Ethics Case Study: The Case Of Jason And Gabriela

Medical identity theft happens when someone uses any or all of your personal information, such as your name, social security number, or even insurance number, without your knowledge to obtain medical treatment, equipment, or services. Medical identity theft can be committed by anyone. There are numerous steps you can take to avoid this problem. Make sure your computer is logged out, or that the screen is locked when you step away from your computer. That way any information that is pulled up will no longer be able to be seen on the screen. You should also make it a point to never discuss any patient information within ear shot of another person or patient. If a patient is in need of a copy of their personal records, take all the necessary steps

The Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act ( HIPAA) of 1996 provides security provisions and data privacy for protecting a patient’s medical information. HIPAA has guidelines to ensure that a patient’s confidentiality is maintained while allowing the communication of a patient’s medical records between certain bodies or people or officials. Officials that a patient’s medical records can be shared with are other health care providers, health plans, business associates, and health care clearinghouses. HIPAA protects all “ individually identifiable health information”. There is a specific protocol to follow when sharing a patient’s medical information. Theses steps are imperative to maintaining the patient’s privacy.

In this case study the primary nurse, Amelia Wilkerson, is caring for a patient, Katy Palmer who has recently been admitted to the hospital for fatigue and abnormal lab counts. The patient asks Amelia for information regarding her diagnosis. Amelia has seen Katy’s results and knows that she has been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. The ethical dilemma seen in this situation is that it is outside of the scope of practice for Amelia to discuss Katy’s original diagnosis with her. This is reserved for the doctor alone. However, as a nurse that has developed a relationship with her patient it would be very difficult to not answer her question honestly. In addition, the patient might feel more comforted hearing the diagnosis from her nurse rather than the doctor as the nurse has been caring for her and they have developed a therapeutic relationship.

When a patient enters a hospital, he/she usually places a high level of trust within that nurse/doctor. Trust, is very essential in all forms of health care. Business wise, it becomes influential and encourages the use of the health care facility and services which is very beneficial and effective to the health system. When that trust is violated, patients tend to find alternative methods of care or professionals. Ultimately, violations of the HIPAA law should not be made. Health care professionals need to maintain a high degree of professionalism, while possessing the upmost degree of integrity. A patient needs to feel confident and safe at all

A moral dilemma that arises in a doctor-patient relationship is whether or not the doctor should always tell their patient the truth about their health. Although withholding information was a common practice in the past, in today’s world, patient autonomy is more important than paternalism. Many still are asking if it is ever morally permissible for a doctor to lie to a patient, though.

Confidentiality is an ethical value that remains deeply rooted in the nursing profession and has always been the cornerstone of the nurse-patient relationship. Since the days as nursing students, we were constantly reminded of the significance in maintaining patient’s confidentiality.

In order to encompass a good working environment, professionalism is very important. Professionalism is a characteristic of productive workplace.

This paper will explain the seven principles of patient-clinician communication. It will then apply three of those principles to my interactions with my patients. Next, it will describe three methods being used in my area of practice to improved communication between the patients and clinicians. It will ultimately choose one of those principles that applies best to my practice and clearly describe how I use it. It will describe ethical principles that can be applied to issues with patient-clinician communication. Finally, it will explain the importance of ethics in communication and how patient safety is influenced by good or bad team communication.

A current ethical debate in the world of healthcare is Savior siblings. A savior sibling is a child who is born to be genetically compatible with a sibling that is suffering from a life-threatening disease. The child is born to provide either organ or cell transplant, and/or blood transfusions for the ill sibling. The child is created through in vitro fertilization (IVF), once the embryo goes through preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), it helps identify genetic defects within the embryos. This arises many ethic concerns for people, like whether or not savior siblings should be allowed, and how far would one go to save the sick child’s life. Each branch of Philosophy has their own view and opinions, that

An event that was significant to me throughout clinical placement was when I forgot to introduce myself to a visually impaired client.

As a nurse we are supposed to have compassion and build a rapport with our patients but we must uphold our ethical principles when it comes to this dilemma. As for analyzing this situation and coming to a decision I would use the nursing process since it provides a helpful mechanism for finding solutions to ethical dilemmas. (Whitehead 2007). I would assess the situation and ask myself about the medical facts, psychosocial facts as well as cultural beliefs, patients’ wishes and what values are in conflict. I would then move on to planning and make sure that everyone is involved during this stage and continue on down the line with the nursing process. It seems like The

Ethics can be explained as principles a society develops to guide decisions about what is right and wrong. Ethical principles that society has are influenced by religion, history, and experience of the people in the group. Meaning that ethics is based on guidelines we have learned while growing up, that helps us differentiates what is right and what is wrong. For example, some people think health care should be a human right as others think it should only be available to those who can pay for it. Each group of people is guided by the principles they believe in. Ethics in health care play a vital role every day. The practice of health care includes many scenarios that have to do with making adequate decisions when it comes to patient’s life. For the purpose of this paper, I want to explain the occurrence and some of the ethical concerns found in a case of an elderly patient, who believed in Curanderos and didn’t realize the harm she was doing in regards to her health by not taking her medications.

There are many ethical issues facing health care at any time and it is impossible to say definitively which is the most pressing or the most important. Health care professionals are expected to base their practice on a set of ethical principles, including truthfulness, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and confidentiality. Ethical issues can arise, however, when a l professional is called upon to act in opposition to personal values or in cases where the values of patient, health care worker, and sponsoring institution conflict. The following issues are presented in no order.

This assignment is a reflection of ethical dilemmas in nursing practice as a registered nurse; this paper is based on the group assignment which was completed for NURS3004. This reflection will include an explanation of the role that I portrayed in the group, the preparation that I did for the role, what could have been done differently, how this group assignment has impacted me in terms of working in a team and finally explain how this assignment will assist me in my future clinical practice as a newly registered nurse.

This type of disclosure is an organizational violation, but could also lead to legal ramifications as well. Incidental disclosure of protected health information is not considered to be a “violation of the HIPAA medical privacy regulation provided the covered entity has applied reasonable safeguards” (Hatton, 2003) to help prevent them. This error also has the potential to cause distrust in the patient that the nurse is transporting, causing them to lose faith in the company. The nurse stopped Sue in the hallway (a public space), while transporting another patient, to tell Sue that there was an issue. The nurse made no attempt to keep the issue private and rattled of the details in front of the escorted patient, even though the situation was not an emergency or life threatening. This, in turn, lead to the incidental disclosure of Joseph Stevens’ health information. To help prevent this mistake in the future, Sue and the compliance officer should work together to institute training that educates employees on incidental disclosure and how to minimize the occurrence.