Abstract: In this article the author discusses the New Zealand legislation aimed at protecting the individual's right to privacy and concludes that practice may place healthcare consumers' rights at risk. While patient privacy should be of concern to all health professionals, the focus here is on the nurse's role in relation to recently formulated competencies published by the Nursing Council of New Zealand, which includes the recommendation that care be seen to exhibit an awareness of healthcare consumers' rights to privacy alongside the expectation that nurses question practices that compromise patient privacy.
