Ethical issues are often seen in healthcare. There are many cultures, beliefs, values and circumstances to be considered. There are many philosophies which can be useful in the patient-nurse relationship. Justice is the equal or fair treatment to all patients. In this situation the nurse should treat all patients the same without thought to their race or gender (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). For example, many patients have Medicaid as health insurance yet others have better compensating private insurance. The nurse or doctor would be showing justice when they provide the same amount of time and same level of care to both patients. This is fair and equal treatment regardless of the patients situation. We also have nonmaleficence which is obligation …show more content…
If the nurse has a patient with a large, heavily draining wound and this patient ready to be discharged what is the responsible action for her to assure the patient suffers no harm? The nurse should assess the patients ability to obtain the proper dressings or make arrangements for the patient to have a small amount from the hospital until supplies are available to the patient. In the case of beneficence, the nurse would go above and beyond normal care to guarantee a patient is receiving the best possible care. It is a choice to actively provide care which is solely for the benefit of the patient (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). An example of this would be to provide a list of food clinics to your patient whom has shared that they are having trouble purchasing food. The nurse may even call the county office to see what resources are available to the patient. Lastly, there is the patients right to autonomy. Autonomy is essentially giving the patient the right to make decisions without coercion (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). If the patient is capable of making decisions, then the patient should make choices in the care they …show more content…
The caregiver must ask questions and truly listen to what the patient is presenting. The patient-clinician relationship is one built on shared respect and includes the planning of goals with the patient involved. The patient should be supported and provided all treatments options with their decisions accepted and carried out. Only then, can the patient truly have a choice in their care. The caregiver should be challenged to improve communications skills if they are lacking. This is seen when centers use SBAR and team huddles. SBAR aids the caregiver in providing quick and accurate communication to care for a patient’s needs. Using team huddle, the patient’s specific needs for the day are relayed to the team. he healthcare provider has a duty to do no harm and the way to achieve this is by careful, thorough, and educated communication between the patient and the clinician. And finally, healthcare providers must learn to set aside cultural differences. The patient has a right to the best care, regardless of race. If the healthcare provider keeps the focus on communication, providing fair and equal treatment, assessing the patient needs, listening to the patient, the patient can be assured of safe
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.
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
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.
In the medical profession, doctors and nurses run into ethical dilemmas every day whether it be a mother who wants to abort her baby or a patient who has decided they want to stop cancer treatment. It is important for the nurse to know where they stand with their own moral code, but to make sure they are not being biased when educating the patient. Nurses are patient advocates, it is in the job description, so although the nurse may not agree with the patient on their decisions, the nurse to needs to advocate for the patient regardless.
Define a critical thinking task that your staff does frequently (Examples: treat high blood sugar, address low blood pressure, pain management, treating fever etc.). Create a concept map or flow chart of the critical thinking process nurses should take to determining the correct intervention. Include how much autonomy a nurse should have to apply personal wisdom to the process. If the critical thinking process was automated list two instances where a nurse may use “wisdom” to override the automated outcome suggested. Note the risks and benefits of using clinical decision making systems.
The four ethical virtues of health care must be shown, compassion, discernment, integrity and trustworthiness. Respecting a person’s autonomy understanding and acting on the belief the people have the right decision to make decisions and take action based on their beliefs and value systems. The ethical issues that would be encountered will be to treat each person with passion and respect regardless of sex, race, and religious preference. The environment has no human rights violations, sustains nursing ethical
...ay arise between health care professionals, nurses, and the patient and family. Most often, when an ethical dilemma occurs, nurses most make a choice between the two equally unfavorable alternatives.
I chose to go into nursing because I had taken a sports medicine class in high school I enjoyed, and I thought I would be guaranteed a job graduating that had something to do with medicine. I can remember being so excited to learn how about illnesses and medications, and all the difference procedures done in the hospital. At the time I thought a nurse’s job was to do what the physicians said, and I expected set guidelines that would tell me what I was and wasn’t allowed to do. I had no idea that I was entering onto a career path involving so much complexity, and that the skills I had dreamed of learning were such a small part of nursing in comparison to the emotional, decision making, and critical thinking skills that a nursing career requires. Ethics in nursing was not something that had ever crossed my mind when I chose to take this path, however now ethics is something that I think about every day I am practicing, whether in clinical or theory courses. Ethical theories often come from the idea that because we are human we have the obligation to care about other’s best interests (Kozier et al., 2010), however in nursing ethical practice is not just a personal choice but a professional responsibility.
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).
Provision 2 of the ANA code of ethics for nurses “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community”(Black, 2014, p. 387). I believe that a nurse must care for the patient and their healthcare needs no matter the patient’s ethnicity of affiliations. Provision 3 of the ANA code of ethics for nurses “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient” (Black, 2014, p. 387). The nurse must be the voice of the patient when they do not have one, they must be safety net that protects the patient when all other measures
The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means character (1). Being moral always fills a nurse with morals respects, guidelines of good judgment and expert lead. There are three essential obligations for nurses, among many other which are the duty of autonomy, confidentiality, and obligation of care to all patients (2). There are professional duties with becoming distinctly legitimate obligations if any law and policies are ruptured in between professional practice. In 2001, a review found that there was an apparent requirement for more guidance on moral predicaments inside the medical professionals, subsequent to expanding legal cases and open request (3). Medical attendants ought to withstand to regulatory law and statutory law while managing the nursing practice.
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 four fundamental nursing responsibilities of promoting health, preventing illness, optimizing health and alleviating the ill are represented in the code of ethics. (Arnold & Boggs, 2016) One can say that the code of ethics are rules that a nurse needs to follow in order to effectively communicate and protect the patients. The American Nurse Association provided the code of ethics to guide nurses to ensure that patient’s care, safety, rights and health are well cared for and well managed. Models like Utilitarian, deontological, and the human rights-based all contribute in answering dilemmas that can arise with a patient. Thus, explaining what some of the code of ethics are, and how the code of ethics influence our responsibilities as a nurse will impact the overall care of the
is the duty to do no harm. The nurse first needs to ask him or herself what
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