Registered Nurse Essay

400 Words2 Pages
Case study for Six Caps The nurse has an important role as a patient advocate. The patient’s family needs to make a decision regarding the care of Marianne. The nurse’s role as being the patient advocate for Marianne is to assist the family with the ethical decision by either assembling the ethics committee or performing a role on the committee. The functions of the ethics committee includes: policy and procedure development; educate committee members about competencies regarding health care ethics; education of hospital staff regarding ethical policies and procedures; develop an ethics team to be consulted on cases within the hospital and monitor the outcome of the decisions made on each case. The ethics committee may use the following two ethical principles to make the decision regarding Marianne’s proposed surgery. The first is to use the principle of autonomy. This principle, “the substituted judgment test professes to make the same decision the patient would, if he were capable.” (Austin, Brooke, & Glenn, 2004, p. 317) The second is the principle of beneficence or the best interest standard. This principle is to make the decision on “what's best for the patient, given his current circumstances.” (Austin, Brooke, & Glenn, 2004, p. 317) Critical Thinking Exercise A nurse by her professional code of ethics and licence standards is required to act as the patient advocate. When a nurse witnesses another health care provider “acting in a way that could endanger the health or safety of a patiet, they should make a report of what they witnessed.” (Austin, Brooke, & Glenn, 2004, p. 363 ) The concept of moral agency should guide the nurse when reporting witnessed or suspected malpractice. The nurse has to determine if whistle-blowing is the appropriate decision at this time. The nurse needs to gather the facts, state the problem, determine the reason

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