If a patient is in a hospital, something that should always be upheld is their right to privacy. However, sometimes remembering to ensure this or knowing how this can be done best can be quite tricky – especially in a setting so busy and hectic as a hospital or medical practice.
Still, patient privacy is a priority, and it must never lapse no matter how chaotic the staff schedule is. With this in mind, if you’re looking for ways to maintain patient privacy, this article has some easy ideas you can implement into your practice.
Refrain From Discussing Information
As a healthcare professional, confidentiality is an important part of patient privacy. If there is any part of a patient’s caseload that you need to discuss with a colleague, this should be done away from all other patients and not within earshot of any professionals who don’t have a right to know.
This helps patients maintain their dignity and privacy as they won’t have anyone they don’t feel comfortable with knowing their private information or overhearing anything that’s not for them to know.
Medical Curtains
Medical curtains are the most common way for doctors and nurses to maintain their patients’ physical privacy. These should be the right length, width, and size, taking into account the cubicle and room.
Ideally, curtains should be pulled around the patient’s bed whenever they are receiving treatment or if they request for their curtains to be closed – there’s nothing more undignifying for a patient than having everyone being able to see them while they may feel or be in a vulnerable state.
Put Up Screens
If hospital curtains aren’t available, you should put a medical screen surrounding the patient – either when they are receiving treatment, being spoken to by a healthcare professional, getting changed, or if they want a bit of privacy for any other reason. These often have wheels so they can be easily moved around the hospital and are also easy to store.
Keep Medical Records Secure
As well as not publicly discussing patient information, you also shouldn’t leave any medical records lying around for anyone to see. These contain a lot of confidential information that shouldn’t be seen by anyone without the patient’s consent.
Just like with the discussion of private information, unless it’s a professional who you believe has the right to know, a patient’s medical records shouldn’t be seen by anyone other than those involved in the case.
Respect The Patient’s Wishes
Whatever the patient and their family request should be respected by you. For example, if you wish to share information about the patient with another professional or possibly a member of the patient’s family and the patient tells you they don’t want you to do that, this should be respected. You can only go against this if you believe that a particular person has a need to know.
In the same respect, you also shouldn’t promise a patient that anything they tell you or anything that comes up whilst they are in your care will be kept private and between the two of you. This is because if something they say gives you cause for concern, you may have to share it with another professional – so promising them full confidentiality and then going against their promise in the case that there’s a legal or safety concern will cause a lack of trust.
Why Are These Factors Important In Ensuring Patient Privacy?
Using these methods to ensure your patients can maintain their right to privacy is important. Having privacy helps them feel more confident and relaxed about being treated in your facility and lets them truthfully believe that their needs and wishes matter.
