INTRODUCTION
Anxiety prior to surgery is common, indeed up to 80% of patients will experience it (1, 9). With anxiety disorders affecting approximately 15% of the UK population (2, 3, 9), preoperative situational anxiety may significantly exacerbate an existing anxiety disorder. While anxiety can be expected in the preoperative period, research demonstrates has been shown to have that it has negatives effects in the postoperative period, from increased postoperative pain to decreased wound healing, and long-term psychological distress (4-9). This raises the question of whether doctors are ethically obligated to tell their patients the truth and just how much information should a doctor disclose to their patient? Are there any situations when disclosure is ethically objectionable? One such possible exception to disclosure is the “therapeutic privilege”. Segen 's Medical Dictionary defines therapeutic privilege as:
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However, this essay will deliberate if therapeutic privilege is ever justified and if it can withstand ethical analysis (10).
DISCLOSURE OF
Lacks’ family and the university violated the privacy of Ms. Lacks. The healthcare professionals violated the privacy of this patient because she was uneducated, poor, and nonwhite, which created a debate about the issues of health privacy in the medical records of patients in the health care system in America to this day. First, the health professionals failed to comply with the privacy of the patient because the patient was uneducated. When Henrietta’s cells were taken, she did not have any knowledge that the doctor took the sample of her cells.
Redmond especially after the ruling was appealed and ultimately voided due to the initial court’s failure to account for the privilege that exists between a therapist and client (Knapp & VandeCreek,
In doing so, doctors also disregarded the patients’ autonomy in their decision to have themselves committed for their altered mental state. Invalidating the patients claim and affecting their trust, which is the pinnacle of the patient-doctor relationship. With psychiatric patient even more so because there must be a level of trust in the person’s claim and in their determination, that they might be having a breakdown. A beneficial scenario for the parties involves would have been if the doctors’ actions promoted more good, or beneficence, and gave Jessie better tools to cope with his PTSD. Instead, of taking an inactive approach, which allowed the situation to escalate to the point he became a danger to himself and others.
Electronic Health Records and Patient Confidentiality Technology has become an essential part of our everyday life therefore, it makes sense that doctors and hospitals get rid of the old fashioned paper charting and use technology to access patient records. Electronic health records (EHR) provide quick access to information, as doctors no longer have to wait for other providers to fax previous records to them. The accessibility of Electronic Health Records assist medical providers to make quick medical care decisions, by accessing previous care provided to patients including treatment and diagnosis. Quick access to information through EHR enables health care providers to treat patients faster as there is no need for records to be mailed or
Given the unethical and medically inappropriate role, such treatment casts mental health
In fact, the California Legislature created a specific exception to the psychotherapist-patient privilege where there is reasonable cause to believe that the patient is dangerous to another, and disclosure is necessary to prevent the threatened
According to Edwin (2008) therapeutic privilege' refers to the withholding of information by the clinician
Clients are informed of the confidentiality restrictions by human service professionals prior to the beginning of the helping
She advocates for the goal of disclosure and an atmosphere of openness, hoping to restore trust between the physician and the patient. Communicating truthful information, even if it may be life-changing, will promote more beneficial medical practices. However, she also acknowledges that there may be cases in which concealment of information may be necessary. In such cases, Bok suggests that truthful information should go to someone closely related to the patient which will promote a more open and trusting environment. A concern arises, then, about what the physician should do if the patient explicitly communicates that they do not want to be told about a diagnosis or treatment option even if it may better promote their
Second, confidentiality is essential for full disclosure and effective treatment. Third, keeping information confidential is essential for the client to maintain his trust with the therapist (Beauchamp & Childress, 2001). One of the main guiding principles of Islam is the preservation of life (Gatrad & Sheikh, 2001). Someone that believes in Islam might not take the side of the therapist.
If we as nurses respect the confidentiality of a patient, we should do so for all the patients. However, Griffith (2007) argues that the duty of confidence should not be absolute and nurses should always consider sharing information if required. Though the principle of respecting patient autonomy and their right to confidentiality is broken here, the principle of beneficence and non-maleficence is uphold. Nurses have an obligation to protect patient’s confidentiality but the duty to warn an innocent party of imminent harm is far more critical. Therefore, breaking confidentiality here is potentially doing more good than
It is possible if not likely that the nature and function of therapeutic relationships has changed significantly to better account for the contemporary understanding of mental illnesses as less categorical and more broadly conceptualized as spectrum disorders with variable constellations of symptoms (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Broader considerations of cultural factors, comorbidity, and resource deprivation may account for occurrences within the therapeutic relationship as much as genuine psychopathology. Thus, it may be less important to base self-disclosure decisions and content on pre-determined rules or client diagnosis and more important for disclosure/non-disclosure decisions to first consider prominent clinical and vulnerability
There are exceptions to maintain the confidentiality. For instance, in the U.S all health care providers are obligated to report HIV infections
‘You are valuable and lovable.’ (Vinella, 2013). Once a therapist offers permission they have to have the
Moral theories are theories that help us distinguish between a right or a wrong action. Adequate moral theories help us understand that what we should or shouldn’t do in certain situations. Two of the most famous moral theories are Utilitarianism and Kantianism. According to Utilitarianism, an action is right if only if it out of all the other action gives out the maximum utility. In oppose to that, Kantianism says that an action is right if and only if, in performing that action, the person does not treat anyone as a mean and treats everyone as an end in itself.