Hi, I need help with essay on NM 3708: PSPH Ethics and Law Essay. Paper must be at least 3000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!Download file to see previous pages... The baby girl was delivered at 1

Hi, I need help with essay on NM 3708: PSPH Ethics and Law Essay. Paper must be at least 3000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!

The baby girl was delivered at 11:20 that day weighing 800grames. She was transferred to the Neo-natal intensive care unit and Justine was transferred to the Ante-natal ward. As Mark was shocked at the size of the baby, he the midwife (Grace) if Justine could possibly breastfeed the baby. Grace explained that because of Justine's immune status and the medication she was on, breastfeeding was not

advisable. Grace further explained that breastfeeding could increase the risk of transmission in HIV positive women. It was later discovered that Justine never consented to her HIV positive status being given to Mark. Grace merely assumed that as Mark is the patient's brother, he "must" know her HIV status and that Justine presumably "must" have asked Mark to accompany her because she probably have had confided in him. As Justine was extremely distressed when she learnt of the breach of confidentiality, she demanded that the matter be investigated.

The primary ethical and legal content identified in the given scenario is the obligation of confidentiality which a midwife owes to her patient. To determine the importance of maintaining confidentiality and privacy, it is necessary to consider what it means. Many definitions of confidentiality are very wordy but they almost all contain the word 'trust'. Relationships in midwifery, as in all areas of health care, are centred on trust. A woman entrusts a midwife with a great deal of personal and generally private information. When she does this she has the right to expect that this information will remain confidential and private, being passed on only with her consent, in order to maintain human dignity. Her right in this case is a moral one as there is no statutory right to confidentiality. The privilege of confidentiality belongs to the client/patient and not to the healthcare professionals, as such a breach of confidentiality or privacy can lead to legal action in the civil courts. It can also lead to criminal action, but this is not for the breach itself, rather it is for the use to which the information is put and the harm that ensues, such as blackmail letters to well known women regarding their recent abortions, following theft of a general practitioner's computer. In the case of midwifery/medical records, however, it is not considered reasonable to seek specific consent for the passage of information between professionals caring for each woman/patient. This is covered by 'implied consent' where, in giving information that is to be recorded in the woman's/patient's file, the person is implying consent for other healthcare professionals who will have contact with her/him, to have access to this information. This, however, is considered to be on a 'need to know' basis in that only those professionals who need to know the information, in order to care for the individual concerned, will be given access to it. A number of ethical questions emerge with the demise of confidentiality in the context of given scenario.