A Nurse's Conflict

“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.” Nursing is more than just doing assessments and giving medications; it is going beyond that to know what is right or wrong, what can and cannot be done, and what is considered harming the patients rather than doing them good. In nursing, there is a fine line between what is considered to be negligence and beneficence. According to Marquis (2017), “Ethics is the systemic study of what a person’s conduct and actions should be with regard to self, others human beings, and the environment (pg. 83), on the other hand, it does not necessarily mean that their

It’s the nurse's duty to advocate for her patient and to make sure that the patient understands and ask questions if necessary.

One of the many roles of the nurse, in caring for their patient, is to advocate for the patient. The nurses in the clip did not exhibit this professional role, the nurses were hesitant in following the physician’s orders, but none of the nurses spoke up on the patient’s behalf. Nurses are often in the best position to communicate with team members and the patient’s family on behalf of the patient, because in most cases, the nurse provides the most interpersonal contact with the patient.

Nurses rely on personal knowledge and their professional skills to provide ethical care (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). In everyday practice, nurses must balance the needs of their patients against those of the organization, society and themselves. They strive to deliver the highest level of care for patients, but adjusting for limited organizational and personal resources often requires difficult decisions. This paper explores the following scenario suggested by Maville and Huerta: “You are a nurse providing home care to a mother, and you suspect child abuse after observing the mother’s reaction to her child” (as cited by Arizona State University, 2014). When faced with a moral dilemma, a competent nurse incorporates ethical, bioethical and legal considerations. In the proposed story, incorporating the nursing ethics of advocacy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and collaboration will guide the nurse towards an appropriate and legal course of action.

In Nursing, there will always be instances where the patient's nurse needs to advocate for their patient. There are numerous reasons why a nurse would advocate for their patient ranging from getting the doctor to change the patient’s orders, helping the patient’s treatment team understand what it is the patient is requiring for the day, to expressing the patient’s last wishes before death. In every situation, the nurse should do what is in the patient’s best interest. Tomajan (2012), “Advocacy skills are the ability to successfully support a cause or interest on one’s own behalf or that of another. Advocacy requires a set of skills that include problem solving, communication, influence, and collaboration”(p. 2). With those skills, the

The nurse unable to convince a physician of a patient’s failing health status, can result in harm to the patient. Nurses’ and physicians’ have different styles of communication and gender differences that play a primary role in this constraint (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). Another constraint would be nursing management’s lack of support for a staff member. The nursing supervisor could have assessed Mrs. Kelly with Joanna and suggested a more detailed assessment, and possibly contacting the house physician. She herself could have called the resident and insisted that he come evaluate Mrs. Kelly’s condition or contacted the house physician. Institutional constraints that may apply here is the hospital’s lack of shared decision making processes that promote and support the nurse as the patient’s advocate. Also, Management that does not support a culture of

Was the patient’s best interest at heart? Or was the physician trying to avoid a negative outcome? This is where collaboration among healthcare teams is vital to patient care and upholding patient wishes. Ultimately it is a nurse’s responsibility to advocate for the patient not only in respecting their wishes but communicating all available knowledge so that all parties involved can make and educated decision.

Between June 1980 to March 1981 four babies died at Toronto Children's Hospital. In the cardiac ward 4A and 4B was where is was happening. They were suspicious at first but declared there wasn’t a problem. In January 1981 the first victim that stood out was four-month old Janice Estrella, her autopsy showed high Digoxin level. Digoxin is a controlled drug that increase circulation and slows heart rate. Next victim happened in March of 1981 his name was Kevin Pacsai only twenty-three days old even though his condition wasn’t even life threatening, however the nurse failed to convince the doctors to attend to Kevin Pacsi even though he was struggling the morning of his death. Kevin’s autopsy came back and showed high dosage of Digoxin. After Kevin Pacsai and Janice Estrella died the connor called the police he suspected that there is a killer. Allana Miller also died of Digoxin poison. After Allan miller died they locked up the Digoxin and be administered on emergency situations

According to the scenario given in example 2, the new nurse on the unit is facing an ethical dilemma by being asked to violate the code of ethics. This scenario regarding the preceptor telling the nurse to violate policy and chart that blood draws were done correctly is violating provision 3. Specifically, if the nurse interjects and decides to not draw the blood cultures too close together and from the same site, it upholds provision 3.5 Protection of patient health and safety by acting on questionable practice. The American Nurses Association code of ethics (2015) states, “Nurses must be alert to and must take appropriate action in all instances of incompetent, unethical, illegal, or impaired practice or actions

A discussion regarding the health care reform or even health care in general can be somewhat controversial. The definition of health is drastically different depending on whom you speak to. Many would define health as " a person's absence of disease, others would describe good health based on the status of mind, body & social well-being" (GCU Lecture, module 2, 2012). According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, health is defined as "The overall condition of an organism at a given time". An individual's overall health affects the nation, this is where stakeholders come into value. According to Keele, Buckner & Bushnell a stakeholder is either an individual or an organization that either invest time and

The debate to find the perfect balance of nurse to patient ratio continues between healthcare workers and legislators. According to an article in Modern Healthcare magazine, “Got enough nurses?” Nurse groups cite a Kentucky case to support push for staffing ratio laws,” nurses attending to a dozen or more patients at a time is “physically impossible” (Rice, 2015). Rice reports statements made by Gerard Brogan, lead nursing practice representative for the California Nurses Association, Pamela Cipriano, president of the American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association, Jan Emerson-Shea, vice president of external affairs for the California Hospital Association, Peter Buerhaus, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Doctor Christine Cassel, CEO of the National Quality Forum, Bonnie Castillo, director of the Registered Nurse Response Network for National Nurses United union, Linda Aiken, director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania, discussing research and other insights into the hardships of large nurse to patient ratios. As nurses continue to research and present data to contest the high patient to nurse ratios, hospitals push back with confronting data and research; both unable to reach an agreement.

This is a very interesting story and a victorious one too. Maternal-child nurses are faced with complex dilemma that requires careful consideration. This couple would have been disappointed if they wife had finally ended up getting epidural injection after laboring for hours. I am glad you used your critical thinking to advocate for this family. Our job is to do what is best for our patient.

The role of ethics in organizational behavior is the underlying factor to the success and longevity of any organization. A set of rules and guidelines focusing on promoting safety, trust, and responsible practice within the workplace must be established internally. Organizations develop code of ethics that center upon the promotion of good. Ethics are vital in developing trusting relationships between employees and administration within.

The ethical dilemma is a situation by which it’s difficult to determine whether a situation is can be handled without disappointing both sides. Therefore, an ethical dilemma exists when the right thing to do is clear or when members of the healthcare team cannot agree on the right thing to do. Ethical dilemmas require negotiation of different points of view (potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall 2011pg 78).

There are two interesting stories I would like to mention before I start. The first one is called “Bisclavret” written by Marie de France. This is a story about a baron named Bisclavret who regularly turned into a werewolf, was betrayed by his wife, but finally regained all his status and honor back by showing loyalty to the king. The second story is a gothic literature named “The Old Nurse’s Story” written by Elizabeth Gaskell. This story is mainly about how the first person narrator Miss Hester and her little Rosamand strive to survive in the haunted mansion and how they get to know the secrets of the ghosts. In this writing I will compare the two different narration