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Legal and ethical issues in nursing case studies
Legal and ethical issues in nursing case studies
Professionalism and ethics nurses
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Legal issues or law may be defined as enforced rules and regulations to meet legal standard and violations of the law will result in criminal or civil liability. Ethic can be defined as a discipline in the delivery of health care in terms of what ought to do in medical technologies, treatments and policies. Risk Management can be defined as a way of reducing risk of liability through the organizations policies and practices. Liability insurance is one of the best risk management for Advanced Nurse Practitioners in order to help and guide them to manage being sue and risks in day to day practice. In today’s nurses are struggling with ethical challenges especially critical care nurses when they have to address the moral questions of “rightness”
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.
During week 4, we became familiar with the application of ethics in the nursing practice settings. We learned about ethical theories and principles, which are crucial when practicing in any clinical settings during ethical decision-making and while facing one or multiple ethical dilemmas. Also, we were introduced to the MORAL model used in ethical decision – making progress. The MORAL model is the easiest model to use in the everyday clinical practice, for instance at bedside nursing. This model can be applyed in any clinical settings and its acronyms assist
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 aim of this assignment is to analyse the role of the nurse in relation to Risk Management, In order to do this effectively, recognised risk assessment tools will be utilised, various measurements have been put in place to minimise the risk to patients who come into contact with health services in both primary and secondary care settings, the specific subject the author will explore is pressure ulcers, definitions will be offered throughout the assignment to assist the readers understanding of terms such as risk and risk assessment, as well as the importance of nutrition and the detrimental effect malnutrition can have on pressure ulcers, the causes and the aims of preventing them through the use of appropriate assessment tools, along with statistics, policies and guidelines, including the five steps that should be taken to carry out efficient risk assessments. Harrison (2003) describes risk assessment as “an assessment that can identify those at risk”, so that steps can be taken to provide appropriate therapeutic treatment.
Furthermore, nursing action guided by the theory and principles of moral and legal rights complements excellent nursing care. Nurse’s awareness of moral and legal codes helps them control the complicated scenarios encountered and direct the nurses in the best possible action answerable by law (Lachman, 2006). In this essay, the author will rationalize the relevance of professional, ethical and legal regulations in the practice of nursing. The author will discuss and analyze the chosen scenario and critically review the action taken at the expense of the patient and the care workers. In addition, the author will also evaluate the strength and limitations of the scenario in a broader issue with reasonable judgement supported by theories and principles of ethical and legal standards.
In nursing practice, the safety competency is all about doing no harm to the patient and provider often by following the right procedures and monitoring the system’s performance for efficiency, as well as ensuring peak individual performance amongst the practitioners and their support systems. Integrating safety into the nursing practice, education and research is paramount to the effectiveness of the profession in so many ways as will be discussed in this paper. But before that, it is necessary to consider the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are related to this particular competence. The paper will then discuss the implications of integration with respect to the working environment.
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
Vulnerability is commonly defined as an individual being weak and susceptible to harm. The definition of vulnerability in nursing is slightly different. Vulnerability in nursing is focused on a population or group of people, not the individual person. These groups of people can have limited access to care and may have a higher risk of being ill or having certain health conditions. A population that is generally considered vulnerable are individuals with mental disabilities. The Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing, defines mental disability as, “any clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome characterized by distressing syndromes, significant impairment of functioning, or significantly increased risk
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.
Healthcare organizations are committed to providing clients with quality service and experience while promoting safety, health, and healing. Nurses have the biggest impact in providing safe client care and are known for their commitment in improving or increasing client health. However, this ethical commitment may not always be met due to breakdowns in healthcare delivery. Deviations such as adoption of unsafe practices or behaviors can lead to sentinel events. Any disconnects or disruptions can be a detriment to client care. This paper will present recent cases of witnessed breakdowns of facility protocols and adoptions of unsafe nursing practices, discuss its relevance to education, and how it has affected my personal perspective on the
A lot of information has been stipulated concerning how patients should be treated and the legal rights involved in the health care system. Different values are, therefore, involved. In the correctional setting, the patient entirely relies on the nursing service offered and various services are expected to be offered by a nurse. However, in the process of providing these services, a nurse has to uphold all ethics that dictate the profession (National Commission on Correctional Care, 2011). The legal ethics include right to autonomy where the patient’s view should be respected and incorporated in the provision of nursing care. A nurse should always tell the patient the truth according to how he or she is fairing on health wise. The principle of beneficence also allows a nurse to concentrate on provision of services that are beneficial to the patient. A registered nurse also ensures equitability and fairness in the provision of care to the patient (National Commission on Correctional Care, 2011). Another principle that a nurse understands is the principle of fidelity that allows a nurse to remain committed in the process of provision of care. The principles help a nurse in making ethical decisions in the process delivering nursing care to the patient. For instance, having in mind the principle autonomy, one can be able to appreciate an advance of health care directive that enables one to act as per the patient’s
In every nurse's career, he or she will face with legal and ethical dilemmas. One of the professional competencies for nursing states that nurses should "integrate knowledge of ethical and legal aspects of health care and professional values into nursing practice". It is important to know what types of dilemmas nurses may face
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
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
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