As a nurse informaticist, you may be at the forefront of managing patient data, institutional data, and other record-keeping that has reporting requirements. The reporting of accurate and truthful information is critical to policy compliance, and may affect funding, safety ratings, or other crucial measures. In this Discussion, you analyze one such example where informatics and ethics overlap.
To Prepare consider the following scenario:
Imagine that you are a nurse informaticist in an ER department. The manager informs you that the duration from when a patient arrives in the ER reporting cardiac-related symptoms to being seen in the cardiac catheterization lab is above the national standard. She asks if there is a way to \”adjust\” the report to make the time look better before the next review.
Review the resources and reflect on the actions you would take and the decision you would make to meet standards in an ethical manner as it relates to the scenario provided.
Think about what your response to the manager might be.
nurse informatician are guided by the ANA Scope and Standards of our NI practice. Standard 7 describes the ethical responsibilities of the Informatics Nurse and guided by the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. This obliges to safeguard patient data but also calls to remember that the patient is at the center of everything. Please look beyond HIPAA…. pay attention to what is in the PPA and the Cares Acts. See: https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Columns/Ethics/Patient-Protection-and-Affordable-Care-Act-Ethical-Perspectives.html?css=print
Think of the impact on HIT and data collected from COVID had on our work. Think about how we often gather social determinants of health data and then do not provide adequate resources.
References: (See attachment)
Fowler, M. D. M., & American Nurses Association. (2015). Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements: Development, Interpretation, and Application: Vol. Second edition. American Nurses Association.
Policy and Ethics
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliations
Policy and Ethics
Nurse informaticists have a moral obligation to utilize health information technology in a manner that not only protect the privacy and confidentiality of patients’ data but which also promotes patient safety. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) documents policies that guide nurse informaticists to safely and securely manage patient data, institutional data, and other record-keeping that has reporting requirements (Séroussi et al., 2020). Since the reporting of accurate and truthful information is critical to policy compliance, nurse informatics are required to adhere to the American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of nurse informatics practice as guided by the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (Fowler & American Nurses Association, 2015). When patients take long to receive care whenever they visit a hospital, their health conditions might deteriorate leading to poor health outcomes. In this respect, nurse informaticists must ensure that they keep accurate data regarding patients’ waiting time to guide policy-makers in making decisions regarding the best strategies that can be implemented to reduce waiting time and avoid negative patient outcomes.
The best actions that the nurse informaticists should take when faced with an ethical dilemma requiring the adjustment of patients’ waiting time should be guided by ethical principles. Additionally, they should adhere to the ethical responsibilities of an informatics nurse as outlined in standard 7 of nurse informatics practice (American Nurses Association, 2015; Sorrell, 2012). For example, the nurse informaticist faced with the dilemma described in the scenario should demonstrate the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence by engaging in actions that will maximize benefits and eliminate harm respectively (Fowler & American Nurses Association, 2015). Notably, patients with cardiac-related symptoms require urgent care and any delays in treatment are likely to cause harm. The nurse informaticist in the scenario should report the patients’ waiting time in the emergency department as it is without making adjustments as requested by the manager. The factual report will guide decision-making on how to reduce waiting time with the aim of maximizing benefits and eliminating harm for patients.
References
American Nurses Association (2015). Nursing informatics: Scope and standards of practice, 2nd Edition. Silver Spring, MD: Nursesbooks.org.
Fowler, M. D. M., & American Nurses Association. (2015). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements: development, interpretation, and application. American Nurses Association.
Séroussi, B., Hollis, K. F., & Soualmia, L. F. (2020). Transparency of health informatics processes as the condition of healthcare professionals’ and patients’ trust and adoption: The rise of ethical requirements. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 29(1), 7–10. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1702029
Sorrell, J., (2012). Ethics: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Ethical perspectives in 21st century health care. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18 (1). doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol18No02EthCol01. https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol18No02EthCol01.