Internet Article: Patient Confidentiality Takes on a New Meaning

This article talks about health care information that is inappropriately or incorrectly communicated can result in misuse of that information and could cause patient harm. Everyday, our private health care information is being collected, shared, analyzed and stored with few legal protections. Confidentiality is a central component to the foundation of the helping professions. Without confidentiality, the client/nurse relationship is in danger of losing the developed levels of trust. Nurses carry a particularly heavy burden of responsibility because they share many personal and intimate details about patients during the time they provide care. This information is volunteered by patients based on trust that the nurse or doctor will not expose the personal information.…