Healthcare Delivery Case Analysis
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The issue of privacy and confidentiality of healthcare workers has become a born of contention in the current times when the world is battling the infectious COVID-19. In the line of duty, healthcare officers have access to a lot of information about their patients as well as fellow workers (Hathaliya & Tanwar, 2020). As much as healthcare workers are obligated to observe privacy and confidentiality with regards to patients’ information, they too deserve to be protected from information breach regarding their health as well as other private information. In the presented case scenario, the management of the healthcare facility had an obligation of training the workforce on how vital confidentiality is especially where there is an outbreak as a way to protect the reputation of the affected employees (Hathaliya & Tanwar, 2020). A health system that has a robust and strong mechanism of privacy and confidentiality is guaranteed of public confidence as well as have reputational stability.
Disclosure of private information about the healthcare workers can have far-reaching ramifications on the social stigma of the affected persons.
The management of the healthcare facility under consideration in the case study made Sara to be discriminated upon by her colleagues. The social discrimination that Sara faced after her healthcare condition was exposed to the public could have made her colleagues who experienced symptoms to be reluctant to seek help. Breach of privacy and confidentiality in a workplace setting can cause a chilling effect which can make it difficult for healthcare facilities to put in place prevention measures, treatment procedures as well as opening up a path for the study of the disease progression (Mattei, 2017). Privacy and confidentiality in the workplace setting promotes social values such as the personal autonomy of the affected parties, respect, individuality and the self-worth of the workers. In a healthcare facility where there is strong privacy and confidentiality guidelines applicable to both workers and patients creates a safe environment for them since it encourages collegiality.
There exists a world of a difference between a manager and a leader as applicable in the healthcare setting. Managers are required to establish a structure in their organizations and maintain the structure in a manner that ensure a seamless working environment. Managers are also obligated to establish processes and systems that will guarantee the sustenance of their organizations besides ensuring that the objectives of their organizations are met (Hathaliya & Tanwar, 2020). Leaders have a slightly different role with regards to the running of their organizations owing to the fact that they have to think outside the box of the available parameters as opposed to only focusing on overlooking the affairs of the workforce (Mattei, 2017). In the Sara’s case, the role of the manager of the healthcare facility was to bring the workforce together by taking a leading role in preserving privacy and confidentiality of information. After the revelation that Sara had been diagnosed with TB, the manager of the facility should have instructed her to isolate herself until her recovery and kept the news as private as possible (Pramanik, Pareek & Nayyar, 2019). The manager should have acted to ensure that her colleagues don’t get a wind of the information to protect her from social isolation that would have led to stigma besides making the organization suffer reputational damage. As a manager in the presented case study, one should have put in place rapid containment measures as soon as the case was reported including placing the facility on a lockdown to prevent infections to other healthcare workers (Pramanik, Pareek & Nayyar, 2019). Additionally, a manager would have recommended to the management measures such as the undertaking of compulsory testing and vaccination exercises to all the workforce to access the extent of spread that may have happened.
On the flip side of the coin, a leader would have acted in a manner that would make Sara’s colleagues to understand the disease so as to avoid social discrimination. Leaders are obligated to taking act as team players in an organizational setting. In the presented case, a leader would have acted in a manner of holding a meeting with the employees and reassure them about their safety while also explaining to them the steps that the management have undertaken to protect the workers for exposing themselves to the contagious disease (Pramanik, Pareek & Nayyar, 2019). As a leader, one should have gotten the input of the workforce in the issue and their recommendations about the way forward. By applying participative leadership style, a leader would be able to get the opinion of the employ