

Post a cohesive response that addresses the following:

1) Describe your selected ethical issue (example of ethical issues in nursing Informatics are: Ethical Use of Genomic Information and Electronic Medical Records, Alarm Fatigue, Privacy, Confidentiality, and Data Sharing). Choose one!

2) Analyze the potential liabilities that this issue poses to the organization by referencing the AMIA Code of Ethics.

3) Formulate strategies that the organization could implement to address the ethical issue.