Moral Courage For A Nurse Named Emily

“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

Ethical knowing or the moral direction of nursing is focused on the nurses’ responsibility of knowing what out to be done and what is good and right (Carper, 1978). Ethical knowing “guides and directs how nurses morally behave in their practices” (Chinn & Maeona, 2011, p. 7). This nurse practices ethics by being a patient advocate and preserving his client's right to choose or refuse care. This patient advocacy will continue as this nurse advances to the role of APN.

Engulfed in a cloud of grey uncertainty, there are many situations that are blemished in the profession of nursing. Ethical dilemmas are often the most challenging to handle as they are interlinked with our own personal values and morals, requiring knowledge and attention to many factors (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, & Walton, 2014). Ethical predicaments will cross our paths daily and we need to utilize ethical frameworks, codes and our personal decision making to come to a well-informed conclusion. When we are in the midst of an uncertain quandary our human nature is tested, and we thoroughly scrutinise who we are ethically and morally. I am going to work through an ethical decision making model and discuss my journey with an encounter I have

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

A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).

I learned that as a nurse it is my duty to always consider my own well being, along with my patient’s. I must keep a high moral character both in the workplace and in my personal life. I must continue to educate myself and keep myself up to date with all the latest nursing practices and research. I must subject myself to peer review and evaluation. I must never let my personal feelings about a patient’s lifestyle affect my care for them. When met with a tough choice that places me in an ethical crisis I must keep a good head on my shoulders and always have my patient’s best interests in mind. If I feel that a situation at work is in direct conflict with my personal values or my oath to be an ethical nurse I must go through the proper channels to work through the problem.

Moral distress is experienced by nurses every day in today’s health care system. Moral distress has been found to be manifested as anger, frustration, guilt, loss of self-worth, depression, powerlessness and helplessness (Zuzelo, 2007, p. 346). Failure to recognize and manage moral distress is causing nurses to be “burned out” have high turnover rate, and even leaving nursing profession all together.

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.

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

Engulfed by a cloud of grey, there are many situations that are not unblemished in the profession of nursing. Ethical dilemmas are often the most challenging to handle as they are interlinked with our own personal values and morals, requiring knowledge and attention to many factors (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, & Walton, 2014). Ethical predicaments will cross our paths daily and we need to utilize ethical frameworks, codes and our personal decision making to come to a well-informed conclusion. When we are in the vicinity of an uncertain quandary our human nature is tested, and we thoroughly scrutinise who we are ethically and morally. I am going to work through an ethical decision making model

Ethics and Morals play an important role in the nursing profession; nurses are confronted with choices to make every day, and some of them more challenging than others. Ethics are affirmations between what it can be right or erroneous. For our society ethics is presented as a complex system of principles and beliefs. This system serves as an approach with the purpose of ensuring the protection of each individual within the society. On the other hand, morals are basic standards between what is right or wrong; each individual learns to identify these standards during the early stages of human development (Catalano, 2009). A person with morals is usually somebody who recognizes how to respond to the needs of another individual by giving care and keeping a level of responsibility while giving this care (Catalano, 2009).

In this script the authors describe and discuss moral courage in nursing; and explore personal characteristics that promote moral courage, including moral reasoning, the ethic of care, and nursing competence.

In every nurse’s career there are times when you have to decide when to do the right thing regardless of what you want to do. These decisions are not easy to make and often create ethical dilemmas. Situations will arise and nurses have a duty to protect the patients and themselves. This paper will outline a significant event in my practice that caused an ethical dilemma.

Ethical moral values are the fabric of human behavior. Nursing values influence nurses actions and goals. The nursing code of ethics was adopted in order to determine and define ethical values for nurses. Human dignity, privacy, justice, autonomy in decision making, commitment, loyalty, human relationship, compassion, fairness, responsibility, honesty and individual and professional competence are considered an integral part of the nursing profession. Nurses as members of the health system are responsible for patient’s care. Their knowledge of ethics allows them to conduct themselves appropriately. It is important that nursing professionals are able to give safe and ethical care in today’s changing world.

The nursing profession is a demanding field with a shortage ratio of nurses compared to patients. The main duty of a nurse is to provide quality of care that is essential the patient's main needs with respect, confidentiality, and good communication. However, due shortage of nursing staff it has caused problematic situations where nurses must question their moral judgment based on decision making and what benefits the patient. Studies have shown stress in the nursing field has contributed to ethical issues such as advocacy. Advocacy is the act of speaking or pleading on behalf of another. Patient advocacy is central to nursing and is implicitly or explicitly including in nursing code of ethics (Burkhardt & Nathaniel,