Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Laws and ethics in nursing
Laws and ethics in nursing
What are the ana code of ethics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Laws and ethics in nursing
Case Study Review Nurses face many legal and ethical issues on a daily basis and they must practice according to the standards of care in order to make the best decision for the patient and themselves. According to Furlong (2007), in making ethical decisions, three resources that are valuable for nurses are (1) the ANA Code of Ethics, (2) an understanding of ethical principles, and (3) the ethics of caring. Utilizing the information set by nursing organizations allow nurses to function as advocates for patient’s and avoid any legal issues. It is important for nurses to understand how ethics, nursing, and law intertwine. The law and legal authority to practice nursing in a state is implemented by the Nurse Practice Act, this is a core aspect every nurse should be familiar with (Furlong, 2007). Case Study One A nurse caring for a 12 year-old boy with cancer learns that he has accepted the fact that he is dying and wants to stop chemotherapy. His parents have consented to try a new, aggressive course of chemotherapy. The nurse goes ahead and administers the chemotherapy as ordered by the physician. Based on the situation, this case is legal, but may not be ethical. Although the parents have the legal right to consent to the new treatment for chemotherapy, they should also take their child’s desires into consideration before subjecting him to a more aggressive therapy. Legally the nurse must administer the medication that the physician has ordered and the parents have agreed upon, otherwise this would be considered a breach of duty. According to Guido (2010), a breach of duty is failure to perform a duty, causing a disturbance in treatment or cause a threatening act. The nurse functioned according to the standards of care an... ... middle of paper ... ... treatment, healthcare providers should think on legal and ethical terms and strive to avoid treatments that can be considered abusive to the patient. What is good for one patient may not be the best treatment for others. References Furlong, E. (2007). Right or Wrong. Legal and Ethical Issues and Decision-Making. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Chapter 3: 29-45 Guido, G. W. (2010). Legal & ethical issues in nursing (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Smith, B. (2012). Inappropriate prescribing. American Psychological Association 43, 6, 36. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/06/prescribing.aspx Treloar, A., Beck, S., & Paton, C. (2011). Administering medicines to patients with dementia and other organic cognitive syndromes. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 7, 444-450. Retrieved from http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/7/6/444.full.pdf+html
Every nurse will be faced with a decision making dilemma at some point in his or her career. Being familiar with the nursing code of ethics, what is ethically and morally expected in society and how to approach the situations can help make dilemmas less of a nightmare. “The purpose of nursing ethics is to inspire questions and examine what would be the ethically right action in health care situations demanding a choice between at least two undesirable alternatives” (Toren & Wagner, 2010, p. 394). There are many different ways one can approach a situation to reach a resolution, finding a method that works best with the situation at hand is ideal.
The Code of Ethics for Nurses was created to be a guide for nurses to perform their duties in a way that is abiding with the ethical responsibilities of the nursing profession and quality in nursing care. The Code of Ethics has excellent guidelines for how nurses should behave, however; these parameters are not specific. They do not identify what is right and wrong, leaving nurses having to ultimately make that decision. Ethics in nursing involves individual interpretation based on personal morals and values. Nursing professionals have the ethical accountability to be altruistic, meaning a nurse who cares for patients without self-interest. This results in a nurse functioning as a patient advocate, making decisions that are in the best interest of the patient and practicing sound nursing ethics.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of rational processes for decision-making. Culturally effective pediatric health care can be defined as the delivery of care within the context of appropriate physician knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of all cultural distinctions leading to optimal health outcomes. However, when the parents’ decision is not the best interest for the child, the paediatric nurse should advocate for him in order to protect his rights to receive treatment according to the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia (ANMC 2006). The first step for the nurse in resolving the ethical dilemma is to provide information to the parents honestly about the child’s diagnosis, treatments, outcomes and risks. This enable the parents to make free and informed decision (ANMC 2006; Janine & William 2010). During the discussion between the health practitioners and the parents, fully explained situation may help the family realize that the decision may not the best choice for the kid. Practitioners should strive to remain truly objective and avoid all pers...
Paramedics deemed the patient competent and therefore Ms. Walker had the right to refuse treatment, which held paramedics legally and ethically bound to her decisions. Although negligent actions were identified which may have resulted in a substandard patient treatment, paramedics acted with intent to better the patient despite unforeseen future factors. There is no set structure paramedics can follow in an ethical and legal standpoint thus paramedics must tailor them to every given
Ethics and integrity are essential parts of the nursing profession since they provide nurses with the capacity for weighing in on the impacts that their actions may have on the profession (Guido, 2014). However, maintaining high levels of ethics and integrity may create significant challenges for nurses some of which impact on their position as healthcare providers. One of the key challenges that nurses experience as part of their profession is increased cases of ethical dilemmas some of which impact on their abilities to make decisions based on the interests of their patients. The nursing code of ethics indicates the need for nurses to ensure that the decisions or actions they take reflect on the interests
The cancer treatment story that I chose to write about was the case of Abraham Cherrix, a 16 year old boy that was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease. In particular, this cancer has a very high cure rate it is “between 85 and 90 percent after 3 rounds of chemo” (Moore, 2006). However, the young boy, Abraham Cherrix, does not want to continue with his chemotherapy because of the side effects that he has to endure and his parents are in support of his decision. Abraham and his parents want him to try out an alternative treatment in place of chemotherapy. In contrast, the doctors are not satisfied with the family’s decision so they are charging his parents with medical negligence. The doctors are worried that without chemotherapy that he will lose his best chance at survival which
Nurses, physicians, and pharmacists are held legally responsible for safe and therapeutically effective drug administration no matter who actually prescribed it. All members of a health team may be held liable for a single injury to a client. Nursing organizations have adapted similar codes of ethics that can serve as guides for the development of one's own code. The client's rights as defined by these codes of ethics are to promote health, prevent illness, restore health, and alleviate suffering (White, Duncan, & Baumle, 2011, p. 516). For example, a patient has every right to know necessary information about a drug he or she is receiving and to refuse to take it after having been given an explanation, no matter
In health care, ethical decisions are made on a daily basis. An ethical dilemma can arise at any moment, and it is “imperative that health care professionals learn the ethical principles, the professional code of ethics, and the legal components, in order to be knowledgeable on ethical decision making when dilemmas does arise” (Schaar, 2005). Currently, there are many ethical issues that occur in health care. For example, noncompliance with treatment is just one of the many ethical issues that health care professionals face currently. Patients that is noncompliant with treatment causes challenges for physicians that treat its patients. Within this paper, there will be information discussing noncompliance with treatment.
Physicians’ are often faced with dilemmas that will ultimately challenge their ethical standpoints. Providing care to patients suffering from a terminal illness can ultimately result in the request to end pain and suffering. The requests often trigger very sensitive and emotional issues that need to be dealt with amongst the physician and the patient. In spite of having to consider the patient’s wish, the physician has a responsibility to the patient to thoroughly analyze the patient’s condition. This procedure can include reviewing medical history, treatments, and evaluating patient concerns. Determining the underlying reasons for the patients request is important to suggest alternative interventions. The physician is faced with the ethical
The nursing profession is based solely on the nursing code of ethics. The nursing code of ethics is an unwritten contract. This contract has details of how a nursing professional should act. For example, it states that members of the profession should be trustworthy, qualified, and accountable caregivers (). This code of ethics is how nurses base there plan of care. It is also the basis of ethical decisions. Nurses will encounter ethical dilemmas several times during their profession. It is important that nurses have resources to guide them to making decisions based on professional judgement. The nursing code of ethics serves as a guideline to make these ethical decisions.
American Nurses Association said that Code of ethics should include directive in guiding the nurses to promote and advocate for the rights of the patient, in which they should play an important role as a heart of all decision making (ANA, 2001)
Joseph T. Catalano (2015) defines Code of Ethics as written values of a profession that act as guidelines for professional behavior. Epstein and Turner (2015) believe that the Code of Ethics provides a central foundation to guide nurses in decision making and conduct. The Code of Ethics is standard across all roles and environments and is non-negotiable; describing values, obligations, duties, and professionalism in ideal circumstances (Epstein et al, 2015). Research found that the biggest threat to the Code of Ethics is an oppressive environment, unclear and overwhelming role expectations, and moral suffering; however, nurses tend to find different ways of resistance and influence by finding strength in numbers while being assertive in order to achieve goals (Epstein et al, 2015). An effective Code of Ethics for nursing needs to provide guidance on how to manage ethical problems in different levels, it should be able to be used in a clinical setting and provide patient-level and
. As a result, nurses could not perform well which compromise with the quality of service. This could be improved by increase in the staff member of the hospital. The nurses’ manager should discuss with the nurses about their occupational stress and reason behind poor performance. It is the responsibilities of leaders to find out the problem associated with work culture and should encourage the nursing staff to participate in decision making program. The recruitment of new staff is equally important to solve the problem. On the other hand, the nurses should also maintain their professionalism and should discuss with their managers and leaders and provoke them with the problems. Sometimes, the leaders may not realize the problem so it is the
In every nurse's career, he or she will face with legal and ethical dilemmas. One of the professional competencies for nursing states that nurses should "integrate knowledge of ethical and legal aspects of health care and professional values into nursing practice". It is important to know what types of dilemmas nurses may face
Various applicable fundamental ethical principles and major ethical theories can be applied to nursing practice. Mr M is a 72-year-old male of Eastern European origin, who was diagnosed with metastatic cancer on the liver. Mr M was informed of the findings and underwent immediate surgery and was told he would need to commence chemotherapy. The tumour was unable to be surgically removed and the family felt that the knowledge of his terminal illness was against cultural norms and that it would overwhelm him, instead Mr M was told that he had a long recovery and required ongoing treatment. There are fundamental ethical principles which are relevant in this case, such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and veracity. Two major ethical theories will be explored in relation to Mr M’s case; consequentialism and deontology.