Privacy concerns of patients and nurse practitioners in primary care--an APRNet study

This study explores and compares the privacy concerns of primary care nurse practitioners (NPs) and their patients.

Privacy concerns were identified in separate focus groups of NPs and patients, and then parallel survey instruments were designed and administered to 27 NPs and 185 of their patients. All subjects were recruited through APRNet, a regional practice-based research network of NPs in southern New England encompassing 58 practices.

Both groups demonstrated high levels of concern regarding privacy. While NPs and patients had similar levels of concern about most issues, there were some notable differences regarding breeches because of carelessness, disclosures for research, and which disorders require the most care in maintaining privacy.

These results allow NPs to anticipate patient privacy concerns and to enhance trust in the clinical relationship. These results also indicate the need to educate patients regarding privacy rights and expectations.