Ethics lies in the very heart of nursing profession as it is one that requires highest standard of honesty and integrity. Therefore ethical principal is of great importance drawing out specific ethical responsibility that nurses are supposed to uphold thus making them accountable when such principle is breeched. “Ethical principles” very much coincides with the nature of nursing that is to provide care and nurture the sick. For example, “Beneficence”, that is to promote well-being of people and “Paternalism” which guides to act in best interest of client when they are incapable to make judgment. A simple illustration of beneficence would be, the act of adherence to aseptic technique when assisting in surgical procedure which helps minimise client’s risk of infections. However with the longer life span and increase dependency towards technology, nurses are exposed to ethical dilemma of increase complexity. Hence, “Code of conduct” and “Standard of care” plays a significant role for guide nurses in self – reflection and decision making.
151
As mentioned in the case scenario, the five nurses that were apprehended for causing the death of 10 elderly resident had clearly failed in their ethical practice with their act of negligence. The intentional deprivation of nutritional supplies and
Bridgett Beuckens How sad it is that nursing leaders allow, much less participate in such acts. The stress and responsibilities this author was subjected to are not fair nor safe. The ANA Code of Ethics addresses occurrences as in this scenario. Provision 4.1 states nurses are responsible and accountable for the nursing care
It examines and evaluates the decision making process integrating ethical principals. Advance practice nurses must be aware there are ethical consequences for decisions that are made. This core competency addresses the need for ethically sound solutions to be applied to complex issues. During this course ethical principles of decision making was addressed in the case studies. For example, a patient became pregnant and contracted a sexually transmitted infection from her estranged spouse.
Amidst a whirlwind of change, nurses continue their roles as competent, honorable professionals. A relatively new issue, cultural integrity, correlates with the Code regarding “treatment of the human response.” The American Nurses Association’s “Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements”, also called the Code, highlights nurses’ consensus on professional principles. Nursing ethics guide how practitioners treat their patients and peers. Sensitivity to individual societal, familial and cultural background plays an important role in organizational integrity.
What is the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses? Nurses play an essential role in providing empathetic care for patients and supporting them in what may be some of the most challenging moments of their lives. With this role comes the complexities of working with patients at critical moments when they are vulnerable and dealing with numerous privacy and other sensitive issues. To ensure that nurses operate with integrity in their work, the ANA code of ethics guides nurses in carrying out their roles with the highest standard of ethical care.
D-The patient arrived on time for her session and informed this writer that she has decided to remain with the clinic as she learned on her own that no detox facility will accept her because she is testing negative and currently on methadone. The patient further mentioned that she is questioning as to whether or not her sister and her mother would help her as they said they would; however, the patient had a moment and looked back when her family did not help her as she struggled with her children. Furthermore, the patient reports, her sister did not give her the $80.00 for her rent. The patient reports that she had asked some guy for assistance. This writer addressed with the patient about her employment status and money management.
All professions follow a code of ethics. A code of ethics provides legal and ethical guidance to members of a profession. The field of ethics describes how we must treat each other, how we must act, what we must do and why. As professionals, we identify ethical issues that tend to arise within our chosen profession. To consider ethical issues, we need some level of guidance, which is the code of ethics.
Duty of care plays a major role for health professionals, Duty of care follows codes and principles put into action for facilities such as hospitals via external sources such as the Government, in order achieve one core goal which is to ensure that the patient is subject to the best possible care that can be given by the facility and the Health Professionals working at the health facility. Duty of care is defined as “the obligations placed on people in a certain way, in accordance with certain standards” Royal College of Nursing (2018), making it the obligation of the health professionals to not breach their Duty of Care. If the Duty of Care is breached or Health Professionals work outside of their scope of practice, the health and wellbeing
Nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas related to clinical issues, and disease and treatment decisions daily (Kangasniemi,
As a registered nurse, we face ethical issues every day. Some days we understand the clear cut ethical issue at hand; however, other ethical issues can be disguised. In my year and half of being an RN I have come across many ethical issues. As mentioned before, some are clear cut and others are hard to tread through. Initially, these ethical issues can make you question your job; however, after some reflection I believe these issues make us stronger nurses.
All nurses should take positive actions to help their patients and to have the desire to do good. On the other hand, nonmaleficence is the core of the nursing ethics and it revolves around the idea that nurses have to remain competent in their field as to avoid causing injury or harm to patients. Nonmaleficence also requires all health care professionals to report any suspected abuse. The last ethical principle is justice. This ethical principle revolves around the idea that all patients must be treated equally and fairly.
Utilitarianism and Deontology are two major ethical theories that influence nursing practice. Utilitarian principles of promoting the greatest good for the greatest amount of people parallels the nursing tenet of beneficence. Deontological principles of treating individuals with dignity, and promoting the well-being of the individual parallels the nursing tenet of non-maleficence. Utilitarian and Deontological principles can be utilized to resolve ethical dilemmas that arise in the nursing profession. The purpose of this paper is to define utilitarianism and deontology, discuss the similarities and differences between the two, and to address an ethical dilemma utilizing utilitarian and deontological principles.
Background and Significance of the Study Moral integrity is the key ingredients and navigator in professional nurses that lead to ultimate goal of nursing care. It has been recognized as a fundamental part of professional nurses’ practice (Ulrich et al, 2010; Pavlish et al, 2012). Professional nurses play the largest role to support the need for individualized treatment of the patient. The goals of the profession of nursing are related to ethical and involve protecting patients from harm while providing care that is the most benefit for the patient (Bosek, 2009; Kopala&Burkhart, 2005; Helft, 2011; Susan, 2013,). Nowadays, professional nurses have encountered to face and manage with moral problem that occur from complexity of patient health problems, advances in technology, inappropriate of health care system, policies and priorities that conflict with care needs, inadequate staffing and increased turnover, or lack of administrative support (Brazil et al. 2010; Eizenberg et al. 2009; Elpern et al. 2005;
The practice of health care includes many scenarios that have to do with making adequate decisions when it comes to a patient’s life, and the way they are treated. Having an ethical code in all health care organizations is very important, because it helps health care workers with reaching a suited and ethical decision when it comes to the patient. In health care, patient will always be put first, and their autonomy will always be respected. Nevertheless, when there is a situation where a patient might be in harm, or might be making their condition worse because of the decisions they made. Health care workers will always be there to
Describe the duties of the professional nurse in this case with Mr. Cole As a nurse we are supposed to have compassion and build a rapport with our patients but we must uphold our ethical principles when it comes to this dilemma. As for analyzing this situation and coming to a decision I would use the nursing process since it provides a helpful mechanism for finding solutions to ethical dilemmas. (Whitehead 2007). I would assess the situation and ask myself about the medical facts, psychosocial facts as well as cultural beliefs, patients’ wishes and what values are in conflict. I would then move on to planning and make sure that everyone is involved during this stage and continue on down the line with the nursing process.
This assignment is a reflection of ethical dilemmas in nursing practice as a registered nurse; this paper is based on the group assignment which was completed for NURS3004. This reflection will include an explanation of the role that I portrayed in the group, the preparation that I did for the role, what could have been done differently, how this group assignment has impacted me in terms of working in a team and finally explain how this assignment will assist me in my future clinical practice as a newly registered nurse. The role that I played in the group was a patient who has a mental health disorder and I didn’t want his mother to know about the illness, as a front it seemed as though we had a close relationship. When my mother leaves the room I asked the nurse to keep my illness confidential as she does not really understand it.