Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing Diane Eckert, Christen Rosa, Gary Pagdilao, Melissa Mendoza Nurs 391 April 20, 2015 Willie Goodwin Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing The nurse plays an important role in the safety and well-being of the sick and vulnerable. In two different cases, one involving the care of the unresponsive patient without advanced directives and the second involves the nurse observing negligent behavior by another nurse. The nurse is responsible not only ethically but legally for the care of the patient. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics serves to protect the welfare of the sick, injured and helpless. Nurses are relied upon to advocate for our patients dignity, privacy, confidentiality, improper and incompetent care.
According to Garity (2005), “The nurse’s ability to collaborate with patients, families, and multi/ intra-disciplinary health care professionals in the successful resolution of such dilemmas can affect the quality of health care” (p. 11). The nurse has an ethical obligation to give every patient the same level of compassion, care, and respect regardless of the nature of the illness (Chitty & Black, 2010). Whether or not the nurse agrees or disagrees with the decision that Marianne’s family has decided on, the nurse must ethically abide by the family’s wishes and provide the highest quality of care for her. The nurse’s highest level of commitments is for Marianne at that point. Although competing demands of patient, family, and physician have risen, the nurse’s first priority is always providing care that ensures patient safety and protects the best welfare of the patient.
NMC – Confidentiality The essay will define confidentiality its importance to nurses as a profession and the Nursing and Midwifery Code of Professional Conduct. It will further look at possible dilemmas that could arise in course of practice between the nurse colleagues and the clients. Examples will be based on my clinical placement 1 at Blackfriars Work Centre. Confidentiality is keeping secret, the shared information depending on the situation arising. Dimond (2002) define confidentiality as one of the values of good practise that is concerned with protecting the private information obtained about the patient and client during the period of professional practice.
An equal nurse-patient relationship is important in order to ensure that safe, effective and personal health care is delivered and that the patients’ needs are appropriately met (The Health Foundation, 2012). Briant and Freshwater (1998) discuss how the development of the nurse-patient relationship may be effected; they further this, stating that everyone differs in regards to their personal boundaries and how they perceive interpersonal interactions from others. In consideration of this, in order for a nurse to develop the required skills in order to form an effective nurse patient relationship, they must recognise the individual boundaries of their patients. The professional expectation of nurses is very high and this is something which is greatly acknowledged within society. The media is very influential in regards to how society perceives nurses; this is something which has altered the image of nursing within the past, (Benison and Voogd, 2008) Appropriate examples of cases which have been focused upon within media will be underlined and discussed throughout this essay.
“Knowledge of legal issues are essential because nurses are required to practice in accordance with legislation affecting nursing practice and health care failure to respect the legal rights of clients may result in legal or disciplinary actions.” (Makely, Austin, & Kester, 2013, p.64). Failure to respect the legal rights of clients may result in legal or disciplinary actions. According to the Department of Consumer & Industry services, regulation R338.10104 Delegation; Rule 104. (1) Only a registered nurse may delegate nursing acts, functions, or tasks. A registered nurse who delegates nursing acts, functions, or tasks shall do all of the following: (a) Determine whether the act, function, or task delegated is within the registered nurses scope of practice.
Ethics committees can be useful in this situation, because they can help explain the patient’s situation and provide possible answers to those hard questions. The nurse who neglected care towards the patients, in my opinion, should lose their job. Nurses who neglect care are putting their patients at danger. According to the Code of Nursing Ethics, “The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth” (ANA Code of Nursing Ethics). This nurse neglected the patient, therefore, neglected the responsibility in preserving the safety and integrity of the patient.
If the consent is not given by a patient the practice, physician, or the healthcare worker can be held liable in a lawsuit. It is also important to show empathy and compassion to a patient to make them feel that they are welcomed. A healthcare worker should also know when to draw the line with a patient to avoid any kind of harassment issues or to make the patient feel uncomfortable. In any healthcare facility a patient’s need for care should be the main priority, and the healthcare worker should make sure that the priority is met. It has also been shown in the Medical Law and Ethics course that it is a must that all healthcare workers know and understand the legal
They must not only be concerned with patient’s and family members but they too must look at their employees and make sure they have a focus and the tools they need to reach the goals and provide safe, efficient, quality healthcare. They must be able to handle any ethical issues. There must be a focus point so that employees have a goal in site to reach for. Leadership is the backbone for nursing and healthcare providers. References Aitamaa, E., Leino-Kilpi, H., Puukka, P., & Suhonen, R. (2010).
The duties of the nurse are first and foremost, to be a patient advocate and to ensure that the patient has the best possible quality of life, and maintains the most dignity and individuality possible. Often nurses face the dilemma of right and wrong during the decision making process, when a patients requests (or patient’s family requests) and cultural beliefs are in direct conflict with the nurses own ethics, beliefs, facility rules and the laws governing nurses. The nurse thus has to deal with the legal and ethical decision of what to do and is
The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses and the International Council of Nursing Code of ethics are important within the healthcare environment. Both sets of professional ethics allow nurses to develop a better understanding of the role ethics in the nursing field. Within the healthcare environment, both codes focus on nurses and their relationships with patients. The primary values include integrity, respectfulness, and supportiveness. These values should also be extended to not only patients, but families and co-workers.