Privacy and Confidentiality: A Brief Introduction

Maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality is of the utmost importance to nurses, as it is one of our profession's core values and responsibilities. "Nurses recognize the importance of privacy and confidentiality and safeguard personal, family, and community information obtained in the context of a professional relationship" (Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), 2008, p15). As advances continue take place in communication and storage technology, the push towards electronic health records (EHR) raises concerns surrounding the protection of patient information. Although 9 in 10 Canadians support the development of EHR's (Ekos Research Associates, 2007), the issue of securing their personal information is still of concern for all. In this age of ever advancing technology, there is increased capability to collect, store, access, and share personal information. This capability is paramount to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our country's health care system (CNA, 2001). The central issue surrounding this technological advancement, focuses on how health care professionals can utilize these advancements to their full potential, while at the same time, maintaining privacy and confidentiality for their patients.

This blog is designed primarily to provide information on the topic of patient privacy and confidentiality through blog posts, relevant and useful links, and a comprehensive slide show. This topic is meant to stimulate discussion, comments, and feedback surrounding the issue of patient privacy and confidentiality in the context of EHR's and other forms of communication and storage technology.