Neonatal Nurse's Professional Self-concept and Behavior to Protect Patient Privacy

Abstract

Purpose: With the rapid increase in information technology in the medical environment, protection of patient's privacy is a crucial issue to hospital nurses. The purpose of this study was to determine neonatal nurses' perception and performance of behavior to protect patient privacy, and professional self-concept, and to investigate the relationships among these variables. Methods: The participants in this descriptive correlation study were 182 nurses in nursery and neonatal intensive care units using EMR or OCS in November, 2011. Results: Perception and performance averaged 4.61 and 4.04 (out of 5) respectively, and the average score for professional self-concept was 2.73 (out of 4). There was a significant difference between perception and performance. The performance of behaviour to protect patient privacy had a positive correlation with perception and professional self-concept. Multiple regression analysis showed that the key determinants of performance were recognition of necessity of patient privacy education, professional self-concept and perception, and these explained 36% of the total variance of performance. Conclusion: Study results indicate a need to establish policy to protect privacy of neonates and their families, and to develop educational programs to enhance neonatal nurses' perception and performance.