Chochinov, 2007 (cited in Cornwell & Goodrich, 2009), states simply that compassion is ‘a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.’ Pediatric patients and their families are highly sensitive to the compassionate nature of health care professionals and a successful therapeutic relationship with them depends on the sensitive, compassionate care offered by the nurse. This paper will discuss why communication, family centred care and compassion are necessary and important qualities for a nurse to possess when working with pediatric patients and specify some of the challenges a nurse may meet in providing these. Communicating with Babies and Children Nursing children and babies requires a highly skilled and sensitive approach to communication. The developmental age of the pediatric patient needs to be considered when determining the best ways to
Compassion Fatigue Michelle Phoebe Baltazar Grand Canyon University: HLT-310V April 18, 2013 Compassion Fatigue in Nursing Compassion is defined as “a complex emotion that allows caregivers to hold and sustain themselves in emotional balance while holding patient’s despair in one hand and their hopefulness in the other” (Gilmore, 2012, pg.32). Compassion is the core of nursing and why most nurses chose the profession. The essence of compassion is what gives nursing the power to heal holistically. Caring about what patients’ care about is what great nursing is all about, without it, all it is, is a job. Nurses are at risk of not caring due to compassion fatigue.
Where clearly has brought a difficult situation to the healthcare team of the hospital raising ethical and legal issues in all aspects due to the fact that the parents of the pregnant teen have refused any assistance and the nurse assigned has complied silently. This scenario compromises patient safety and puts the minor and child in medical danger. Not only are the lives of the minor and the teen in danger but also it raises an ethical issue of the hospital and patients’ rights. It would make sense to attempt to provide all medical attention necessary to promote patient safety for the sake of the minor and unborn child but also it is important to evaluate the legal liability of the hospital to determine if the parents have all the rights and responsibility in decision making for their daughter. Therefore, treating all patients fairly is an ethical duty of the hospital and staff with respect to values and beliefs.
Patient care is the number one priority for all nurses, regardless of position or leadership status. Nurses struggle to optimize the quality and consistency of care provided. However, often breakdowns in care occur and it the responsibility of the care team to make things right. Sometimes in the rush of caring for a patient load, care can be compromised. The goal of continuously educating staff in the importance of nursing-sensitive indicators hopefully leads to improved care and a reduction in negative outcomes.
Post-operatively, whether post-operative day 1 or day 10, orthopedic patients are very dependent on nurses and other healthcare professionals to meet and provide their daily needs. This patient population has many self-care deficits of varying degrees. To meet the demands of the orthopedic patients, Dorothea E. Orem’s theory is a good guide for my and other nurses’ professional practice. Self-care competence has an impact in the quality and quantity of life. Nurses educate and assist patients to achieve their competency in caring for themselves.
Nurses have a great opportunity to shape the future of the nursing practice through therapeutic communication Armold&Boggs, (2011). While nursing is fundamentally about communicating care and care is at the heart of the nurse client relationship, many problems still remain in the clinical area due to a lack of effective communication. This is supported by Crawford,( 1998).Communication is a key skill of modern nursing practice. Therapeutic Communication is one of the most valuable tools that nurses have to build good interpersonal relationship or trust. I felt the need to develop therapeutic relationship with the patients so that they could feel they could put their trust in me ,also that I was there to listen and talk to them not just care for them.Cutcliff and Mckenna (2005) states that you can gain comfort from drawing on your interpersonal skills, having strength and endurance, feeling self confident , having sufficient competence,beingpeace and ease with oneself and also having a sense of being valued and useful.
Negligence NUR/478 December 1, 2011 Barb Gilbert Introduction Nurses are required to provide adequate care according to nursing Standards of Care and hospital policies. Each nurse should know his allowable scope of practice and provide the best care possible to each patient. Difference between Negligence, Gross Negligence, and Malpractice Negligence “When an individual is negligent and as a result injures someone else, we tend to hold her responsible for those injuries (King, 2009, p. 577). Negligence occurs when someone provides absence of care. When a person is negligent, it is not on purpose or knowingly but when a person fails to pay attention.
The critical care nurse plays a vital role in the withdrawal of life support because they are present at the bedside more than any other team member of the health care team and are responsible for carrying out physician’s orders to withdraw artificial support (Kirchhoff & Kowalkowski, 2010). However, ethical and legal conflicts may occur, when there is not a mutual agreement between the physician and patient or (and) family members regarding withdrawal of life support. It is the nurse’s role and obligation to facilitate discussion among the patient and family members when conflicts evolve. Therefore, it is imperative that the nurses have moral courage and have ethical humility to resolve conflicts, to assist the patient or family members, to make informed end of life decisions when death appears evitable. Hypothetical patient scenario Mr. Brown is an 89 year old male patient who has been recently diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer with metastasis to the
The consequences to the patient if nurses do not clearly communicate all important patient information may be greater pain, a worsening of the patient condition, permanent injury or even death. Another important role of the professional nurse is to give comfort
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