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Patient Confidentiality

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Patient Confidentiality
As healthcare providers, maintaining a patient’s confidentiality, human dignity and privacy is expected at all times. Nurses are faced with maintaining patient confidentiality on a daily basis. The Coded of Ethics for Nurses is the framework of nonnegotiable ethical standards and obligations that all nurses are to uphold. Nurses are to be accountable for their actions and are expected to advocate and strive to protect the rights, health and safety of patients (American Nurses Association, 2011).
Constant patient turnovers, visitors and numerous workers in and out of the emergency area can make it difficult for staff to maintain patient confidentiality. Due to lack of space and to give quick group report, end-of-shift report is often given in ear shot of other patients and visitors. At the structure of the hospital does not allow space so that the patients can be treated and their care discussed privately. These are a few examples that contribute to the ineffectiveness of maintaining patient confidentiality. In this paper, strategies will be discussed to address the issue of patient confidentiality and privacy. Nurses who work in the emergency room are faced with challenge of maintaining patient confidentiality.
Patient Confidentiality in the Emergency Room Emergency room staff members are faced with issues of confidentiality on a daily bases. From the beginning of the triage process, the breach of patient confidentiality begins. Patients are identified by their first and last names so they may be treated by the physician. Depending on the structure of the facility (i.e. beds available) and the number of persons who need to be treated immediately, privacy many not be guaranteed. At times the only barrier between each patient is a curtain or no barriers are provided at all. During this time the patient is assessed and treated in which

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