Running head: MOBILE DEVICES 1

Article Review #1 Mobile Devices

Jennifer Smith

Jacksonville University

February 23, 2014

Article Review #1 Mobile Devices

Cavoukian, A. (2013, November). Encrypt Your Mobile Devices: Do It Now. Canadian

Nurses Protective Society, 21(1).

Technology is an ever evolving phenomena. The introduction of technology into

the healthcare setting has increased overall patient outcomes and unfortunately has

become avenues for failures. Mobile devices have the capacity to provide immediate

diagnostic assessments and results, patient as well as practitioner education, and a direct

line of communication between the medical staff. It is vital that patients’ personal health

information (PHI) is protected from any type of invasion possible.

According to the article Encrypt Your Mobile Devices: Do It Now (2013), Ann

Cavoukian notes that nurses have a professional and legal obligation to protect the

privacy of patients’ PHI. She also identifies several barriers that may present in terms of

hospital and personal liability when utilizing mobile devices. I found the article

extremely realistic for practice utilization. The article also incorporates examples of

privacy breaches of PHI. The examples presented were “down to earth” and I could

easily identify with them. PHI was compromised, but was of no purposeful fault of the

practitioner involved. Henceforth, the importance of encrypting devices when using them

for patient care.

The issues of Infection Control was discussed briefly, she stated that studies have

found high bacterial contamination including MRSA on mobile devices (Cavoukian,

2013). I can definitely appreciated this information, but I feel including some reference

points as to which study would have been beneficial for practicing nurses for further

research follow-up.

Overall, I found the article extremely valuable. Cavoukian listed several

precautions to implement for the security of the mobile devices. All of the precautions

were useful and appear to be easy to implement. The article was easy to read and

comprehend. The information was thorough and straight to the point. I would absolutely

recommend this article to any healthcare provider looking to increase the security and

integrity of their organization.