The Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues of a Patient Being Hoisted in Chronic Pain

This assignment will explore a case study on an episode of care where a patient with chronic pain was hoisted. This will be written from the perspective of the author, a student nurse. The purpose of this assignment is to underline the ethical, legal and professional issues surrounding the episode of care during nursing practice and how these issues influence the role of the nurse and their professional judgement in delivering holistic, person-centred care for the patient. The author will cover the complications on delivering care when healthcare professionals should consider and respect the patient’s decisions and personal preferences whether it may benefit the patient or not. Therefore, the author will argue the principles of the patient’s autonomy against the concerns for the patient’s health and well-being, considering what form of care is appropriate and what must be done and how the nurse can maintain their professional role in being an advocate. Moreover, this will consider the nurses’ approach in providing the best care possible by means of ethical, legal and professional values. Furthermore, this assignment will briefly show an awareness of the roles of other professionals involved in the care.
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 scenario took place in a general medical ward where William, a 75 year old man, was staying in a bay with 3 other male patients. William had recently been suspected with early signs of dementia and had been in chronic pain for years due to osteoarthritis that affected his lumbar spine and knees. Arthritis is ...

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