However, when speaking to a client, using jargon and medical terms can be considered as inappropriate and confusing for the people involved. When Patients come into a hospital, they are concerned with their health and they would want to know as much information as a nurse can give them. By using the correct language, and knowing how much information to divulge, a nurse can positively contribute to the care of their client. (Wright, Lorraine M.; Leahey, Maureen. 2009).
The nurse has a responsibility to find out if Henry is a vulnerable adult and if so what makes him vulnerable and what makes people in general vulnerable, including concerns that could arise from being vulnerable for example abuse. Patients have rights, so the role of the nurse will be looked at in great depth which will include clinical skills, communication, decision making, teaching, caring and knowledge, and how to address the patients’ rights using some of these skills. Henrys autonomy will need to be promoted by the nurse along with confidentiality, the nurse will have to justify professional conduct and any interventions needed to support Henry and his daughter, this will include autonomy and advocacy. Henrys daughter is very keen to see her father have the operation even though there are major risks involved. Henry is not so convinced and as the procedure looms closer he asks his nurse to help him make a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the procedure.
Sometimes these feelings are unreasonable but they can be justifiable. If this is the case, we must take a look at the communication process and take corrective action. The last step is responsiveness. This goes hand in hand with availability. From a patient and their family’s perspective, nurses do not have good responsive skills.
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
When providing patient care in the healthcare field, as professionals, nurses need to be prepared for the challenges that might arise on the hospital setting. Being prepared can make challenges or situations in the nursing field less difficult or provide less resistance for decisions to make in delivering the best quality of care. Whether it is caring for a minor in labor or a same sex couple in the hospital being evaluated, special protocols must be implemented to provide the highest quality of care. As in the case of Rachel who is a minor unwed and in the early stages of labor admitted to the hospital, accompanied by her parents who has not been given meds or been seeing by the physician on duty who happens to be attending another emergency. 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.
Substance abuse among nurses is astonishing when considering that a nurse who is caring for a loved one may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A nurse is trusted with the life of the patient and to be intoxicated while working to care for that loved one in their time of need is very frightening. The differences among specialties of nursing are extraordinary from the perspective of a person who is inexperienced in the world of medicine. In certain specialties, a nurse is more prone to having a substance abuse problem due to their personality traits. In other specialties, the nurse might be taking a substance to escape the depression that accompanies their field of work.
Nursing students increasingly encounter ethical problems during their clinical practice which sometimes infringe the rights of patients. Simply put, ethical issues are a major concern in the healthcare field because healthcare providers have to make ethical decisions on a daily basis. Working in the modern world as a newly developed registered nurse, one can face many hurdles as they come upon their new work environment. While trying to grasp this major transition, nurses can often find themselves in the mist of ethical dilemmas. There are, in some cases, policies of the healthcare institutions and the nurse’s personal professional ethics that can conflict with the clinical settings’ decision making.
Due to the prevalent nursing shortage, nurses take on more responsibilities, caring for more patients at a time, causing the nurse to feel tired and overwhelmed. As a result, the nurse feels less able to assist colleagues and effectively cooperate in this stressful environment (Kalisch & Lee, 2011). Through studies, it has been shown that large, complex hospitals tend to suffer from this problem the most. One possible solution offered is to create “smaller working units within the larger hospitals (hospitals within hospitals)” (Kalisch & Lee, 2011, p. 87). Another problem blocking effective teamwork is lateral and vertical violence among nurses.
Similarly, if the HCPs do not communicate clearly with the client, the client may become confused, uncertain or unhappy with the quality of care she is receiving, resulting in unwillingness to continue communicating. The extreme consequence could be a client refusing to seek medical attention. For example, if a nurse explains to a client when and how to take his medication following discharge, but neglects to verify the client understands, the client might not take the medication correctly, and may end up back in the hospital. Also, a client who does not understand why certain tests are being performed, or seeks explanations for the reasoning behind her care without success, may feel neglected or marginalized. If the client does not feel valued by the HCPs, she may delay seeking medical attention for a
An article by Nathanson (2000) described the condition of the ethical problem when a nurse had to disrupt the confidentiality of patient information to a suitable person. In this situation, nurse faced an ethical dilemma. Take the decision for patient safety or keep patient's confidentiality is the choices in this situation. The purpose of this article is to explain the possible decisions taken by this author in the situation mentioned in the above article. Ethical Implications of a Breach of Confidentiality Confidentiality is the right of every patient.