You learned in the last module that electronic records can enhance patient care decisions and safety. There are risks involved with the sharing of electronic data as well due to potential risks to privacy and confidentiality. In this module, you will reflect on the legal and ethical considerations of electronic data as well as how to secure electronic data.
As you might remember from the last module, Mrs. Anderson was in a motor vehicle accident and was seen in the ED for multiple fractures. She went to surgery, which went well with no complications, and was then admitted to the post-surgical unit. You are the nurse on the post-surgical unit and are caring for Mrs. Anderson on post-op day 1.
After bedside shift report with the off-going nurse, you open your computer workstation to review and update your patients’ records. As you are updating Mrs. Anderson’s records, you hear a bed alarm alert and leave your workstation to check on the patient. After determining that the patient was safe, you return to your workstation to find another nurse (Nurse K) at your computer. You realize you had not logged off of your computer when you responded to the bed alarm and Mrs. Anderson’s records are still visible on the screen. You realize you are currently facing a legal and ethical situation.
Discussion Board Questions:
By leaving the patient’s record open and unattended, you put the patient’s right to confidentiality at risk.
Electronic security can help prevent privacy and confidentiality violations. Based on the electronic security readings, what steps can you personally take to avoid unintentional sharing of patient information?
Nurse K asks how Mrs. Anderson is doing today. The nurse says they cared for her the previous day when she was admitted to the unit and was disappointed they did not get to care for her again today. Nurse K states that it is nice to have the same patient because you can copy your assessment over from the previous day and it saves on time (work-around).
Nurse K used a “workaround” to view patient information. In this instance, Nurse K knew that viewing the patient under your name would not trigger a breach of confidentiality alert. Nurse K also refers to moving forward prior assessment data to save time. These are both examples of “workarounds”.
Think about something you use daily where you use a “workaround”.