Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare from Jason Taylor's blog

It is necessary to examine the following hypothetical situation that includes both legal and ethical aspects of healthcare service delivery. The advanced practice registered nurse Alice Smith from the Southwestern Hospital (a hypothetical organization) systematically violated patients’ privacy rights. In particular, she regularly discussed the clinical cases and patients’ conditions with unauthorized professionals. She explained such behavior by the desire to consider all options available and select the optimal interventions. The hospital’s management was aware of the problem, but their only response measure was asking Alice Smith to adhere to all patients’ rights. However, neither additional training courses nor closer monitoring of her professional performance were provided. Most patients were unaware of the existing state of affairs as they expected the professional process of care delivery. Some patients demonstrated a low awareness of their rights and did not request the maximum protection of their data even when some challenging situations occurred. Only when the media received such information, the problem was revealed to the broader audience with the corresponding sanctions applied both against Alice Smith and the Southwestern Hospital.

Thus, there are both legal and ethical issues involved in this situation. On the one hand, the behavior of Alice Smith and other members of the Southwestern Hospital involved directly violated the requirements of the HIPAA and several related industry and internal regulations. As all professionals are informed of the need to adhere to such norms, it constitutes a serious problem that should lead to the imposition of proportional sanctions against such professionals. On the other hand, it indicates systematic disrespect to patients and their interests. Alice Smith demonstrated proper adherence only to the care aspect while all privacy and confidentiality concerns were neglected. Brushwood demonstrates that such a situation is typical for some organizations, and the scope of the problem is greater than it is generally recognized. Care and privacy are the two complementary elements that should always be adequately addressed by all quality custom essay providers. It is possible to promote inter-organizational collaboration to share the most effective techniques enabling establishing the consistent balance between care and privacy in all organizational settings.

All patient-provider interactions should necessarily include the confidentiality and privacy aspects even if they are not stated explicitly. Moreover, there are additional considerations that may exist in relation to some age groups. Thus, professionals should necessarily make the corresponding age adjustments. Patients should also be able to formulate their additional requests and suggestions regarding the form of care delivery and communication methods used. If it is possible, providers should adhere to such requests and create optimal conditions for every patient consistent with his/her preferences. In this regard, both legal and ethical aspects can be properly integrated with one another leading to better-supported decisions and practices. All staff members should comprehend the great responsibility associated with the utilization of patients’ data. It may transform into more relevant practices and interventions.

Overall, the analyzed healthcare situation allows for reevaluating many current organizational processes and regulations. Although the significance of privacy and confidentiality is generally recognized, the current monitoring mechanisms are not highly efficient. The management team often makes such requests in a formal manner while the underlying interests and needs of patients are not properly addressed. It seems that the low awareness of their rights and such problems by many patient groups also contributes to the spreading of negative tendencies. The consolidated efforts of the government, healthcare providers, and patients should allow reaching significant improvements in this sphere within a minimal time frame.