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Ethical and legal responsibilities of a nurse
Errors in healthcare
Ethical and legal responsibilities of a nurse
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Before Nightingale, nurses were lower class citizens that were alcoholics or prostitutes with no to a little education. Florence Nightingale realized that nurses ought to have some education in caring for others and be of a higher class. In 1860, she opened the first nursing school in London that did not accept prostitutes and alcoholics. To signify Nightingale’s view of nursing, Lystra Gretter composed a Hippocratic Oath for nurses called the Nightingale pledge. I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity, and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in …show more content…
In today’s society nursing meets all the requirements of being a profession. To be considered a profession, one has to be dedicated to their career, abide by standards and a code of ethics, and have a higher education and a body of knowledge, duty to provide service, have autonomy and be part of a professional organization. Nurses take the traditional role of caring for loved ones to a whole new level of care. Registered nurses abide by a code of ethics as set forth by the American Nurses Association. Some of the ethics nurses live out are: commitment to the patient, practice with compassion and respect, accountability and responsibility for owns actions and collaborating with other health care providers (Code of Ethics for Nurses, 2015). Nurses practice the code of ethics on a routine basis by employing the six fundamental concepts established by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN). Nursing provides the best quality of care by exercising six models formulated by QSEN: patient-centered care, teamwork, and collaboration, evidence base practice, quality improvement, safety and informatics (Competencies, n.d.). Following the competencies set forth by QSEN decreases errors and gives patients the care they desire and …show more content…
pg. 19, 2014). The first rule of nursing is to do no harm, but since we are human, errors will happen. Inaccuracies in delivering treatment are due to mistaken identity, falls, burns, nosocomial infections, suicides, death or injuries due to restraints, wrong site surgery, surgical injuries, transfusion errors, adverse drug events and pressure ulcers (Kohn and Donaldson, pg. 35, 2000). Nurses use autonomy to contemplate on where corrections can be made through their daily routine. By knowing where the shortcomings are in delivering treatment, allows for errors to be corrected and to decrease adverse patient outcomes. Safety is focused on reducing the chance of harm to staff and patients. The 2016 National Patient Safety Goals for Hospitals includes criteria such as using two forms of identification when caring for a patient to ensure the right patient is being treated, proper hand washing techniques to prevent nosocomial infections and reporting critical information promptly (Joint Commission, 2015). It is important that nurses follow standards and protocols intending to patients to decrease adverse
One cannot fake being a nurse, one must be extremely genuine in order to perfect being a nurse; therefore, explaining why nurses enforce and value their code of ethics. The purpose of the code of ethics is to ensure patient safety and implement standard of care by following the nine provisions of ethics. The nine provisions explain the nurses’ responsibility while caring for a patient; for example, maintaining the rights and autonomy of a patient. Another point that the provisions highlight is being the patient advocate, nurses are in the front line of patient care and they must protect their patients. An important guideline that the nine provision emphasize is the need and requirement for nurses to continue with their education to promote beneficent and to avoid maleficent. The National Nursing Association (ANA) states that the nursing code of ethics “reiterates the fundamental and the commitment of the nurse” (Lachman, Swanson, & Windland-brown, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the obligations and duty of a nurse and why it is important when attempting to maintain standard of care.
A code of ethics provides a standard by which nurses conduct themselves and their practice, observing ethical obligations of the profession and providing quality care. To achieve its purpose, a code of ethics must be understood, internalized, and used by nurses in all aspects of their work” (Aliakvari, 2015, p. 494).
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN’s) goal is to prepare future nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that are needed to continuously improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems within which they work. QSEN focuses on six main competencies; patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics. As we have learned in earlier classes these competencies and their KSAs offer a base to help us and other nurses as we continue our education and become RNs. As we will learn in this class these KSAs go hand in hand with health assessment.
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.
The overall goal for the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) plan is to meet the challenge of educating and preparing future nurses to have the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are essential to frequently progress the quality and safety of the healthcare systems in the continuous improvement of safe practice (QSEN, 2014).Safety reduces the possibility of injury to patients and nurses. It is achieved through system efficiency and individual work performance. Organizations determine which technologies have an effective protocol with efficient practices to support quality and safety care. Guidelines are followed to reduce potential risks of harm to nurses or others. Appropriate policies
Friendships may be formed; however, having professional interactions is something that is not always followed. In terms of patient confidentiality, we may not realize that a HIPPA violation has occurred due to a friendly conversation with coworkers. If a patient were to overhear their nurse discussing their information in an unprofessional manner, then it may cause issues with a patient’s dignity and their rights. If a patient’s right is violated, then it can lead to a patient’s mistrust in their caregiver, leading to mistrust in the facilities, and can end with a patient’s health being compromised. The patient is the reason for this career; if the needs of the patient are being unmet or violated then the purpose of our occupation will be unsuccessful and indifferent.
Nursing is a profession that I have always been fascinated with. Nursing is defined as "health promotion, health maintenance, health restoration and providing care to the sick and dying" (Kozier and Erb). There are five values essential to nursing, which include altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity and social justice (AACN). Nursing is a profession in which the nurse uses caring as a central concept. Some other characteristics of the nursing profession include art, science, advocacy, and offering holistic care. Nurses use critical thinking in order to problem solve because every patient is unique. The nursing process when assessing a patient includes, data collection, analysis, planning, implementing, and evaluation. Nurses need to be able to deal with change in stressful, fast paced, hectic environments. The treatments and technology is constantly changing therefore nurses need to be able to make quick and important decisions.
As conversed throughout this case, nurses play a vital role in the health care setting. They are those who are there from the beginning to the end to improve quality of life for each individual. Nurses peruse quality of life by performing specific appropriate for the client; these include assessment tools, setting goals and interventions to provide the best possible outcome. Thus, the importance of this case is to demonstrate the nursing skills regarding to an individual and their health situation. Allowing the nurse to enhance the quality of care and ensuring safety at all times is achieved for the individual and overall performance.
Ethics is one of nursing’s many structural building blocks. These ethical principles serve as guidelines for nurses on how to professionally practice during patient care interactions. Also, these ethical principles aid in decision making during difficult situations. To address ethical problems appropriately nurse case managers must understand the meaning of ethics and legal implications in decision making process, and act in compliance with ethical principles and American Nurses Association code of ethics. According to Parker, F., “Knowledge of ethical principles, arms the nurse with power to be a major player in the decision-making process regarding patient care. A nurse who understands ethical principles, and can use this understanding to
Ethics asses the values, morals, and principles of nurses. Legal codes or laws are rules established by our government. It’s important that nurses have a clear and comprehensive understanding of ethical and legal codes within their career. The understanding of these codes is essential for nurses to safely practice and to protect their patients. Nurses must abide by these principles or face the consequences of legal action. These principles include autonomy, utilitarianism, confidentiality, and many others. Autonomy is the agreement to respect ones right to determine a course of action, while utilitarianism is what is best for most people as defined in American Nurses Association. In order to give you a
The nursing code of ethics has a very standard definition. It is the base on how nurses should guide themselves in conduct by making the right decision regarding ethical issues. According to the National Student Nurses Association “students of nursing have a responsibility to society in learning the academic theory and clinical skills needed to provide nursing care” (2003). In the clinical setting nurses have a lot of responsibilities while caring for an ill patient, they have the obligation to practice their profession with compassion, love, and respect the uniqueness of each patient, as nurses we are not supposed to deny care to a patient because of their economic status, their skin color, race, or the nature of health problems, we are here to help the people in need in particular those of susceptible populations. The NSNA states that the code of conduct is based on an understanding that to practice nursing as a student is an agreement that trust and honesty is depended on us by society. The announcement of the code provided direction for the nursing student in the personal development of an ethical foundation and not limited to the academic or clinical environment but can assist in the holistic development of a person. (National Student Nurses Association, 2003)
Professionalism in the workplace in many professions can be simplified into general categories such as neat appearance, interaction with clients, punctuality, general subject knowledge, and likability. In nursing, professionalism encompasses a much more broad and inclusive set of criteria than any other profession. Nurses specifically are held to a higher standard in nearly every part of their job. Nurses are not only expected to uphold what it seen as professional in the aforementioned categories, but they are also expected to promote health, wellbeing, and advocate for patients, but also continually provide the highest standard of care, demonstrate exemplary subject and procedural knowledge, and abide by the Code of ethics set forth by the American Nurses Association. This Code of Ethics includes the complex moral and ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, honesty, and integrity.
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
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)