Scenario 1
A staff nurse posted the following comment on her social media page: “Can this shift be
any longer? It started out with a waiting room full of nagging people who don’t seem to
know what ‘emergency’ means. Then, I had to deal with the drama of trying to transfer
a 400 lbs. (no joke) intubated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient down the
hall to the intensive care unit. Those intensive care unit nurses are such divas, and I
wasn’t in the mood for their whining. Someone help!”
○ Analyze the privacy and security issues related to this social media posting.
The use of social media is prone to security and privacy issues as a large part of society
accesses information posted on the platforms (Bhuyan et al., 2017). Healthcare providers
need to cease posting healthcare matters on social media platforms which may tarnish the
institution's name and pose a lousy image to society (Househ et al., 2018). Social media is
used as a platform to pass large amounts of information to the public. Information published
on the site is available for access by a large portion of society. Thus, the information
provided should be dignified and relevant to the public (Mgudlwa & Iyamu, 2018). Based on
the case scenario provided above, the information breached privacy and security conduct.
The information provided is not expected from a healthcare provider as they are considered
responsible persons in society. First, the health provider states the patient's location in the
facility, which is against the breach of the patient's privacy and may contribute to security
issues on the patient's safety. It is not advisable to state patients’ weight to the public without
informed consent as it is against privacy and security matters. The patient can sue the
healthcare provider by revealing his location and weight to the members of the public.
Patients’ diagnoses should be private and confidential and should not be disclosed to the
public while the healthcare provider reveals that the patient is suffering from COPD through
social media. The post tarnishes the name of the institution, which can easily destroy
organizational reputation, and patients can shy away from seeking healthcare services from
the institution; no patient would like to seek medical assistance in an institution with nagging
staff who could compromise his health status. Healthcare institutions should provide
definitive policies that strengthen privacy and security issues on social media to help protect
patients' privacy and safeguard institutional reputation ( Househ et al., 2018).
Scenario 2
A nurse practitioner is preparing a presentation poster for an infectious disease
conference. She includes pictures of varying stages of a client’s lesions in the poster.
○ Analyze the privacy and security issues related to the inclusion of patient
information on the poster.
The nurse educator observes the security and privacy policies in the case scenario provided
above. Since the nurse educator only takes pictures of the patient's lesions but doesn’t reveal
the identity of the patient thus it is hard for the public to understand the person affected by the
lesions (Mgudlwa & Iyamu, 2018). It is highly important to keep patients’ identities secret
from the public members and avoid disclosing personal illnesses as it may attract the public's
attention. The nurse educator does not take photography inclusive of the patient phase but
only illustrates the lesions for educational purposes, thus observing privacy and security
policy.
A staff nurse posted the following comment on her social media page: “Can this shift be
any longer? It started out with a waiting room full of nagging people who don’t seem to
know what ‘emergency’ means. Then, I had to deal with the drama of trying to transfer
a 400 lbs. (no joke) intubated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient down the
hall to the intensive care unit. Those intensive care unit nurses are such divas, and I
wasn’t in the mood for their whining. Someone help!”
○ Analyze the privacy and security issues related to this social media posting.
The use of social media is prone to security and privacy issues as a large part of society
accesses information posted on the platforms (Bhuyan et al., 2017). Healthcare providers
need to cease posting healthcare matters on social media platforms which may tarnish the
institution's name and pose a lousy image to society (Househ et al., 2018). Social media is
used as a platform to pass large amounts of information to the public. Information published
on the site is available for access by a large portion of society. Thus, the information
provided should be dignified and relevant to the public (Mgudlwa & Iyamu, 2018). Based on
the case scenario provided above, the information breached privacy and security conduct.
The information provided is not expected from a healthcare provider as they are considered
responsible persons in society. First, the health provider states the patient's location in the
facility, which is against the breach of the patient's privacy and may contribute to security
issues on the patient's safety. It is not advisable to state patients’ weight to the public without
informed consent as it is against privacy and security matters. The patient can sue the
healthcare provider by revealing his location and weight to the members of the public.
Patients’ diagnoses should be private and confidential and should not be disclosed to the
public while the healthcare provider reveals that the patient is suffering from COPD through
social media. The post tarnishes the name of the institution, which can easily destroy
organizational reputation, and patients can shy away from seeking healthcare services from
the institution; no patient would like to seek medical assistance in an institution with nagging
staff who could compromise his health status. Healthcare institutions should provide
definitive policies that strengthen privacy and security issues on social media to help protect
patients' privacy and safeguard institutional reputation ( Househ et al., 2018).
Scenario 2
A nurse practitioner is preparing a presentation poster for an infectious disease
conference. She includes pictures of varying stages of a client’s lesions in the poster.
○ Analyze the privacy and security issues related to the inclusion of patient
information on the poster.
The nurse educator observes the security and privacy policies in the case scenario provided
above. Since the nurse educator only takes pictures of the patient's lesions but doesn’t reveal
the identity of the patient thus it is hard for the public to understand the person affected by the
lesions (Mgudlwa & Iyamu, 2018). It is highly important to keep patients’ identities secret
from the public members and avoid disclosing personal illnesses as it may attract the public's
attention. The nurse educator does not take photography inclusive of the patient phase but
only illustrates the lesions for educational purposes, thus observing privacy and security
policy.
