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Ethics of nursing practice quizlet
Ethics of nursing practice quizlet
Ethics of nursing practice quizlet
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The advanced nurse practice role of a family nurse practitioner in the primary care setting has many ethical dilemmas. “Ethical principles include beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, fairness, truthfulness” and justice (Advanced Nursing Practice Toolkit, 2012, para. 1). One ethical issue that I was faced with in the clinical setting was that of a ninety-two year old man whom in my opinion, clearly needed palliative care due to his chronic congestive heart failure and the fact that his lungs were consistently filling up with fluid which inevitably always needed a thoracentesis and hospitalization. He had a poor quality of life and had been placed into a nursing home some time ago. Within the past two to three weeks he had needed
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
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.
My initial response to the issues was only based on the hospital policies regarding the care of the patients within the hospital. However, when I was guided down the different paths and made to look through the different ethical lens, I found it tough to do so and seem to resort to my core values of autonomy and rationality. By putting the patients’ first, hospital policies, and then their loved ones in the first scenario, I determined that a compromise was necessary. Whereas in the second scenario, I feel as no agreement was needed just staff education (EthicsGame Simulation, 2016). In this particular case, Carlotta, the RN shift supervisor, needed further training to understand the hospital policy on who is or is not considered to be family (EthicsGame Simulation,
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.
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.
Nursing ethics has a vast spectrum of subjects. The history of ethics was around way longer then the declaration of specific ethical issues. According to Fox, Myers and Pearlman (2007), the field of ethics consultation has been developing over the last three decades, (Kosnick 1974; Rosner 1985). Ethics has become an organized and accepted division of healthcare services. Gallagher (2010), discussed the purpose of nursing ethics is to help us think, speak and perform better in our practice. The Nursing Code of Ethics was addressed by Lachman (2009). “Futile care” is discussed by Sibbald, Downar, Hawryluck (2007). Ball (2009) addressed the need for clarification of DNR orders in surgery patients.
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.
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.
Davis J. Anne Diane Marsha and Aroskar A. Mila (2010). Ethical Dilemmas and Nursing Practice. Pearson
Nurse Practitioner Core competencies play an important role in clinical practice of Advanced Nurse Practitioner. All the competencies are essential in delivering patient centered care with better outcomes. Out of all core competencies, ethics competency is important to integrate in education and training of Advanced Practice Nurses. These competencies include basic ethical principles and how it can be applied for population’s specific ethical dilemma. We often avoid and struggle with ethical dilemmas because of limited knowledge and confidence. The ethics knowledge can influence the confidence in providing better care to patient (Laabs, 2012). Basic knowledge of theories of ethical decision making, ethics committee, genetic counseling, clinical
Deontology is an ethical theory concerned with duties and rights. The founder of deontological ethics was a German philosopher named Immanuel Kant. Kant’s deontological perspective implies people are sensitive to moral duties that require or prohibit certain behaviors, irrespective of the consequences (Tanner, Medin, & Iliev, 2008). The main focus of deontology is duty: deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. A duty is morally mandated action, for instance, the duty never to lie and always to keep your word. Based on Kant, even when individuals do not want to act on duty they are ethically obligated to do so (Rich, 2008).
Within palliative care, caregivers and patients take on roles that should balance each other out. The patient should be comfortable with trusting the caregiver to keep the patients promises while receiving treatment, being unconscious, or awaiting death. As a caregiver, they are to respect their patients wishes even if there is an ethical battle within the caregiver. This battle can cause the relationship between the patient and caregiver to become disrupted. The disruption within their relationship can cause strain which will put added pressure on both parties. Whenever a patient relies on the caregiver to work out their wishes, the care giver should always support the patient’s rights, no matter how big an ethical dilemma there might be.
As a FNP working in an acute/critical facility, a possible ethical dilemma could arise with end-of -life care with a patient and disagreement between families members. Available resources an advance practice registered nurse (APRN) can use to help resolve ethical dilemma include requesting assistance from other colleagues
After reading the case study related to this assignment and other related articles and talking to co-workers, I realized there are many around us that ethical principle were somehow violated on them. Despite most nurses’ best efforts to make ethical decisions; they might not be able to make the right decision. As it was mentioned in the case study, nurses might feel their job will be jeopardized if they go against higher authorities’ will. If they lose their job, they cannot be useful for themselves or for other patients. This problem takes me back to the title of section three of doing the right thing, “if we know what is right, can we do it?... in properly ordered soul, reason will be on control and passion will be under control”(n.d.). It
Another huge ethical topic is the patient’s right to choose autonomy in the refusal of life-saving medicine or treatment. This issue affects a nurse’s standards of care and code of ethics. “The nurse owes the patient a duty of care and must act in accordance with this duty at all times, by respecting and supporting the patient’s right to accept or decline treatment” (Volinsky). In order for a patient to be able make these types of decisions they must first be deemed competent. While the choice of patient’s to refuse life-saving treatment may go against nursing ethical codes and beliefs to attempt and coerce them to get treatment is trespass and would conclude in legal action. “….then refusal of these interventions may be regarded as inappropriate, but in the case of a patient with capacity, the patient must have the ultimate authority to decide” (Volinsky). While my values of the worth of life and importance of action may be different than others, as a nurse I have to learn to set that aside and follow all codes of ethics whether I have a dilemma with them or not. Sometimes with ethics there is no right or wrong, but as a nurse we have to figure out where to draw the line in some cases.