Week 9: The Role of Ethics and Security for Nursing Informatics and Practice
Technology has provided an ease of access for patient records, communication, and information collection, however, what happens when this information is not kept safe? What happens when safeguards are not put in place, training is not adequate, or hacking occurs? What are the ethical implications of nursing practice in a world filled with advancements?
The security and privacy of health records is an integral component of the ethical considerations in nursing; however, there are many examples in which this security and privacy is either compromised or challenged. What might be your role, as a leader in your healthcare organization or nursing practice, to implement strategies that will strengthen and support security and privacy measures?
This week, you will analyze the role of ethics in nursing practice, specifically as it relates to privacy and security. You will consider how you might evaluate ethics, security, and risks in your clinical practice.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Analyze how ethics, cyber ethics, and security impact clinical practice
- Analyze the application of ethics in clinical practice
- Evaluate implications for security risks in clinical practice
- Evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on ethics and security for clinical practice
- Justify implementation strategies to a nursing informatics project
- Analyze implementation and progress tracking of a nursing informatics project
- Synthesize lessons learned from implementing a nursing informatics project
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Required Media (click to expand/reduce)
Optional Resource (click to expand/reduce)
Discussion: Ethics, Cyber Ethics, and Security
- In recent years, hackers have targeted medical records, from hospitals and other healthcare institutions, across the country. These records contain personal information, contact information, and most importantly, for the hackers, information that may prove useful in stealing an identity. Thus, healthcare organizations have made it a priority to protect patient records and privacy. However, with the influx of technological advancements and hacker determination, there is no perfect way to ensure that all records are secure and safe.
In addition to medical records, privacy concerns are relevant with any patient chart in any setting. For example, a chart left open on a computer monitor in a patient room, employee passwords and log-in information, and new employee access and screening all represent other ways in which ethics and security merge in healthcare and nursing practice.
For this Discussion, you will consider the importance of ethics as it relates to security. You will also reflect on how these topics might affect clinical practice and the connection to nursing informatics.
To Prepare
- Review the Learning Resources associated with the topics of ethics, cyber ethics, and security.
- Consider the role of each of these topics for clinical practice, as well as the importance of understanding each of these topics.
- Reflect on how COVID-19 might have impacted each of these topics, which reviewing the article, “The COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights Shortcomings in US Health Care Informatics Infrastructure: A Call to Action.”
By Day 3 of Week 9
Post a cohesive response that addresses the following for each of the topics of ethics, cyber ethics, and security:
- Explain how each of the topics might impact clinical practice. Describe why it is important to understand how ethics applies to clinical practice. Be specific and provide examples.
- How might ethics apply to informatics, e-health records, importance of passwords and security?
- After reviewing the article, “The COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights Shortcomings in US Health Care Informatics Infrastructure: A Call to Action,” describe potential impacts of the pandemic on ethics and security as it applies to clinical practice. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 5 of Week 9
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by expanding upon their responses or sharing additional or alternative perspectives.
