The inadvertent breach of confidentiality

Patients believe that personal information that they share with their health care providers will be kept strictly confidential. Safeguarding a confidence has been and continues to be an expected professional behavior. Yet, a common ethical problem that nurses face in their everyday practice is the inadvertent disclosure of private information about particular patients to individuals who have no need for this information. This article discusses the inadvertent breach of confidentiality and its related ethical concepts: privacy, respect for persons, trust and fidelity, and the potential for harm or injury. Recommendations are provided to enable nurses to avoid and manage situations that involve an inadvertent breach of confidentiality.