Nurses safeguard information learned in the context of a professional relationship and
ensure it is shared outside the health-care team only with the person’s informed consent,
or as may be legally required, or where the failure to disclose would cause significant
harm.
1. Nurses must respect the right of each person to informational privacy, that is, the
individual’s control over the use, access, disclosure and collection of their
information.
2. Nurses must advocate for persons requesting access to their health record subject to
legal requirements.
3. Nurses must protect the confidentiality of all information gained in the context of the
professional relationship, and practise within relevant laws governing privacy and
confidentiality of personal health information.
4. Nurses must intervene if other participants in the health-care delivery system fail to
maintain their duty of confidentiality.
5. Nurses must disclose a person’s health information only as authorized by that person,
unless there is substantial risk of serious harm to the person or to other persons or a
legal obligation to disclose. Where disclosure is warranted, information provided
must be limited to the minimum amount of information necessary to accomplish the
purpose for which it has been disclosed. Further the number of people informed must
be restricted to the minimum necessary.
6. Nurses should inform the persons in their care that their health information will be
shared with the health-care team for the purposes of providing care. In some
circumstances nurses are legally required to disclose confidential information without
consent. When this occurs nurses should attempt to inform individuals about what
information will be disclosed, to whom and for what reason(s).
7. When nurses are required to disclose health information about persons, with or
without the person’s informed consent, they must do so in ways that do not stigmatize
individuals, families or communities. They must provide information in a way that
minimizes identification as much as possible.
8. Nurses must advocate for and respect policies and safeguards to protect and preserve
the person’s privacy.