NUR 328 Health Assessment and Health Promotion

Ethical Considerations of Healthcare Informatics.

Health informatics professionals work with protected health information on a daily basis. In addition to the laws that protect the security and privacy of patient information, there are ethical considerations involved in this work. You have obligations to patients and the healthcare team, to your employer, to the public, and to your peers, professional associations, and self.

The four basic ethical principles are autonomy (deciding for oneself), beneficence (doing good), non-maleficence (not harming others) and justice (treating people fairly). Whether we realize it or not, we make many of our decisions based on our personal and professional ethics.

Managing health information ethically has an impact on each of the groups mentioned above. Select one, and discuss how you are ethically obliged to that group in your professional role.

Discuss how the ethical principles influence your decisions when working with protected health information.

Ethical Considerations of Healthcare Informatics

Professionals in health informatics have access to protected health information that requires privacy and security of patients due to their ethical considerations (Lynn, 2007). A professional is obliged towards peers, employers, team, self, association and public regarding autonomy, non-maleficence, justice and beneficence. Key decisions are however based on professional and personal ethics that creates an impact on other groups. One aspect of ethical obligations in professional role concerns principles of autonomy. It includes respect-allowing patients to make their decision according to health care interventions, which they are, going to receive or not (Caulfield, 2008). Focusing on decision situation can lead to problems to focus on importance on patient’s independence. It can divert attention from integral aspects as well as challenges in health care. Autonomy understanding being rational can lead to negative as well as positive implications of social relationship. In this case, it could have led to patients’ preferences regarding treatments and choices. It can create impact on self-evaluations, self-identities and capabilities for emphasizing on independence for facilitating clinical communications (Wolf, 2008). This can in turn undermine patient’s autonomy to understand recognizing value for good patient-professional relationships for enriching specification relating to autonomy.  

When a patient takes decision pertaining to himself, I feel I need to guide such outcomes. Without guiding the patient might create decision which has impact on the group, my professional role and on the overall delivery of services. Guiding the patient while taking his decision is my ethical bent of mind for purpose of obliging to professional role in health information.                                  

References

Caulfield, T. M. (2008). Research ethics recommendations for whole-genome research: consensus statement. PLoS biology, e73.

Lynn, J. B. (2007). The Ethics of Using Quality Improvement Methods in Health CareThe Ethics of Using Quality Improvement Methods in Health Care. Annals of internal medicine, 666-673.

Wolf, S. M. (2008). Managing incidental findings in human subjects research: analysis and recommendations. The Journal of law, medicine & ethics, 219-248.