How to write a nursing Information Security essay in a World of Technology
How to write a nursing Information Security essay in a World of Technology
Protected health information is any health-related data created, received, transmitted, or stored by the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act covered entities and their business associates involved in providing healthcare and healthcare operations, including the payment of healthcare services. Healthcare Organizations need to safeguard the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information. There are various mechanisms that these healthcare organizations can implement to protect patients’ information. They include security mechanisms, level of access, administrative and personal issues, and handling and disposal of confidential patient information. Educating the staff members on phishing and spam emails also helps safeguard protected health information. Evaluation of the educational method used enables the success of the current and future educational initiatives.
Educational Methods
Various educational methods can be used in the healthcare settings to educate the multidisciplinary team on various topics related to healthcare, such as safeguarding the protected health information. The health education methods help the learners to understand and effectively apply certain concepts in healthcare settings (Hebda et al., 2019). The educational methods include instructor-led training, e-learning, self-guided learning, just-in-time learning, and blended learning.
Instructor-led learning (ILT) is one of the educational methods that an organization can use. It is a training method whereby an instructor facilitates a training session for an individual or a group of learners in a training room such as a conference room, classroom, or office (Hebda et al., 2019). It can also be administered through technology. It helps the audience understand a particular subject matter in greater detail. This type of training can be administered using different formats and combinations depending on the suitability of the subject. The common types of ILT include seminars, one-on-one training, workshops, and small group classes or webinar sessions. ILT has various benefits over other teaching methods. First, the training is administered by an expert, making the learner benefit from the learning or training sessions. It allows for the delivery of feedback in real-time. The instructor can adapt different approaches or styles depending on the audience or the subject being discussed. Finally, the teacher can provide demonstrations to the learners to facilitate understanding of the topic.
The instructors can also utilize eLearning when training learners about a certain concept or topic. E-learning can be used as a stand-alone teaching method or in combination with other teaching methods. Training is delivered through handheld devices, computers, or via other internet technologies. It is regarded as a new version of distant learning. It commonly involves educational activities that do not necessarily require the physical presence of the learner and the teacher at the same time and place. This method of teaching has various benefits to the learner and the instructor. The methods allow for interactivity between the teacher and the learner. It is a cheaper training method and allows learners to access the learning materials at their convenience. In the healthcare setting, this learning method can be used to educate many healthcare practitioners when they are not on duty. There will be no need to interrupt the continuity of care as the healthcare providers can access the educational material when free. Additionally, only one session may be required, which can be accessible to almost all healthcare practitioners hence saving resources and time.
Organizations can also utilize self-guided learning methods in diverse settings. Self-guided learning utilizes text-based learning materials such as files, brochures, file documents, and online books (Hebda et al., 2019). The learners are normally required to use the text-based learning material to learn about a new concept in the organization. This method is rarely being used for many reasons. First, it is difficult to monitor the compliance or training of the learners. There is normally minimal interaction between the learner and the instructors. Finally, it is difficult to train the learners on the difficult concepts that may require demonstrations and elaborations by the instructor. However, the learning method is a relatively cheap and convenient teaching strategy.
Just-in-time learning is one of the methods of teaching being used in many organizations. The method is applicable for individuals who are too busy to use eLearning methods or attend a physical classroom. It allows healthcare practitioners to be trained while doing their duties. With this method of teaching, healthcare workers can incorporate the new concepts into their practice easily. The method involves using an instructor or a trainer who is physically present in the work environment. The trainer will educate the learners throughout all the processes of the new method until the learner feels they have understood the new process being reinforced.
Blended learning involves combining different concepts and elements from other training methods to maximize learning and application. It minimizes the time a learner will spend in the classroom. The method utilizes internet or printed-based instruction to prepare learners for an interactive session of the training. An example of the blended teaching method is in the implementation of the HIPAA guidelines. An instructor can provide an internet-based link or material with all the HIPAA guidelines, which the learners will be required to go through before engaging them in a practical session focused on implementing the guidelines.
Protecting Patient’s Information
Healthcare organizations need to implement various strategies that will ensure the protected health information is safeguarded. While interacting with the patient information, healthcare providers should always ensure that the information is not accessed by other individuals not intended for the information (Samadbeik et al., 2016). Patients have the right to determine who can access their protected health information. Different strategies can be implemented in the healthcare setting to safeguard the protected health information. These mechanisms include security mechanisms, administrative and personnel issues, level of access, and handling of disposal of confidential information.
Security mechanisms ensure that patient information, including electronic health records, is protected. Numerous security mechanisms can be implemented in healthcare settings. First, the organization can install a network firewall to filter potentially harmful internet traffic from the internet to protect patient information (Jain et al., 2017). The network firewall can be hardware or software technologies that provide a first-line defense mechanism to the organizational network. They restrict outgoing and incoming network traffic using certain rules and criteria that the organization has configured. A spam filter can be installed to block any malware and prevent the vulnerability of the electronic health records system. A web filter can be installed to block access to potentially harmful sites. The organization can also inform the employees to set up strong passwords to prevent access to unauthorized individuals. The organization can ensure the patient data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Encryption makes it difficult for cyber attackers to decipher patient data even if they gain access to the data. The encryption system selected should be difficult to decrypt. The organization can also conduct regular risk assessments to help identify weak points or vulnerabilities in the organizational information security systems. This will enable the organization to proactively identify and mitigate the potential risk.
The organization can ensure that the administrative and personnel issues in the organization are dealt with to ensure every employee remains compliant with the HIPAA guidelines. The clients can be informed of their rights and their role in ensuring that their information is safeguarded (Edwards & Saltman, 2017). The organization can develop a comprehensive security plan using input from the inter and intraprofessional team members. The involvement of all stakeholders in the security plan will increase compliance with the guidelines set by the organization. The plan should contain the role and the responsibility of every team member in safeguarding protected health information. Additionally, the administration can introduce information security awareness training to maintain security and eliminate other vices that may lead to non-compliance to the HIPAA guidelines.
Monitoring the level of access to protected health information is one of the measures that promotes confidentiality, security, and confidentiality of health information. Implementing access control improves patient data protection by enabling access to only those users who require the information to provide healthcare services to the patient (Park et al., 2017). Numerous approaches can be used in restricting the level of access to protected health information. User authentication is one of the approaches used in restricting access by ensuring authorized healthcare practitioners have access to patient information. The authentication will require the healthcare practitioners to validate that they are authorized to access specific data.
Education to Staff on Spam Emails and Phishing
Healthcare staff needs to be educated on phishing and spam emails using an appropriate teaching strategy. Spam emails refer to unsolicited information sent in bulk using an email address. They are normally sent for commercial purposes (Gupta et al., 2018). On the other hand, phishing is a social engineering attack often used by cyber attackers to steal patient information for their benefit.
The eLearning method can be used to educate the staff on spam emails and phishing. The instructor can use the organizational website to post a presentation about phishing and spam emails. The staff members will later be required to visit the website to watch the presentation. The instructor can also make a live presentation using a zoom meeting to present the information on spamming and phishing. To evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategy after the presentation, the instructor can post questions or a quiz to assess if the staff has understood the concept.
In instructor-led learning, the instructor can use the organizational hall or room to present information on phishing and spamming to the staff. The learners will be required to physically attend the class and take notes on the important concepts learned. The teacher in this technique can show the students examples of spam emails. The instructor can utilize formative or summative assessment techniques. Informative assessment, the instructor can ask the staff member questions regarding the topic being discussed. In summative assessment, the instructor can administer a quiz to the staff members to assess their level of understanding.
In self-guided learning, the instructor provides text-based learning resources that learners can follow and use to learn. The test material can be a PowerPoint presentation on phishing and spamming. I would ask the staff for feedbacks in evaluating the effectiveness of the strategy. For example, a staff member can be asked to make a short presentation to others. The instructor can use the presentation to check for any gray areas or areas the learner found difficult to understand.
Conclusion
The organization can utilize various teaching methods when incorporating a new concept or information to its staff members. The learning methods that can be used include blended learning, self-guided teaching, e-learning, and instructor-led learning. The organization needs to implement various strategies to ensure protected health information is safeguarded. This ensures that there are no breaches to the organizational information security system. Finally, it is important to educate the staff on spamming and phishing in healthcare settings. These will help them in preventing cyber-attacks and unauthorized access to patient information.
References
Samadbeik, M., Gorzin, Z., Khoshkam, M., & Roudbari, M. (2015, February). Managing the security of nursing data in the electronic health record. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4384867/
Edwards, N., & Saltman, R. (2017, March 20). Re-thinking barriers to organizational change in public hospitals. Isreal Journal of Health research Policy Research, 6(8). http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1186/s13584-0170133-8
Gupta, B. B., Arachchilage, N. A., & Psannis, K. E. (2018). Defending against phishing attacks: taxonomy of methods, current issues and future directions. Telecommunication Systems, 67(2), 247-267
Jain, P., Gyanchandani, M., & Khare, N. (2017). Privacy and Security Concerns in Healthcare Big Data: An Innovative Prescriptive. Journal of Information Assurance & Security, 12(1).
Park, E. H., Kim, J., & Park, Y. S. (2017). The role of information security learning and individual factors in disclosing patients’ health information. Computers & Security, 65, 64-76.
Hebda, T., Hunter, K., & Czar, P. (2019). Handbook of informatics for nurses and healthcare professionals (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
