Ethical and Legal Issues with Informatics and Privacy in Nursing

Hello, and welcome to this kickoff presentation. In this presentation, we will explore the ethical and legal concerns in the context of privacy and information technology in nursing: Ethical and Legal Issues with Informatics and Privacy in Nursing.

Ethical Considerations in Nursing Informatics

Ethical considerations entail evaluating the moral implications of a clinical decision and addressing potential ethical concerns that may present. In nursing informatics, ethical considerations involve evaluating health information technologies and other healthcare technologies and innovations to ensure that the technology does not harm the clients (Goodman, 2020).  Concerns with patient data security, selection of the right technologies to be used in remote monitoring, privacy, and confidentiality, among others, are some ethical issues that may arise when using remote monitoring technologies and telehealth.

Legal Issues in Nursing Informatics

The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a landmark regulation that governs data use and handling in nursing practice. It details entities allowed to access, store, and utilize sensitive health information. Nurses, as handlers of protected health information, are legally bound to conform to the data handling standards provided by HIPAA (Solimini et al., 2021).

Patient information across healthcare settings and with third parties is a legal provision under the HIPAA framework. First, access to health information remains limited to only HIPAA-covered entities. HIPAA further requires that nurses obtain informed consent before sharing health information with other entities not defined in the HIPAA regulatory framework. A contravention of these provisions may result in punitive measures, including fines, license revocation, suspension, and even jail time (McGraw & Mandl, 2021).

Social media and other information technologies are also under privacy laws. Specific legal considerations related to social media and other information technologies include privacy, confidentiality, and security. Nurses, in this respect, must work to safeguard privacy, confidentiality, and data security whenever they are using social media and other information technologies (Ahmed et al., 2020)

Ethical and Legal Solutions in Nursing Informatics

Several measures can be implemented to ensure patient data protection. Nurse education on data protection and its significance in healthcare can help guarantee patient data safeguards. Policies limiting nurses’ use of social media in the workplace can also help minimize safety and privacy compromises by nurses.

Legislations and corresponding regulatory bodies such as HIPAA and the ANA Code of Ethics play a role in safeguarding patient privacy in nursing practice. They outline standards against which nurses must align to ensure maximal data protection. The ANA also has a privacy policy that requires nurses to use encrypted technologies, limits the use of personal information, and ensures frequent assessment of security risks (McGraw & Mandl, 2021).

Case Study Analysis

An example of a recent life case in nursing informatics was when a nurse working in an ER of a local hospital posted a video on social media. The video was for educational purposes. It captured the arm of the patient and a notable unique tattoo representing the patient’s name. An ethical and legal concern in the case bordered on the patient’s privacy.

The patient argued that her picture was taken without her consent. This surmounted a breach of patient privacy. From the ethical perspective, the nurse’s action resulted in a breach of the patient’s autonomy, as autonomy requires that nurses obtain the patient’s permission before sharing any identifying information. Legally, the nurse’s action resulted in a contravention of HIPAA rules on social media use by healthcare providers.

Per these laws, nurses should not be involved in any action that may result in privacy compromises. As per the HIPAA provisions, the nurse’s actions fetched considerable punitive measures ranging from suspension to jail times.

To address the problem, nurses within the hospital should be educated on the ethical use of social media (Ahmed et al., 2020). They should be advised against sharing patient information without their consent. This will help ensure safety and security safeguards within the hospital.

References

Ahmed, W., Jagsi, R., Gutheil, T. G., & Katz, M. S. (2020). Public disclosure on social media of identifiable patient information by health professionals: Content analysis of twitter data. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9). https://doi.org/10.2196/19746

Goodman, K. W. (2020). Ethics in Health Informatics. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 29(01), 026–031. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1701966

McGraw, D., & Mandl, K. D. (2021). Privacy protections to encourage use of health-relevant digital data in a learning health system. Npj Digital Medicine, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-020-00362-8

Solimini, R., Busardò, F. P., Gibelli, F., Sirignano, A., & Ricci, G. (2021). Ethical and legal challenges of telemedicine in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Medicina, 57(12), 1314. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57121314

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Instructions

In this assignment, you will explore the ethical and legal issues that arise in the context of information technology (IT) and privacy in nursing. You will investigate various scenarios and concepts related to the intersection of technology, ethics, and the law as they pertain to nursing practice. Follow the instructions provided for each section of this assignment, and ensure that your responses are well reasoned and supported by relevant examples, research, and ethical principles specific to nursing.

You will use ethical frameworks and principles, such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, to support your ethical analyses. You will also consider relevant legal frameworks and regulations, such as HIPAA, state privacy laws, and professional nursing standards, in your legal analysis.

This assignment is intended to promote critical thinking, research skills, and an understanding of the ethical and legal dimensions of information technology and privacy in nursing at both the federal and state levels.

Submission Requirements

Unit 5: 8 Minute Video & Video Script

Assignment Requirements: Complete an 8-minute video discussing the concepts detailed below. A video script that supports the video presentation must include all contents presented in the video and documented in APA format.

Ethical and Legal Issues with Informatics and Privacy in Nursing

• Introduction: Ethical Issues in Nursing Informatics
  1. Define ethical considerations specific to nursing informatics.
  2. Explore the ethical concerns related to the use of telehealth and remote monitoring technologies in patient care.
• Legal Issues in Nursing Informatics
  1. Explain the legal frameworks and regulations that govern privacy and data protection in nursing practice.
  2. Explore the legal implications of sharing patient information across healthcare settings and with third-party vendors.
  3. Analyze the legal considerations related to the use of social media and other communication technologies by healthcare professionals.
• Ethical and Legal Solutions in Nursing Informatics
  1. Propose ethical guidelines and best practices for nurses to protect patient privacy and confidentiality when using information technology.
  2. Analyze the role of legislation and regulatory bodies, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics, in safeguarding patient privacy in nursing informatics.
• Case Study Analysis
  1. Choose a recent real-life case involving ethical or legal issues in nursing informatics and patient privacy. Some examples of topics are protection of patient privacy, patient safety, risk assessment, DNR or do-not-resuscitate orders, malpractice or negligence, genomics and social media related issues.
  2. Summarize the case and identify the key ethical and legal concerns.
  3. Analyze the implications of the case from both ethical and legal perspectives, considering the impact on patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations.
  4. Discuss possible strategies or solutions that could have been implemented to address the issues identified in the case to prevent similar incidents in the future.