Week 7 discussion: Poorly secured information systems can threaten record confidentiality,
because records may be accessed from multiple sites with immediate dissemination of
information, making clients vulnerable to the red is closure of sensitive information.
A nurse colleague uses his personal cell phone to take a photo of a patient’s wound and then
sends a message with the photo to the primary care provider via a text. Please consider the
following in your discussion post:
What principles of patient confidentiality might be an issue? Consider legal and ethical.
Who would have though we would have had a computer in our pockets with access to any piece
of information we wanted to look up or be able to contact anyone anywhere with information to
give them. It is an extremely convenient piece of technology. When speaking of sending a
picture of a wound to an MD the first thing that comes to my mind is HIPPA violation. While
you can control who you send the text to, such as the doctor in charge of the patients care, you
can’t control who ends up reading that message. “Even if the recipient of the message or
communication is authorized to have access to that information, sending of PHI over an insecure
network without the protection of a firewall is a clear security risk.” (Hippa Journal, 2014)
Patients have the right to privacy and leaks of their personal information can become a
legalbreach.
How might this nurse use a communication device to support safe patient practices?
In my place of business, we have a device that is able to take pictures and directly load that
information to the patient’s electronic chart. It is used inside the building where we have
encryption and security safeguards such as firewalls to protect patient data. The doctor and
wound doctor can then evaluate the picture of the wound. This device is very useful it measures,
detects tissue types, and can even detect bacterial load.
What would your organization’s policy on ‘personal communication device use in a patient
care setting’ reveal related to this case? (If your organization does not have a written
policy, or you are not currently working in an organization, what do you think should be
included in such a policy and why?)
Currently I am unsure if we do have a policy on this, and I am sure at times we have staff who
are texting back and forth regarding patients’ health care status. As I alluded to earlier, it is a
breach of that patient’s privacy that can lead to legal and ethical issues. “Poorly secured
information systems can threaten record confidentiality, because records may be accessed from
multiple sites with immediate dissemination of information, making clients vulnerable to there
disclosure of sensitive information.” (Hebda, 2019) Personally, I feel that cell phones can be a
huge distraction. They shouldn’t be in patient rooms and accessing them during work hours
unless there is emergent situation should be strictly limited and monitored to ensure that the
policy is being followed.
because records may be accessed from multiple sites with immediate dissemination of
information, making clients vulnerable to the red is closure of sensitive information.
A nurse colleague uses his personal cell phone to take a photo of a patient’s wound and then
sends a message with the photo to the primary care provider via a text. Please consider the
following in your discussion post:
What principles of patient confidentiality might be an issue? Consider legal and ethical.
Who would have though we would have had a computer in our pockets with access to any piece
of information we wanted to look up or be able to contact anyone anywhere with information to
give them. It is an extremely convenient piece of technology. When speaking of sending a
picture of a wound to an MD the first thing that comes to my mind is HIPPA violation. While
you can control who you send the text to, such as the doctor in charge of the patients care, you
can’t control who ends up reading that message. “Even if the recipient of the message or
communication is authorized to have access to that information, sending of PHI over an insecure
network without the protection of a firewall is a clear security risk.” (Hippa Journal, 2014)
Patients have the right to privacy and leaks of their personal information can become a
legalbreach.
How might this nurse use a communication device to support safe patient practices?
In my place of business, we have a device that is able to take pictures and directly load that
information to the patient’s electronic chart. It is used inside the building where we have
encryption and security safeguards such as firewalls to protect patient data. The doctor and
wound doctor can then evaluate the picture of the wound. This device is very useful it measures,
detects tissue types, and can even detect bacterial load.
What would your organization’s policy on ‘personal communication device use in a patient
care setting’ reveal related to this case? (If your organization does not have a written
policy, or you are not currently working in an organization, what do you think should be
included in such a policy and why?)
Currently I am unsure if we do have a policy on this, and I am sure at times we have staff who
are texting back and forth regarding patients’ health care status. As I alluded to earlier, it is a
breach of that patient’s privacy that can lead to legal and ethical issues. “Poorly secured
information systems can threaten record confidentiality, because records may be accessed from
multiple sites with immediate dissemination of information, making clients vulnerable to there
disclosure of sensitive information.” (Hebda, 2019) Personally, I feel that cell phones can be a
huge distraction. They shouldn’t be in patient rooms and accessing them during work hours
unless there is emergent situation should be strictly limited and monitored to ensure that the
policy is being followed.
