Nurses are relied upon to advocate for our patients dignity, privacy, confidentiality, improper and incompetent care. The case of Marianne is a good example of how the ANA code of nursing ethics could help a patient that can't make convey their needs the healthcare team. The stroke has left Marianne unresponsive and without an advanced directive the healthcare team has no way of knowing what her desires would be for the plan of care. Her husband and children are in disagreement with which direction to go in regards to her care. The ANA code of ethics has provisions in place to assist in a decision for this case.
How the ANA Code of Nursing Ethics would influence a final decision in each case study. With the patient with the hemorrhagic stroke, it is our responsibility to discuss with the patient’s family possible options in which they would feel comfortable taking. According to the Code of Nursing Ethics, “the nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community” (ANA Code of Nursing Ethics). With the patient having no advanced directives, the decision is much harder to take. 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.
Some of these principles used to support my position include: Beneficence which is a form of action intended to benefit or promote the good of another person or the duty to do good (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010). Nurse Hathaway had the obligation to tell the patients parents about her diagnosis or she would not have been doing the best thing for the patient. The principle of nonmaleficence which is derived from that Latin language and means do no harm is another principle that supports the decision to inform that patients parents (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010). By not informing the parents the nurse would be doing harm to the patient. The patient is a minor and may not comprehend the severity of her diagnosis.
Family Duty All mothers wish their children to have the best and they would do anything to support. Generally, it is mostly right try to save their children whatever it takes. However, is still justified even if mothers break the human rights of others to support their children? A novel, My Sister’s Keeper written by Jodi Picoult tackles controversial of the significance of lives. The mother of the Fitzgerald family, Sara, she and her husband Brian decided to create Anna, as a savior sibling for her older sister Kate who is suffering from leukemia.
Speaking to a loved one about end of life decisions is never easy, and in most cases is not discussed until someone has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. When a loved one is faced with a poor prognosis, the family is confronted with important decisions on how to provide end of life care for them. The nurse can be instrumental in helping the patient and family decide whether they want to stay in the hospital, or go home for their final days. Helping the family set up an advanced directives is important so the family is aware of the patient’s wishes in the event that they can no longer make their own decisions. It also reduces any anxiety that the family members may be feeling if the patient has their wishes laid out for them to follow.
Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics Ethics, as it relates to the nursing profession, deals with high standards of behavior, values, and moral beliefs. On a regular basis nurses have to address some very complex ethical and patient rights issues so therefore, the American Nurses Association established the Nurses Code of Ethics in 1985. This code summarizes the responsibilities and expectations of nurses in their practice. It is a solid structure for evaluating nurses own mutual skills and offers ethical standards of practice that encourages nurses to act morally, which includes acts of alliance (Garity, 2005). 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 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 code of ethics says that a nurse should be professional in all relationships, should practice as a nurse using compassion and respect for each and every individual, regardless of social or economic status, personal attributes or the nature of health problems. A nurse’s commitment is to the patient, whether it be an individual, family, group or community. A nurse should promote and protect the health, safety and the rights of their patients. A nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, such as: safety, maintain competence, and personal and professional growth. Nurses participate in establishing, maintaining, and improving healthcare environments.
Correct * Remind the client that her mother is no longer living. * Explain the seriousness of her injury and need for hospitalization. Those with dementia often refer to home or parents when seeking security and comfort. The nurse should use the techniques of "offering self" and "talking to the feelings" to provide reassurance (B). Clients with advanced dementia have permanent physiological changes in the brain (plaques and tangles) that prevent them from comprehending and retaining new information, so (A, C, and D) are likely to be of little use to this client and do not help the client's emotional needs.
In this way the nurse meets the ethical requirement of honoring a client’s right to self-determination (Funnel, Koutoukidis, & Lawrence, 2009). The American Nurses Association (ANA) includes advocacy in its definition of nursing as "the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations" (Nursing's Social Policy Statement, 2003, p. 6) Historically, patient advocacy has been considered a moral obligation for nurses, which is embodied in terms of specific nursing actions such as helping the patient to obtain needed healthcare, assuring quality of care, defending the patient’s rights Advocacy in nursing finds its theoretical basis in nursing ethics. Nurses work in recognized ethical and legal frameworks. For instance, the ANA's Code of Ethics for Nurses includes language relating to patient advocacy: the nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. (Code of Ethics for Nurses - Provisions, 2001).