Discussion Question Fall 2022

To date, the United States has achieved a 95% implementation use of electronic health records as a means to document healthcare delivery in hospitals and private practice settings. Electronic health records (EHRs) do provide benefits for patients, nurses, and collaborative teams, but also raise many ethical questions. Navigating how to provide care in the digital age requires the nurse to assess the impact of the EHR on patient care and the nurse-patient relationship. EHRs should facilitate patient care and, as an essential component of that care, support the nurse-patient relationship, including nurse autonomy, professionalism, and patient privacy and confidentiality. There are studies that postulate EHRs are resulting in unintended ethical consequences concerning nursing clinical decision-making and subsequent patient safety implications.

Consider exploring ethical challenges and concerns for nursing practice and patient care by incorporating your responses to the following questions:

1.What are some ethical issues and dilemmas related to Electronic Health Records and patient electronic communication?
2.What are some of the ethical and legal issues related to patient- sensitive health information?
3.What are some potential concerns that Electronic Health Records (EHRs) bring to nursing care quality?
4.How can an EHR positively impact the quality of nursing care?
5. How does an EHR support teamwork and collaboration?
6.What is confidentiality in nursing ethics?
7. Why is patient confidentiality an ethical issue?
8. What does the Nursing Code of Ethics say about confidentiality?
9.What are some examples of confidentiality and how does the nurse protect patient confidentiality?
10.Could patient confidentiality be compromised with the electronic health record? How?

Support your viewpoint with research from a current, peer-reviewed journal article (published within 5 years). Provide the link to the journal article for your classmates to read.