Importance of Keeping Secrets in the Nursing World: Ethics of Confidentiality

Every day, our private health care information is being collected, shared, analyzed and stored with few legal protections. Confidentiality is a central component to the foundation of the helping professions. Without confidentiality, the client/nurse relationship is in danger of losing the developed levels of trust. Nurses carry a particularly heavy burden of responsibility because they share many personal and intimate details about patients during the time they provide care. This information is volunteered by …

…they fear the confidentiality will not be maintained. (p.284) “As a nurse, you're in a unique position. Patients share personal and intimate details they ordinarily do not reveal. You must take this information, process it, and keep it safe from prying eyes. You must learn to balance your patient's confidentiality with your colleagues' need to know. When you do this successfully, you'll earn the ultimate reward, your patient's trust.”(http://www.nso.com/breaches.html)