Nursing Ethics: A Case Study

As a registered nurse practicing in the state of California I am responsible for practicing within my states legal regulations and nursing scope of practice. My concern for the welfare of the sick and injured allows me to practice ethical provisions of nursing. These are required if I am to carry out competent and effective nursing care. Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals. Therefore, as health care professionals we must be familiar with the different philosophical forces, ethical principles, theories and values that influence nursing. At the same time, we must be respectful to our patient’s

Nurses face many challenging ethical situations in their nursing practice almost every day. They have to make difficult decisions for which there is not always an easy or ‘correct’ answer. Frequently, nurses can find themselves in a morally difficult position when having to make a decision about whether to act on perceptions of patients’ best interests or to follow the health care provider protocol or the doctors’ orders.

Humans often struggle to find the right answers in life. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is not always easy and one can be overwhelmed with the problems and ethical issues surrounding them. As a future healthcare professional, it is imperative to understand the role that ethics plays in nursing and how ethical dilemmas impact individuals. There are countless complex ethical issues that confront nurses during their careers and it is crucial they understand where their own values and beliefs lie. Euthanasia, DNR’s, end of life care, privacy, stem cell research and restraints are all great examples of some common ethical issues. “While there are many challenges facing nurses in the work environment (nursing short-age, mandated

An ethical dilemma is defined as a mental state when the nurse has to make a choice between the options and choices that he or she has at her disposal. The choice is a crucial task as the opting of the step will subsequently determine the health status of the concerned patient, hence it requires a great deal of wisdom along with proper medical and health training before any such step is opted as it is a matter of life and death. Strong emphasis should therefore be on the acquisition of proper knowledge and skills so that nurses do posses the autonomy to interact with patients regarding ethical issues involved in health care affairs and address them efficiently. It is normally argued that nurses are not provided sufficient

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

Ethics, the rules and principles that guide right behaviors or conduct, are foundational to the field of bioethics, which focuses on ethical issues in healthcare (Mclennon, Uhrich, Lasiter, Chamnes, & Helft, 2013). Nurses are faced with ethical decision making principles daily when caring for their patients, some days more than others. According to Yoder-Wise (2011), ethics may be distinguished from the law because ethics is internal to an individual, looks to the ultimate “good” of an individual rather than society as a whole, and concerns the “why” of one’s actions (p. 91). In this particular situation, the nurse has to decide if she will respect the wishes of the patient’s family members or be upfront and honest with her patient and

Oftentimes, I am asked the question of why I am a nurse, and truth be told, sometimes I don’t know the answer why I want to be a nurse. All I really know is that I have wanted to help those in need since I was a little girl. Time has really flown, I‘ve been a professional nurse for almost 26 years. When we discuss the topic of making ethical decisions today, I look to the very beginning of my nursing career. I was very happy to see my pediatric patients had been discharged home from their illness (e.g. fever, pneumonia, diarrhea, and infection disease etc) after we took good care of them. One day, the parents of a patient who was 2 year old boy with acute kidney

`Ethics' is defined as ."..the basis on which people...decide that certain actions are right or wrong and whether one ought to do something or has a right to something"(Rumbold, 1986). In relating `ethics' to nursing care, "Nursing decisions affect people... nurses have the power to good or harm to their patients" (Bandman et al, 2002). In this essay, the author will also identify the most important ethical principles and concepts of Evan's case, will outline the different stages of one's approach to ethical decision-making by utilising the "DECIDE Model for Ethical Decision-Making" founded by Thompson et al (2000) and will make a decision on the best course of action to take as a nurse in this

Nurses are faced with many ethical and legal issues, such as protecting and maintaining the patient privacy and confidentiality. “A dilemma can arise when confidential information is requested by family members or friends of the patient” (McGowan, 2012, p. 61). As nurses during our pinning ceremony we took the “the Nightingale Pledge promised to do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affair” (McGowan, 2012, p. 61). Protecting and maintaining patient confidentiality is a serious matter and you can be fined and faced with federal charges, if you are found guilty.

I told the resident, the nurse must be busy and I will remind her again. I left, and nervously went up to the cranky nurse and kindly reminded her the resident still needed his Tylenol. The nurse responded, with “yeah, I’ll get to it”, and walked anyway. Another thirty minutes went by and I watched that nurse assist other patients; which started to frustrate me. Again, I kindly reminded the nurse and she responded sternly and suggested that if I am so considered then I can give the patient the Tylenol myself; I was speechless. I was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant, and I know are not allowed to administer medication. I told the nurse, I didn’t mean to bother her but the resident, is reporting he is in pain. She responded with the idea that I should hand the patient the Tylenol because she was “busy” and it “was just Tylenol”. I told the nurse that I was not comfortable with that because that’s not in my scope of practice as a nursing assistant. The nurse responded with “well, I am busy, the patient is going to have to wait a little longer.” I was in the ethical dilemma, of do I notify someone of this situation; should I tell my boss; what should I

Another principle that is applicable here is the non-maleficence. It refers to the act of doing no harm to the patient and is central to the nursing ethics (Corvol et al., 2012). Non-maleficence in bioethics supports that the primary purpose of the healthcare workers is to not create further distress or harm (Butts & Rich, 2015). In this case scenario, the act of restraining and holding the Tim caused distress to him. On top of that, the breaking of the needle caused injury to the patient resulting in additional surgery and extended stay at the hospital. This action clearly violated the principle of non-maleficence. Another applicable theory here is Deontology. This theory is based on the duties or actions, rather than the consequences of those actions (Edwards, 2011). The actions of the nursing staff supports the theory of Deontology as they carried out their duty to administer medication; although, the consequences of the actions were detrimental to the patients. Apart from supporting the theory of Deontology, the medical staff were also following the principle of Beneficence. The moral principle of beneficence supports the actions that promote good and nurses are obligated to carry out the actions that would benefit the patient (Berman et al., 2014). Nonetheless, Berman and team warned that such actions can also pose a risk of doing harm, unintentionally.

The first issue is that an unmanageable workload contributed to the clinical incident to Mr. Lee. Although excessive workload might lead to clinical incidents, the way of management was more important for this case. Professional issue It is a responsibility for registered nurses that they need to grasp the situation accurately and make the best choice in order to ensure patient safety (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). In this case, close clinical observation was essential for all the patients in the ward.

The evidence I have chosen to prove this outcome is from a survey I took in PSY 40552: Counseling Theories and Dynamics, which I took in the spring of 2016, for outcome 5a. I have chosen this survey about, The Counselor: Person and Professional, because it has some answers that help to show some of the American Psychological Association ethical standards. When looking at the ethical standards it has five main principles: Beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, and respect for people’s rights and dignity” (EasyBib, 2017). In this specific example, I will focus on the principle involving respect for people’s rights and dignity.

Relevance to nursing practice: Children’s right in health care is related to ethical principles of autonomy, respect for self-determination and the right to decide about the course of their lives (Keatings and Smith, 2009). And it is nurses’ legal and moral duty to uphold those rights. So, right of children in health care decisions is relevant to nursing practice. Moreover, nurses advocate for their clients if they believe that the client’s health is going to be compromised due to the factors beyond their control and other’s decisions (Canadian Nurses Association, 2008). Nurses understand the children’s feeling, needs, wishes, belief, values and culture better since they work with them around the clock and always stand in the front line in the healthcare setting. Healthcare and health decision making are correlated. Health care procedure is not possible without the permission from care receiver and it is one’s sole right and freedom to choose or not to choose any health care treatment which he or she is to undergo. Further, nurses make sure that a child patient is provided care with

An eight month old girl arrives at an emergency room in which it was discovered that the child had bilateral fractures on her femur. The hospital determined that there was no child abuse present by having a conversation with the mother. They did not base this decision on anything other than the conversation with the mother. The mother informed them that the child complained about the condition after daycare and from this the hospital staff concluded that the child was not being abused. The problem within this case is that the hospital staff did not go to great lengths to verify the mother's story. If the mother would have been the source of the injures by abusing her child then the hospital could be held liable. Relying solely on the mother's statement could possible put both the hospital and the child at risk.