ANA Code Of Ethics Case Study

1.
Savannah violated one of the types of occupational fraud and abuse known as Conflicts of Interest or conflicts of commitment from the standpoint of ethics. The main ethical issue involved in conflicts of interest is breach of trust to the public. Savannah violated her ethical competence as a nurse, State Board of nursing, and ANA code of Ethics. In addition, nurses are supposed to be patients’ advocate since they are entrusted to RN’s care. Furthermore, Savannah’s condition at work possess a big safety issue due to the alcoholic level in her bloodstream which will render her unproductive to provide care for her patients. According to ANA Code of Ethics, provision 5 states, “the nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to promote health and safety, preserve wholeness of character and integrity, maintain competence, and continue personal and professional growth” (Butts & Rich, 2016, p 475). Board of nursing mission is achieved by “outlining the standards for safe nursing care and issuing licenses to practice nursing. Once a license is issued, the board's job continues by monitoring licensees' compliance to state laws and taking action against the licenses of those nurses who have exhibited unsafe nursing

Savannah has an option of not taking alcohol to enable her function effectively at the hospital. She is supposed to consider her moral integrity and commitment to duty ( Butt & Rich, 2016, p. 101).
The second option is to call off duty because patient’s safety is key. The primary role of nurses is to provide patient-centered care. The disadvantage of calling off is that it might impact in her record as an occurrence and it might affect her appraisal.
Another option is to report her challenge to state board of nursing to help treat and manage substance use disorder. The disadvantage is that she will have to be off duty until she is certified okay to resume work. This will affect her financial status (NCSBN