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A qualitative investigation of nurses’ knowledge and practice gaps, regarding confidentiality and risk-actuated public interest disclosure-related decision-making
Conlon, Darren Raeburn, Toby Wand, Timothy
Conlon, Darren
Raeburn, Toby
Wand, Timothy
Abstract
There is a legal duty of confidentiality on the part of nurses working in mental health care. Nonetheless, it may be necessary to release some information if a patient is assessed as posing a potential credible risk, to protect the patient or others from harm. However, contemporary research literature reveals gaps in nurses’ knowledge and practice, with respect to sharing patients’ confidential information. The aim of this study was to understand potential causal factors for these knowledge and practice gaps, so they can be addressed. A theoretical thematic analysis of focus-group data was undertaken. Findings indicated nurses had limited knowledge of confidentiality. Additionally, participants described a paucity of support networks nurses could approach for information. Participants also emphasised their perception that health services unrealistically expected them to always identify and manage patient risk. In summarising these findings, recommendations for interventions to address these knowledge and practice gaps are outlined.
Keywords
confidentiality, disclosure, mental health, nurse, nursing, psychiatry, public interest disclosure, risk assessment, risk management
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
Book
Volume
Issue
Page Range
1-18
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.