... care and it still plays a fundamental role in the profession today. However, as the health care has developed in complexity, so the boundaries of confidentiality have become increasingly difficult to define. (Mason and McCall). Confidentiality is addressed as a vital ethical principle in health care and a breech of confidentiality can result in disciplinary action. Nurses have an obligation to maintain patient information as confidential, this includes information disclosed directly and information that may be received from other health professionals when caring for the patient. The professional and ethical obligations for the nurse are set out in the Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC) new code of professional practice published in April 2002. It states that to trust another person with private and confidential information about yourself is a significant matter. If the person that the information is given to is a nurse, midwife or health visitor, then the patient has a right ...

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