Australian Social Work: Empowering Lives And Communities

Maintaining Confidentiality in Healthcare

Describe about the Australian Social Work?

1: The healthcare professionals at the mentioned organization encourages due dignity of profession and leads to commitment of every stakeholder towards honesty, accountability, and integrity within their profession. It is dedicated to providing quality healthcare services to the clients and maintains increased confidentiality of client information for gaining adequate trust as well as confidence (Oostrom and van Mierlo, 2008).

When the organization is faced with ethical issues, the question that is often asked is as to whether the organization delivered its best to safeguard environmental cause, and also if any measure to be undertaken to improve the situation.

2: It is quite important to maintain client confidentiality especially while dealing with clients or patients at healthcare sector. Medical professionals must assure their clients that their information would be kept confidential and also they must deliver their promises (QUINE, 2003). It not only refers to maintain professionalism, but maintaining client confidentiality is the best way to gain trust of the clients. It enables all patients and clients to gain confidence on healthcare professionals. Trust as well as confidentiality goes hand in hand with respect to providing clients with excellent care services (Meemeduma, 2004). Healthcare professionals are required to bring up the confidentiality issue with the clients directly. They need to ensure their clients that all their information which they had shared would be kept private. Only then clients would be motivated to share their personal matters. In fact, there are several reasons for healthcare professionals to maintain  client confidentiality involving legal restrictions, specific contractual agreements amidst parties and also ethical requirements.

3: The healthcare organization as referred here is one of the leading providers of clinical, health, and community care services within Australia (McPhaul et al., 2008). It describes every right of clients as well as others by means of a health system. The rights ensure the clients that all the care that would be provided to them is of safe standard. The organization has laid some rights such as ‘access’ that means clients have right to attain healthcare, ‘safety’ that means they would receive quality services, ‘respect’ that means they would be given dignity, respect, and consideration, ‘privacy’ that means the clients are ensured confidentiality of their private information, ‘communication’ that means they would be informed of services, available treatments and their costs, ‘participation’ that means the clients would be involved in making decisions of care, and lastly ‘comment’ that means they possess right to comment upon the care that is provided to them (LEISINGER and SCHMITT, 2011). The organization has a legal responsibility to ensure safe as well as healthy work environment for all its stakeholders including clients and employees.

Confidentiality –

The organization has a huge responsibility to maintain client confidentiality and safeguard all information of the patients. This is essential for gaining trust as well as confidence of the patients on the organization (SCHROEDER, 2011).

Professional conduct –

The professionals would take thorough responsibility to assure public services, respect for clients, stakeholders and colleagues (Johnston, Phanhtharath and Jackson, 2010). They need to uphold the rights of clients related to medical care services as laid down in the code of conducts.

Client Rights and Quality Services

Service quality –

The organization needs to maintain increased professional competencies as well as service quality. The professionals need to use approaches which are acceptable to the community as well as professional judgment in context to effectiveness of procedure (Krupinski, 2014).

Moral & Legal Standard –

The professionals would regard the social codes as well as moral expectations of the environment where they operate. Every organizational employee needs to abide by the established law and regulation of the workplace.

Breach of Code of Conduct:

The breach of code of ethics involves two types, breach regarding confidentiality as well as conflict of interest (Hughes, 2014). A breach in confidentiality may take place when a professional leaks any private information of a client, project, or business deal to another rival. A breach in conflict of interest may take place when anyone in the role of purchasing has a family member who works with company vendor which competes and finally wins a contract.

5: A duty of care refers to a legal obligation which needs a professional to act best towards interests of clients receiving care services. It involves solely the duty to safeguard patients from abuses of unprofessional practices (Greenawalt and Wachter, 2011). It ensures that they deliver the best and safest services to the clients. in the organization as mentioned, duty of care would ensure that clients are well protected from any sort of harm and abuses of staff, peers, other patients, friends or family. Duty of care would ensure that I provide my staff with safe as well as healthy workplace in a way that all professionals would be given adequate training related to protecting and clarifying duties and responsibilities of each of the staffs. Any unprofessional behavior or conduct would be strictly protested and counteracted upon (GILLON, 2005). Effective communication would be ensured within the organizational setting. I need to ensure that all patients are treated with respect as well as dignity and made to participate in decision making process.

6: It has been a personal opinion of mine that in order to deliver quality care services to patients, I need to develop my personal skills that are attributed with innovation as well as best practices. I need to foster an innovative culture as well as creativity within the healthcare processes that may enable the organization to stay ahead of all competitors (Watson, 2006). Personal skills would allow best practices in innovation as this includes constant supervision on existing services, various processes at the healthcare organization, and finally to seek for opportunities to improve the organizational deliverances (Fronek and Cuthbert, 2013).

It is important for me as a leader to understand the need to make things clear at every organizational level about the objectives and direction of organizational undertakings. I deem it important to conduct an effective communication within the workplace environment since this is the sole way to interact and deliver as well as seek important information (Frerichs, 2010). The communicative approach must aim at impacting upon behavioral change. The change may involve attitudinal change or that of work processes for bringing about relevant necessary organizational shifts. Through communicating strategically, I would convey essential business objectives to staffs.

Code of Ethics: Confidentiality, Professional Conduct, Service Quality, and Legal Standards

An induction program assists with skill development in a way that during induction sessions adequate training and learning sessions are provided to the staffs. It focuses upon the skills that need to be developed.

7: For ensuring safe and healthy work environment, the organization maintains some key business standards. These are:

The healthcare managers as well as professionals practice sustained leadership to motivate necessary actions (FERGUSON et al., 2010).

Effective occupational environment is maintained within the organization so as to ensure healthy arrangements of processes that would enable proactive managing of health issues as well other employee or clients related issues.

All professionals are trained as well as supported adequately since this is crucial for organizational success (Evans, 2009).

Developing safe as well as healthy environment is the key to business success. It enables retaining of staff as well as maximizing organizational productivity.

It would be preferred to take expert advices in assisting performance issues to achieve desired outcomes because they are the most experienced individuals who may provide information about various aspects related to workplace safety and health awareness.

8: When employees experience stress in organizational environment, it affects them negatively and leads to poor performances and health issues. This is even more concentrated in healthcare settings (Wong, 2012). Being a senior it would be my responsibility to encourage the staffs adequately to manage stress all by themselves so that they may work safely. The staffs need to be encouraged to communicate regularly to identify any stress issue. I would ensure their active participation in the decision-making process along with assured independence (Emergency Medical Technicians, Including Paramedics, in the Workplace, 2013). The goals of the healthcare organization must be specific, stimulating and realistic to ensure consistent interest of the employees. There must be promotion of job rotation as well as job enrichment. Along with the help of line managers and staffs it must be ensured that organizational code of practices are obeyed thoroughly.

Medical professionals must assure their clients that their information would be kept confidential and also they must deliver their promises.

Effective occupational environment is maintained within the organization so as to ensure healthy arrangements of processes that would enable proactive managing of health issues as well other employee or clients related issues (Davey, 2013).

Any unprofessional behavior or conduct would be strictly protested and counteracted upon. Effective communication would be ensured within the organizational setting.

9: Standards refer to a mutually agreed manner of conducting something. The business would be able to capture present effective practices by trusted processes including related stakeholders. On the other hand, accreditation confirms technical competence as well as integrity if businesses offering services like testing, authorizing, certification, inspection and calibration. Thus, accreditation may be applied for verifying conformity with a standard (CLARK, 2003). Both standards as well as accreditation offer options that are business-oriented and support effective regulation of laws. These are increasingly used for aiding delivery across broader governmental activities. Regulation often acts as the best solution to result in changes such as protecting clients. In fact, standards as well as accreditation refer to the market-based approaches used widely by government policy makers for delivering effective regulation.

Duty of Care: Protecting Patients from Harm and Abuses

10: In context to healthcare practices, the organization is largely involved into providing healthcare services to the community and all patients that show interest in its system. Organizational deliverances include effective care services to the patients along with business practices that encourage staffs, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders (Chalupka, 2014). Organizational work practices are based on the business code of ethics guided by legislative structures. Here, feedback from clients, patients and their families would prove beneficial for the healthcare organization. The feedbacks of the stakeholders and particularly the clients would be gathered and evaluated to assess the performance of the organization (Briskman, 2009). The feedback would reflect the success or failure of the business firm. When majority of feedbacks are positive, it means that the organization has obeyed the ‘standard of performances’. However when majority of feedbacks are negative, it would mean that the standards of performances have not been followed thoroughly and had led to the dissatisfaction of the clients.

Patients – Patients or clients are most important stakeholder in case of healthcare organizations. Here in this case, the business organization strives to provide patients with high quality care services to satisfy them (Boulanger, Ibarra and Wagner, 2014).

Government – The governmental policies and legislation of the particular region where the organization is located play key role in deciding operations of the organization.

Health professionals – They are the frontline workers who are solely responsible for providing medical aids to clients and ensure safety and healthy work environment. They deliver performances by aiding by the professional healthcare standards.

12: Being a manager at a healthcare organization, it is my personal responsibility to maintain hygiene in delivering my services to the organization. I may do so by the following means:

I must comply with various standards of legislation, health, safety regulation along with policies of the organization relating to safety at workplaces (Bell, 2009).

I need to observe thoroughly healthy posters, signals, directions in the environment.

I need to stay familiar with emergency coordination as well as plan.

I need to observe surroundings and report any unsafe conditions around.

I need to encourage employees and other staffs to obey safety measures while at work and abstain themselves from any harmful elements around.

References

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Boulanger, R., Ibarra, K. and Wagner, F. (2014). A Road Map to Building Ethics Capacity in the Home and Community Care and Support Services Sector. Healthcare Quarterly, 17(1), pp.48-53.

Briskman, L. (2009). Researching the Margins: Strategies for Ethical and Rigorous Research with Marginalised Communities. Australian Social Work, 62(4), pp.543-544.

Chalupka, S. (2014). Reducing Workplace Exposure to 1-Bromopropane. Workplace Health & Safety, 62(3), pp.128-128.

CLARK, K. (2003). Customer Satisfaction and Workplace Safety. Home Healthcare Nurse: The Journal for the Home Care and Hospice Professional, 21(2), pp.126-127.

Davey, T. (2013). Individual and organizational ethical practices. Healthcare Management Forum, 26(1), pp.51-53.

Emergency Medical Technicians, Including Paramedics, in the Workplace. (2013). Workplace Health & Safety, 61(11), pp.471-471.

Evans, C. (2009). Spirited Practices: Spirituality and the Helping Professions. Australian Social Work, 62(3), pp.425-427.

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Frerichs, W. (2010). Acquisitions in the New Information Universe: Core Competencies and Ethical Practices. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 41(2), pp.157-158.

Fronek, P. and Cuthbert, D. (2013). Apologies for Forced Adoption Practices: Implications for Contemporary Intercountry Adoption. Australian Social Work, 66(3), pp.402-414.

GILLON, R. (2005). Toleration and Healthcare Ethics. Cambridge Q. Healthcare Ethics, 14(01).

Greenawalt, J. and Wachter, J. (2011). Applying the Neuman Stressor Model for workplace safety.Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 30(3), pp.16-22.

Hughes, M. (2014). Reflecting on Ethical Questions and Peer Reviewing. Australian Social Work, 67(4), pp.463-466.

Johnston, M., Phanhtharath, P. and Jackson, B. (2010). The Bullying Aspect of Workplace Violence in Nursing. JONA's Healthcare Law, Ethics, and Regulation, 12(2), pp.36-42.

Krupinski, E. (2014). Telemedicine Workplace Environments: Designing for Success. Healthcare, 2(1), pp.115-122.

LEISINGER, K. and SCHMITT, K. (2011). Access to Healthcare and the Pharmaceutical Sector. Camb Q Healthc Ethics, 20(02), pp.309-325.

McPhaul, K., London, M., Murrett, K., Flannery, K., Rosen, J. and Lipscomb, J. (2008). Environmental Evaluation for Workplace Violence in Healthcare and Social Services. Journal of Safety Research, 39(2), pp.237-250.

Meemeduma, P. (2004). Social work practices: contemporary perspectives on change. Australian Social Work, 57(2), pp.195-197.

Oostrom, J. and van Mierlo, H. (2008). An evaluation of an aggression management training program to cope with workplace violence in the healthcare sector. Res. Nurs. Health, 31(4), pp.320-328.

QUINE, L. (2003). Workplace Bullying, Psychological Distress, and Job Satisfaction in Junior Doctors.Cambridge Q. Healthcare Ethics, 12(01).

SCHROEDER, D. (2011). Does the Pharmaceutical Sector Have a Coresponsibility for the Human Right to Health?. Camb Q Healthc Ethics, 20(02), pp.298-308.

Watson, J. (2006). Caring Theory as an Ethical Guide to Administrative and Clinical Practices. JONA's Healthcare Law, Ethics, and Regulation, 8(3), pp.87-93.

Wong, B. (2012). Building a Health Literate Workplace. Workplace Health & Safety, 60(8), pp.363-369.