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Questions on the legal principles in nursing
Questions on the legal principles in nursing
The importance of integrity important in nursing free essay
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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). these formulate the basic fundamentals of patient care, with the patient’s care being the first concern (General Medical Council (GMC) 2012). …show more content…
In order to protect the patients’ identity and privacy, and in accordance with the NMC Code (2015) and Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998, anonymity and confidentiality will be maintained using a pseudonym for the case study. Jane, a 47-year-old female, detained on Section 3 of MHA (DH, 1983) within an Acute Inpatient Ward. As defined in the Mental Health Act Code of Conduct (DH, 2007) Section 3 of the MHA allows a patient to be detained for treatment within a hospital setting for a period of up to 6 months to allow for treatment programme (DH, 1983). Jane’s health had deteriorated over a period of seven days, after she had stopped taking her anti-psychotic medication weeks ago, resulting in the current episode of manic behaviour. Jane had not slept for 72 hours and had poor diet and was observed not to be drinking fluids. Jane has a diagnosis of Bipolar
In reference to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)’s the Code of Conduct (2008), a pseudonym will be used to preserve the patient’s identity and confidentiality. The patient will therefore be referred to as ‘William’.
The first provision of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) “Code of Ethics” states, “ The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.” The second provision states, “The nurse’s primary commitment is the patient, whether the patient is an individual, family, group, or community” (Fowler, 2010). As nurses we need to respect the autonomy and allow for the patient to express their choices and concerns. We also need to provide them with support by giving them knowledge and understanding so they
Nurses are typically thought of as respected and trusted individuals. In order to keep this reputation, nurses must aware of their professional boundaries and strive to remain professional in all aspects of their career. There are many resources that act as guides to maintaining these boundaries in the healthcare profession. These standards are set as laws that governs nurses so that they know which actions are not acceptable. It is important for nurses to stay true to their values, focus on the interest of the patient, and be aware of becoming too involved with
Nurse’s intent to provide the best therapeutic care to their patients but in doing so, question is, are they crossing their professional boundaries? Nursing is a profession that changes according to economic viability, technological advances, and milestones in teaching and patients demands. In today’s society, nurses are often challenged with crossing their professional boundaries in decision making or ethical boundaries which is very complex to define due to the advances in technologies, higher qualifications of society and demands by patients and relative; this is a reality. Further, nurses like any other are humans and they have this skill of humanity which is both hard to gauge and never been measured.
In conclusion as shown in the two cases discussed, consent is one of, if not the most important consideration in nursing practice. Patients have an ethical and more importantly, legal right to the choice of the care they receive. As practitioners we have the duty to ensure we are fully aware and work in line with the principles of consent to ensure best practice.
Providing the steps to ethically sound excellent care, healthcare providers must acknowledge first the legal and ethical matters involved with proper investigation and then devise a plan for best possible action recognizing the rights of the patient and its benefits followed by the application of the chosen intervention with positive outcome in mind (Wells, 2007). Delivery of excellent and quality of care at a constant level (NMC, 2008) must be marked in any responsibilities and duties of the care provider to promote exceptional nursing practice. Codes of nursing ethics and legal legislation have addressed almost all the necessary actions in making decisions in consideration to the best interest of the patient. Nurses must make sure that they are all guided by the set standard to lead their action and produce desirable and ethically sound outcomes.
The nursing code of ethics is a formal statement of the ideals and values of nursing and ethical principles that serve as standards for nurses‟ actions. Jurisprudence is the scientific study of law and law is defined as those rules made by humans, which regulate social conduct in a formally prescribed and legally binding manner. Nursing ethics and law are very important because they are concerned with the provision of services that have an impact on human health and life which can cause dilemma during practice and if not handled adequately can lead to negative impact on the client and all the people concerned with the care the client. Therefore Standards must be set to guide the conduct of the nurse in making proper and adequate decisions for the safety and protection of the client, by so doing the nurse protects herself or himself from litigation (Burke, K. 2000).
Nursing code of ethics was developed as a guide in carrying out nursing responsibilities in a matter consistent with quality in nursing care and the ethical obligations of the profession (ANA, 2010). The term ethics refers to the study of philosophical ideals of right and wrong behavior (Olin, 2012). There is a total of nine provisions however, throughout this paper I will discuss provisions one through four. These provisions would include, personal relationships, primary care, nurse commitment, safety, patient rights, responsibility and accountability of the patient.
Nurses will experience times where their own personal beliefs and values will be challenged by the law, professional standards, and even other nurses. It can be scary, frustrating, or heart breaking, but nurses must remain professional and act within their legal scope. There is no question that nursing is tough, deeply passionate work. Sometimes you have to realize that the most you are allowed to do is encourage all to prepare a health care directive or make a referral to the prescribing practitioner about drugs and supplement concerns. In the end, a good nurse negotiates legal, ethical, and interpersonal issues using knowledge, clear communication, and empathy for human life.
A Registered nurse is strongly committed to provide meticulous optimum care to the client. Every nurse has to have the attitude of caring, patience and dedication. Being autonomous in nursing is very important while making decisions and practice and which can be obtained by continual education. According to Potter and Perry (eds 2009), Accountability refers to responsibility of the nurse professionally and legally for the provided care. Trusted professional relationship is strongly built by effective communication. Communication with patient, family and multidisciplinary is essential for quality nursing care to the client. Collaboration with the multidisciplinary team enhances the quality of care significantly. Often nurse acts as a liaison between patient and other health care members in that team. Trust is a basic value and in a trusted environment patient feels free to share honestly to the nurse. Ultimately, trusting relationships enhance quality and safe health care (Olshansky 2011). For example, Respecting patient’s value and beliefs is vital to create trustful relationship. Professional practice has some unique characteristics with it such as code of ethics for practice, dignity, specific service, extended education. Being professional nurses, they should have adequate theoretical knowledge and skills and practice within their legal frame. Nurses are not the persons just listening the words but they are the persons can give a solution by feeling empathetically which means feeling from patient’s side. A nurse should be stable emotionally and think critically are essential to analyze the problem and make appropriate ...
In addition to the code of ethics nurses have standards of nursing practice implemented to provide professional integrity of our work. The ethical standards are supported by external legal and regulatory sanctions from professional peer associations (NET, 2001). Nurses should strive to provide patients with opportunities to participate in planning care, assures that patients find the plans acceptable and supports the implementation of the plan. With regards to treating patients fairly, also including neither granting special privileges nor denied aspects of care that are routinely provided to other
There are legal requirements and policy to govern specific areas of health care practise. It differentiates nurse responsibilities, help establish boundaries of independent nursing action and assists in maintaining a standard to ma...
The number one priority of the Registered Nurse should be to provide holistic, patient-centred, safe and evidence based care to every patient. Patients who are admitted into hospital or seek healthcare services externally through clinics or the community usually expect to receive the safest and highest quality of care possible from that facility. Registered Nurses have a major responsibility to ensure that this is achieved. To help guide nurses and other healthcare workers in the right direction, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) created and enforced the “Registered Nurse Standards for Practice”. These standards aim to assist healthcare practitioners in providing high quality and safe care to every client. The standards also
values for instance, nurses have to practise autonomously and responsibly also accountable for safe, compassionate, person centred, evidence based nursing that respects and maintains dignity and human rights (NMC 2014) communication and interpersonal skills, practice and decision making, leadership, management and team working. All nurses are personally accountable for their own practice for instance, work within their own limitations, decisions and actions, nurses must maintain professional knowledge and competences as well as continuing professional development. All nurses are expected to abide by the codes of conduct at all times, if a registered nurse or midwife fail to uphold these standards, the NMC can take action for instance, cautions,
This provision is strongly connected with nursing as a human science because one has to treat every patient in a unique matter with respect, compassion and empathy to their particular situation they are experiencing. The third provision interrelates with the fundamental nursing responsibilities of optimizing the health by advocating for the patient and protecting the patient. In sixth provision, it explains how nursing is group work that is constantly being evaluated, and improving to provide a safe but quality environment for everyone. (Morrisard, n.d.) Each of code of ethics are essential in providing care for the patient as well as protecting the patient’s safety, rights, and