This paper aims to identify some of the ethical issues in geriatrics, a focus on health care of elders, and to be able to understand the difficult ethical challenges in elder populations. In order to provide the highest level of care that is safe and effective, the health care team needs to understand that their main point should be the best interest of the elders while providing appropriate care to enhance the quality of life in the latter days of their lives.
Ethical Challenges in Geriatrics
Nursing profession provides an opportunity to make a direct impact for the common good of humanity; it is a tough and stressful job. Nurses face ethical challenges on a daily basis regardless of where they practice. They have to
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Care can be considered simply an ethical task and thus a burden of one more thing to do, or it can be considered a commitment to attending to and becoming enthusiastically involved in the patient’s needs (Lachman, 2012). It is important for nurses to understand their role as a patient care provider and the commitment to providing the best care possible that is safe and effective. The commitment to preserving and respecting the patient’s autonomy is one key ingredient in maintaining a good nurse/patient relationship. A nurse must also ensure that the patient is being informed and consulted about his treatment and plan of care regardless of the patient’s decision-making capacity. Protecting patient’s privacy and confidentiality is one way of gaining the trust and confidence of the patient. There will always be an ethical issue in the nursing field that comes daily in which a nurse must make a decision. This ethical decision will be affected by many factors including their own personal values and beliefs; however, the code of ethics set by the organization provides the nurse a tool guide in which they can base their ethical decisions on. It also provides the nurse guidance for legal and ethical responsibility to the patients. Geriatric nurses may encounter difficult ethical issues in patient care but proper ethical training class for elderly care and geriatric education will better equipped them to confront the ethical issues and dilemmas they are likely to encounter in nursing homes. With education qualification, knowledge and compassion, nurses, can make conscious, moral choices that have long lasting impact on the
Studies have shown that many factors have been contributing to influence patient’s care in an ethical manner. What factors could affects one decision for their medical care? Does it also included the nurse’s individual views or should consider their moral obligations? But what is ethics really is? Based on the book Nursing Ethics by Butts & Rich, “Ethics is a systematic approach to understand, analyze, and distinguish matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and deplorable as they relate to the well-being”. Ethics should follow the current AMA guidelines.
Nursing is a career that is governed by a set of ethical principles. The duties of a nurse consist of care and support and its important that nurses are aware of their professional ethics. These principles are put into place to uphold and maintain moral values in healthcare. The American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics for nurses consists of nine provisions, outlined in the Code of Ethics for nurses with Interpretive Statements. These provisions are constructed to blueprint the role and responsibilities of a nurse. The chosen provisions being discussed will refer to the three main principles of patient autonomy, patient confidentiality, and patient rights.
Ethical practice is another component of the social contract of nursing which is a reflection of the values, beliefs and moral principles of the nursing profession. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has established the “Code of Ethics for Nurses” which serves as a “guideline” for the nursing profession in which clinical judgements and
The topic of ethics is prevalent in health care and addresses a broad range of topics in nursing. In almost every interaction with a patient there could be a situation that may bring up the question of ethics. Fortunately, there is the realization that placing the nurse in the care of a patient, may put the medical personnel in an environment where the ethics are questioned. There are whole departments dedicated to advising nurses in these situations. There are also ethic committees to help guide you when you find yourself in a situation that may question your practice or circumstances.
As the nursing profession progresses throughout the years, its nature becomes more complex in meeting the professional standards and codes of ethics that are required by all nurses. The American Nurses Association has a specific code of ethics that each nurse should follow and adopt as their own beliefs. The public and the patients should be the priority when providing care in the healthcare setting. The knowledge and education that nurses’ gain is valuable and allows them to encourage health, avoid illness, restore health, and aid in coping for those who are all ill. (LeMone, pp.192) Given that the code of ethics is put into place, there are many registered nurses who violate these codes in various situations. The following will discuss
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is an organization with a strong ethical foundation. Nurses in general are known as an honest and trustworthy profession in the United States. This reputation was created because of nursing organizations like the ANA. In this paper the ANA’s goals are described and tied to their ethical principles. The role and importance of the ANA’s ethical values are explored. A discussion of the ANA’s culture and ethical decision making is described. The ANA’s ethical values and how they support author’s ethical views is explained and last the ANA’s social responsibility to the community.
Nurses are facing many legal or ethical dilemmas in their career. Nurses should combine knowledge of ethical and legal aspects of health care and professional values into nursing practice. It is very essential to know what kind of dilemmas nurses may face during their profession and how they have been dealt with in the past.
The history of ethics has been around for a long time. Nurses have an ethical obligation to care for patientsand do no harm. Ethical conflicts and dilemmas occur every day in the health care world. “Ethics is defined as the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession”(FARLEX, 2011).The nurse should have the adequate skills and experience to provide great care to the patient. Nurses should always accept their moral and responsibilities that come along with their job and
Nursing is not an easy job and those who chose it as their profession are truly special people. Nurses are confronted with ethical decisions that need to be made on a daily basis. Often they know the right thing to do but because of circumstances like institutional structure and conflicts with others, obstacles are created and distress ensues (Jenner, 2001). It is during times like these that nurses must rely on the training that they have received as well as the code of ethics that has been set down for their profession in order to do the right thing.
Nurses are faced with ethical issues and dilemmas on a regular basis. Nurses must understand his or her values and morals to be able to deal adequately with the ethical issues he or she is faced with. Some ethical issues nurses are exposed to may be more difficult than others and the ethical decision making process is learned over time.
There are many different careers which entail much more than just a particular degree from some type of post-secondary education program. Typically, all careers have a specific code and level of ethics which are incorporated into the daily responsibilities one is expected to perform in their chosen field. For the basis of this paper, I have chosen to write about the nursing code of ethics. Nursing has a professional code along with the level/employee behavior usually being currently attainable, which means that the behavior expected is normally exhibited by individuals. (Manias 508). However, although nursing seems to require behavior that is “normally” exhibited and tends to be one of the most popular medical fields, there are numerous amounts of ethical issues which have emerged in this field of work since the few being noted in Florence Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing. (Ulrich et al. 2).
Ethical issues in nursing will always be an ongoing learning process. Nurses are taught in nursing school what should be done and how. Scenarios are given on tests with one right answer. However, there are situations that nurses may encounter that may have multiple answers and it is hard to choose one. “Ethical directives are not always clearly evident and people sometimes disagree about what is right and wrong” (Butts & Rich, 2016). When an ethical decision is made by a nurse, there must be a logical justification and not just emotions.
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
Ethics is an essential aspect of health care practice and those working in the nursing profession are often subject to frequent ethical dilemmas. It is essential for all nurses to be aware of the importance of ethics in health care and to practice within the ethico-legal parameters that govern the profession. However, while this is relatively easy in theory, ethics is not a black and white subject and often one’s culture, upbringing, attitudes and beliefs can influence what one views as ethical and this can therefore influence practice. This report will discuss the importance of ethics in nursing practice. The definition of ethics will firstly be presented followed
he Nursing profession is an organized and evidence based practice that focuses on the care of individuals, and the promotion of optimal health. Nurses are usually trained to recognize the physical/moral health of their patients as well as identify the symptoms of certain bodily illnesses. They also provide, direct patient care, prevent disease, promote health, and help patients manage their illness. Nurses are health educators as well as patient advocates. As a prospective nurse and based on the knowledge I have acquired from this class through the class readings, forums, essays, and course resources, I have learned being a charitable and prudent nurse comes with tremendous responsibilities, issues, compliance, and challenges. I have also learned that the nursing and health care profession could be faced with very challenging ethical issues and dilemmas and if proper thoughts, considerations, and decisions are not taken, many things could go wrong.