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Ethical and legal responsibilities of nurses
Ethical and legal responsibilities of nurses
Essays on responsibility of nurses involving ethical norms in healthcare
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The ANA position statement, The Nurse’s Role in Ethics and Human Rights: Protecting and Promoting Individual Worth, Dignity, and Human Rights in Practice Settings pertains to the nurse’s role of standard care of patients in a practical setting. The statement describes the purpose on how human rights and values should be upheld. The values that are outlined in this statement are individual worth, dignity and human rights. This is important because it provides a framework of how to provide the best care to the patient. The nurse’s role is to promote and protect human rights in a practical setting, by being a patient advocate that acts on the behalf of the patient in meeting their needs. The advocacy that the nurse offers comes from a trusting …show more content…
The provision is divided into several themes that demonstrates the nurse’s role in the practical setting as it relates to human rights. Provision 1 states, “The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person” (ANA American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 1). The first theme of provision 1 discusses the respect for human dignity of the patient. The ANA position statement: The Nurse’s Role in Ethics and Human Rights: Protecting and Promoting Individual Worth, Dignity, and Human Rights in Practice …show more content…
Provision 6 states that “The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and unique attributes of every person” (ANA American Nurses Association, 2015, p.18). This helps to further explain the concept of working relationships in provision 1 are not only between nurses and patient, but across the healthcare team. I agree that when providing the best care there needs to be promotion of respect and human rights throughout the healthcare team. A positive interpersonal collaboration within the healthcare team has a key impact on the outcomes and safety of the
Nurses everywhere face problems and challenges in practice. Most of the challenges occur due to a struggle with the use of ethical principles in patient care. Ethical principles are “basic and obvious moral truths that guide deliberation and action,” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, 2014). Ethical principles that are used in nursing practice include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. These challenges not only affect them, but the quality of care they provide as well. According to the article, some of the most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical issues were protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent to treatment, staffing problems, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making (Ulrich et. al, 2013). The ethical issue of inadequate staffing conflicts with the principle of non-maleficence.
Monaliza, K. R. (2014). Registered Nurses" Experiences of Ethical and Human Rights Issues in Nursing Practice: Frequency and Handling,. Baba Farid University Nursing Journal, 15-22.
In the code of ethics, the very first ethical principles that nurses are expected to uphold in order to exemplify that they are competent professionals are autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. That is, nurses as professionals are expected to advocate for their patients while preserving their respect and dignity and
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), (2010) “the nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the health, safety and rights of the patient” (p. 6). Nursing responsibilities should be acted upon at the highest standard and must be based on legal and ethical obligations. Healthcare provider’s perception and judgment of the patient’s well being, as well as taking into account the rights of the patient in every action, is one of the key elements in nursing practice. International Council of Nurses (ICN) (2006) states “The nurse at all times maintains standards of personal conduct which reflect well on the profession and enhance public confidence” (p. 3).
Poor care does not only result in bad press and public perception but also break the trust between the patient and nurse. Utilising the theoretical framework developed by Todres et all (2009) which explores eight central aspects of what it is to be human. Todres et al (2009). This model can be used to improve nursing care. Referring to the term ‘being treated as human beings’ not being treated as a number or object.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) developed a foundation for which all nurses are expected to perform their basic duties in order to meet the needs of the society we serve. The ANA “has long been instrumental in the development of three foundational documents for professional nursing; its code of ethics, its scope and standards of practice, ands statement of social policy.” (ANA, 2010, p. 87) The ANA defined 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” and used to create the scope and standards of nursing practice. (ANA, 2010, p. 1) These “outline the steps that nurses must take to meet client healthcare needs.” () The nursing process, for example, is one of the things I use daily. Other examples include communicating and collaborating with my patient, their families, and my peers, and being a lifelong learner. I continually research new diagnoses, medications, and treatments for my patients. As a nurse of ...
1. Legal, ethical and professional principle frameworks underpin all fields of nursing, and it is a requirement for all Registered Nurses to be competent and knowledgeable, act with integrity and maintain professional standards set out by Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2015). Working with multidisciplinary teams within our profession, it is important to acknowledge and recognise the way in which all the professionals are guided by law and their independent regulatory bodies. The needs of the individual patient is to be considered by doctors and nurses alike, who share professional values and are set out in the respective codes of practice, The Code (NMC, 2015) and GMC (2013).
The main points of provision five of the ANA code of ethics are as follows: section 5.1, which is moral self-respect, suggests that nurses must care for themselves as much as they care for their patients. Nurses must do their best to maintain professional respect to themselves in regards of their competence and moral character. Section 5.2, which is professional growth and maintenance of competence, suggests that nurses must continue to self and peer evaluate themselves throughout their careers. Nurses must continue to learn current, up to date nursing practices through self, peer, and higher education. Section 5.3, which is wholeness of character, suggests that nurses must develop and take into consideration their own moral perspectives when practicing in their careers. Nurses are encouraged to express their moral viewpoint when it is helpful to the recovery of their patients, but must never express moral beliefs based on social stigmas that could negatively affect patient outcomes.
In the video shown, it highlighted different issues and themes that relates to the nursing care. One theme evident that I found interesting and very important was the respect and maintenance of dignity of patients. Recently, respect for and the dignity of patients are both now highly considered globally since it has been discovered that many nurses neglect both of these aspects in the administration of nursing care (Dennis & Allen, 2009). First of all, respect for patients refers to how nurses treat a person with value, and needs as a person and not as an object (Wida ̈ng, 2002). On the other hand, integrity stands for the self-respect and self-worth of a person based on how others act and feel toward them. It also includes the concept of a person’s wholeness, which includes one’s inclination and moral ethics (Meyer, 2009). Consequently, it is impossible to uphold one’s dignity when nurses do not respect them as both terms work hand in hand (Betchel, 2011). Furthermore, respect and the maintenance of a patient’s dignity is essential for a better health outcome (Stern, 2006). Moreover, Beauchamp (as cited by Wida ̈ng, 2002) acknowledged that respect and integrity are both significant characteristics in ethical reasoning and the provision of nursing care. In this essay, the importance of the theme, which is the respect and maintenance of dignity of patients, to the patient care, the patient’s health outcome, and to the nurse will be discussed.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN, 2009) defines dignity as treating someone as you or your family would want to be treated, when they are feeling vulnerable. According to ( Matiti & Baillie,2011) in modern world the word dignity has lost its meaning, whether it is intentionally or unintentionally, nurses have become very mechanical, trying to give care for dummies rather than human beings, who have emotions, feelings and self-respect, and not realising what impact patients will have when nurses show this kind of attitude. Patient centred care is vital for all nurses, without, discriminating against colour, gender, race, and religious beliefs. Following the code of conduct which is expected of the nurse, working according to the needs of the patients, being a good listener and respecting them. When the nurse shows dignity and respect, she/he tends to develop a therapeutic relationship with patient which in turn results in good health and rehabilitation (NMC, 2008).
According to the Code of Ethics for Nurses (ANA), all nurses have a responsibility to care for patients under their care.
The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses has five elements that pertain to the Principle of Autonomy. Each individual element applies to “respect individual persons” (Baillie, McGeehan, Garrett T, M., Garrett R. M., 2013, p.33). In Chapter 2 of the Health Care ethics: Principles and problems text, it discusses thouroghly the consent of an individual to make their own decisions regarding their health and future requests of care. As a nurse or within all heath care professions, we must treat each individual patient with care, respect, and to remain mindful to the patient regarding any aspect of their lives. In the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, it explains ways of maintaining the empathy required in the health field. It further discusses that the respect for human dignity must be a priority, relationships to patients must remain neutral, the severity of the situation, the right to self-rule, and the professionalism that must be upheld by the nurse and their associates.
The American Nurses Association created guidelines for the profession including, a set clear rules to be followed by individuals within the profession, Code of Ethics for Nurses. Written in 1893, by Lystra Gretter, and adopted by the ANA in 1926, The Code of Ethics for Nurses details the role metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics have within the field (ANA, 2015). Moral obligation for an individual differs within professions than it does within an individual’s personal life, so the code of ethics was written to establish rules within the profession. The moral obligation to provide quality care include the fundamental principles of respect for persons, integrity, autonomy, advocacy, accountability, beneficence, and non-maleficence. The document itself contains nine provisions with subtext, all of which cannot be addressed within this paper however, core principals related to the ethical responsibilities nurses have will be
In conclusion, there are numerous legal and ethical issues apparent in the nursing practice. Nurses should study and be as informed as they can with ethics and legality within their field in order to ensure no mistakes occur. Ethical issues vary based on patient’s views, religion, and environment. Nurses are influenced by these same views, but most of the time they are not the same as the patients. As a nurse we must learn to put the care of our patients and their beliefs, rights, and wishes before our own personal
According to code of ethics, all nurses should value the class of care for all people that could be to self or the receiver of the service (Epstien & Turner, 2015). Healthcare professionals should keep in mind that they are totally responsible for the decisions they take for someone’s health and they should accept their responsibilities to ensure that they have the knowledge and experience to provide safe treatment to the patient (Izumi, Nagae, Sakurai, & Imamura, 2012). As a healthcare professional, nurses are allowed to join in the decision regarding any patient’s care plan. Another code of ethic for a healthcare professional is to value respect for self and for others (Morin, 2015). It is important for them to respect the dignity of the patient and maintain their dignity as well in the context of health care. Other ethic is value informed decision making in which nurses should give importance to making informed and free decisions. It includes making informed decisions in accordance to ethical and legal requirements (Epstien & Turner, 2015). They should also value the rights of the