Supporting the Patient’s Choice to Open Access Private Health Information

• The growing numbers of patients who use social media.
• Two young men promoting their surgical procedure on social media.
• Nurse practitioner’s methods of promoting privacy and autonomy.
• Legal and hospital policies on social media.
• Highlight the challenges that nurses face in supporting patients who opt to display private health information.

The nurse practitioner (NP) was asked to videotape the surgical procedures of 2 patients so that they could post it on social media. The NP faces many challenges to ensure that patient's rights of disclosure and privacy are addressed when video recording their surgical procedure. There are both federal laws and hospital policies aimed at protecting patient confidentiality. The NP needs to support individuals in making choices that are in line with their personal values and beliefs, with awareness and freedom.