But you aren’t able to; you have to do what is required of your job. Ethical decision making is a skill that can be learned, based on an understanding of underlying ethical principles, ethical theories or systems, a decision making model, and the Nursing Code of Ethics. The nurse is legally responsible for using their knowledge and skills to provide for the safety and comfort of their patients. The nurse is also ethically responsible for acting as a patient advocate to safeguard patients’ rights. Each situation has to be assessed; the nurse may use the Six-Step process in assessing their ethical dilemma.
Registered nurses are in a position to advocate for the rights of their patients and are often involved in ethical decision-making processes. Ethical decisions arise when the nurse is faced with a choice, in which he or she believes there is the potential for a bad or good outcome. In the case of Marianne the ethics committee will have to weigh the physician’s recommendation of surgery to remove the clot, her husband’s desire to “try everything” and her children’s belief that she would not want to have surgery only to live with a poor quality of life. In a malpractice case it is essential to remember the ANA Code of Ethics. According to “Code of Ethics” (2007), the second provision states, “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community” (ANA, 2001, p. 18).
In the second case study regarding the malpractice and negligence of a nurse, the primary obligation according to the ANA code of ethics is to the patient. Provisions II and IV of the ANA code of ethics states that the nurse is responsible to provide optimum patient care and the primary commitments are to the patient. “Business priorities may be pressing in the organization, and powerful enough to cause conflict of interests.” (Lachman, 2009). Therefore, it is important for the RN to maintain integrity as a professional and act in
For example, provision 1 declares: “the nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual…” (ANA, 2013). When a nurse does not act in accordance with the code of ethics, nursing leaders are obligated to step in for the sake of the nurse and for the sake of the patients that are in his/her hands. Ethical leadership is the key to ending nurse-nurse violence. Strategies Leaders Can Use to Defeat Nurse-Nurse Violence Nurse leaders need to focus on three
http://www.enotes.com/code-ethics-nurses-reference/code-ethics-nurses Definition A code of ethics is a guide for an individual or group to follow in making decisions regarding ethical issues. Description In the broadest sense, ethics are the principles that guide an individual, group, or profession in conduct. Although nurses do make independent decisions regarding patient care, they are still responsible to the profession as a whole in how those decisions are made. From the earliest concept of nursing, the proper behavior and conduct of a nurse was closely scrutinized. Florence Nightingale wrote of specific issues of conduct and moral behavior.
ETHICAL AND LEGAL BASIS OF PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSING (Jan. 2, 2012) ETHICAL AND LEGAL BASIS OF PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSING I. Introduction Nurses are constantly faced with the challenge of making difficult decisions regarding good and evil or life and death. Nursing competency and client care accountability are compromised when the nurse has inadequate knowledge about the laws and regulate the practice of nursing. Knowledge of the legal and ethical concepts presented will enhance the quality of care the nurse provides in his/her legal psychiatric-mental health nursing practice and also protect the nurse within the parameters of legal accountability. The relationship between psychiatry and the law reflects the tension between individual rights and social needs.
Elements of Caring According to Watson’s theory of caring there are three different elements that a nurse must recognize to provide such care. The first is carative factors; this takes into account that the nurse must be self-aware of her own judgment and emotional barriers to connect intimately, and at the same time preserving the patient’s dignity in a professional manner. The second element is the transpersonal caring relationship (Lachman 2012); it reviews the conscious and moral commitment to make a longstanding connection with the patient. The final element is the caring occasion or moment, this involves knowing and being able to recognize the right time, right place and the right situation in which caring can take place. Case of Caring Lachman (2012) describes a scenario in which a nurse proves competent in being a patient advocate and providing a level of care exclusively for this individual.
Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing The nurse has a unique ability to follow a specific and a general code of ethical decision-making while caring for the most vulnerable of patients. The nurse must navigate public health law, educational law, and his or her institutional policies while keeping his or her own personal beliefs from controlling what is best for the patient. Ethics are “the principles of conduct governing one’s relationships with others-basic beliefs of right and wrong…. Law is the minimum ethic, written down and enforced.” (Ellis& Hartley, 2008, p. 288) The registered professional nurse must use resources to assist her, including the ANA Code of Ethics and the state’s nurse practice act. A final influence in the case of both of these cases, as with case one, Marianne could not make her decisions, as a patient advocate, the code ethics states in provision 1.3, “The nurse respects the dignity and rights of all human beings irrespective of the nature of the health problem.
This may leads to offensive quality of care and unprofessional code of conduct. By violating the expected behaviour, she had put the safety of the patient at risk. Apart from that, false documentation was also being made which clearly proves that she is competent and untruthful in profession. Traditional process used for apprising and displaying nurses who have made honest mistake in the course of the work need to be substantially modified as they are odds with the modes of human error management that are currently being advocated and adopted globally to improve patient safety and quality of care in health care domains. The nursing profession expect that nurses will conduct themselves personally and professionally in a way that will maintain public trust and confidence in the profession.
Some medications must be given at specific time, so it imperative to provide the medication to the patient at the correct time. In conclusion, nurses are the first and last line of defense in reducing medication errors. When administering medication nurses should practice the five rights of medication which are the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route, and the right time. (Choo et al., 2010) No matter how much experience a nurse has, they are still humans and may make mistakes, but medication errors are preventable. Taking simple steps such as following the “five