Ethical Communication
Ethical issues and concerns have been a constant topic in all of your nursing courses. When applying these problems to health assessment, a nurse is faced with the problems of reporting many types of abuse. Think about your role as a nurse to report abuse as well as the HIPAA regulations to protect a patient's privacy. Then, read the following scenario:
You are taking a health history from a young woman who is admitted for an ovarian cyst removal later the same day. During the history, she reveals that she has recently been diagnosed as HIV-positive but has not yet disclosed this to her new boyfriend, who is in the waiting room.
Based on this scenario, respond to the following:
- From an ethical perspective, what is the nurse's obligation?