Today I experienced some complicated confidentuality issues. There were two cases where I saw/was told something by residents and then further told to "not tell anyone" where I thought attention was required. This put me in an akward situation which I discussed what to do with one of the PTA's who told me to talk to my supervisor. In the first case the issue was resolved when another PTA saw the same injury (one resident hurt herself and was unwilling to get medical attention or notify anyone) and went to find the hostel nurse but by the time they both got back another staff member was treating the injury. The second case was more complicated as I recieved some information from a resident after I walked her. This information made me feel uncomfortable as the resident specifically told me to not tell the head nurse or anyone else. I felt very uneasy but thought it was best to discuss it with my supervisor incase anything further was to happen. I couldn't locate my supervisor so after I explained my uneasyness to the PTA she advised that if I felt really uneasy about this predicament I was best to speak to the head nurse and break the confidentuality of the resident. I did do this and was told by the nurse that I did the right thing and that this resident quite commonly became depressed but she'll keep a closer eye on her.
So this was not a situation I really thought I'd come across in this placement and I still don't like the feeling of breaking the confidentuality pact between professional and patient but I still feel I acted in the best way possible.
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