Introduction
The sensitivity of health information creates the need to for proper protection. However, the emergence of technology has proved to be a major impediment in the fight against information insecurity. It is critical to understand that several factors that have been attributed to the insecurity of information have mainly been caused by human behaviors. Therefore, the security experts are under the threat of losing their mandate due to uncontrolled behavior by humans. It is important for every practitioner to understand that certain guiding principles govern the practice of nursing due to the handling of critical information about the patients (Limb, 2014). The fundamental building blocks of the information security are culminated in the ethical conduct of people and professionals. It is essential for the practitioner to operate under the guidance of the guiding principles to ensure that information remains as private as it is meant to be. As evident in the current use of information devices in a manner that appears like abuse, many people have resorted to using of information gadgets to disseminate sensitive information.
Legal and Ethical violations
In view of the HIPPA laws, it’s illegal to share certain information; especially that holds confidential details of the victim. The culture of responsibility has to be enforced by the healthcare professionals, and ethical principles must thus be implemented in ways that close the loopholes through with the defendants can justly get away with irresponsible behavior. The fundamental guiding principle in information security is integrity. It is critical for the people in charge of security of information with the health care to put measures in place that will ensure both patients and practitioners inhibit offensive and illegal behavior that can lead to loss of property and subsequent damages to the reputation of the officer (Limb, 2014). The requirements of security laws put in place procedures that enable one realize the need to maintain security restrictions and what necessitates the behavioral mannerism prescribed by the ethical guidelines. It is necessary for the officers within the hospital to ensure that every employee is under certain restrictions that are governed and carefully monitored for any element of violations. About the incident, it is worth noting that certain factors must be observed regarding the incident.
Taking of patient images in whatever circumstance is unacceptable. The health practitioner is the custodian of integrity within the hospital and is expected to be a model of moral perfection regarding protection of sensitive information (Limb, 2014). Moreover, it is important to provide mechanisms that help combat information pilferage. However, the behavior exhibited by the practitioner is a blatant breach of security guidelines and equally criminal in nature. It is the responsibility of any employee within the health environment to understand the nature of the information they have been entrusted with that deserves secrecy at the highest level. The use of social media to spread information about people especially sensitive health information is equally outlawed. It is important for the law enforcement to create strict laws that will help govern the behavior of professional as well as their workplace conduct. Regardless of the place, taking confidential information without the permission of the victim is in contravention to the security laws that require that only authorized access is accepted within the setup and confines of information prescriptions (Soluade, 2014).
Sharing the images of a patient is against the patient safety regulations which are solely the responsibility of the staff and the nurse. It is important to understand that patients entrust confidential information on the hospital staff due to the ethical expectations and binding laws that require every handler of sensitive information to observe ethical behavior in dealing with the information (Soluade, 2014). Therefore, the sharing of the information regarding a patient amounts to a breach of ethical codes of conduct that are in place to pose restraint to unethical behavior that would make the safety of the patient at stake. Protecting patient information is one of the primary responsibilities of medical staff and sharing such information is clearly a breach of the HIPPA guidelines (Soluade, 2014). Therefore, any pursuit of legal suit against the offender is thus warranted and should be pursued to the letter. Despite the ethical issues with smartphones and social media, there are numerous advantages that they possess and are useful to the general orientation of the practice. The following are some of the merits of the technologies;
Advantages
Access to information
The use of smartphones makes it very easy to gain access to information. The access to information has been made easy through smartphone due to their support for various information enabling technologies. Smartphones make it very simple to use the internet enhancing rapid dissemination of information. Moreover, social media has been instrumental in access to information as it allows people from different geographical information to share information via a common platform that is accessible to people with certain specifications. As a whole, the technologies have aided the flow of information thus providing easy access.
Information sharing
Smartphones make it so easy to share information. As evident in the case, the nurse shared the critical information using the smartphone, but the information would easily go viral in the social media through the use of tags and handles. Facebook and Twitter ease the task to share information with friends regardless of their location (Stiakakis et al., 2015).
Cheaper communication
The use of social media and smartphones for information purposes is cheaper. In fact, sharing information is often free so is access provided one has access to the internet (Stiakakis et al., 2015). The absence of cost makes life very easy for many people who now prefer the technologies to making voice calls. It is important to acknowledge the technologies and the way they have made communication easy.
Disadvantages
Identity theft
The use of smartphones increased the chances and capacity of one to steal the identity of another person. It is important for the confidential information to be protected so as to avoid theft of identity. Information posted on the internet is often available to anybody who has the appetite for access (Stiakakis et al., 2015). Equally, smartphones also make any information available on the social media thus can be accessed by any intending party and the unexpected viewers.
Corporate privacy invasion
It is characteristic of social media to invite corporate players to personal information especially when they are posted on the social networks (Stiakakis et al., 2015). It is common that information posted on the internet and social sites might land in the hands of unexpected personalities and authorities. It is thus important to observe the responsible usage of the internet.
Cyberbullying
The use of smartphones and the social media often expose people to inappropriate contact as well as unwarranted harassment (Stiakakis et al., 2015). The timeless use of social media and the smartphone makes cyberbullying a common thing that befalls people at their least expected time.
Conclusion and Recommendation
In conclusion, it is important for the health department to adopt policy changes to create a buffer in the information access and dissemination by medical practitioners. Such policies will be essential in safeguarding the patient information that is often sensitive and confidential. Additionally, the hospital management should formulate ethical policies that employees agree to during their recruitment as a guiding principle for their professional conduct in the hospital premises and work environment. Such policies should offer a clear framework for handling the offenders so as to avoid conflicting interest.
References
Limb, M. (2014). Accuracy of patient records may be "bigger issue" than security breaches, expert says. Bmj, 348(Apr04 2).
Soluade, O. A. (2014). Security Breaches, Network Exploits and Vulnerabilities: A Conundrum and an Analysis. IJCSDF International Journal of Cyber-Security and Digital Forensics, 3(4), 246-261.
Stiakakis, E., Georgiadis, C. K., & Andronoudi, A. (2015). Users’ perceptions about mobile security breaches. Information Systems and E-Business Management Inf Syst E-Bus Manage.
