Nursing Ethics Case Study

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

A nurse owes a duty to her profession's own code of ethics. Patient autonomy, justice, and respect for patients' dignity are central to nursing practice. The Canadian Nurses' Association (CNA), through the publication of the codes of ethics for nurses, calls upon nurses to

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.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics provides many professional traits that can be incorporated to an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals such as compassion and respect, advocacy, accountability for nursing practice and participation in advancement of the nursing career (Cherry, 2011). Compassion is a very important aspect of the nursing profession. It would be very difficult to be a nurse without being compassionate. Nurses demonstrate compassion and respect daily in their work by actively listening to patients’ and family members’ problems and concerns and by empathy when appropriate. Advocacy is a nursing trait constantly used by the entire interdisciplinary team. Nurses advocate for patients’ right of autonomy for decision making in regards to their care, treatments and procedures. Also, nurses are in the best position to serve as a bridge between the patient and the interdisciplinary team. Accountability is so essential in the nursing profession. Nurses are accountable for their own nursing practices and for our patients.

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

Butts and Rich (1-26) point out that effective nursing requires both broad knowledge and a set of well developed abilities and skills. The required tasks, are many and varied and in order to do them properly, care must be taken to respect each patient's rights and sensitivities. This is why, according to the authors, nursing care must be guided by a code of ethics. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and discussion of the "Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements" developed by the American Association of Nurses (ANA 1-2).

In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also

`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

Patient X, a nineteen-year-old female with a history of sexual assault and multiple diagnoses of mental health issues was admitted to a surgical unit (to recover from surgery) following an “unsuccessful suicide attempt”. Her primary nurse as well as other unit nurses continually referred to the patient as “crazy” and labelled her as a “difficult” patient. Nurses engaging in stigmatizing behaviour such as this, ultimately leads to compromised patient safety and a decreased quality of nursing care, therefore the issue I have identified within this situation is ethical practice. According to the CNO, stigmatizing patients is unethical nursing practice as it negatively impacts the patient’s wellbeing and safety. This issue is complicated in that

Nurses are expected to help implement the patient’s individualized plan of care in pursuit to optimize the patient’s health condition, advocate for equality of healthcare treatment, promote autonomy with the patient as well as utilize autonomy his/herself. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses are to use the ethical standards as a model to ensure nursing practices are appropriate and beneficial to patients’ health.

While on your first clinical placement, you suspect that one of the registered nurses you are working with is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Discuss this professional and ethical issue and what you will do.

Ethics play a major role in the nursing profession on a daily bases. In the case study, the ethical principles involved were beneficence, veracity, confidentiality, and vulnerability. Beneficence is defined as doing good for a patient by removing or preventing harm. The child will be removed from the abusive situation, and she will no longer be susceptible to physical or sexual abuse (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). Veracity principle is when the nurse tells the truth. In this situation, the nurse is obligated to report the abuse to the appropriate organization. This ensures open communication and respect between both parties. Confidentiality principle is defined as the patient’s information about medical and personal issues will be secured

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).

Background The scenario in question involves a patient called Karen. We are looking at this issue from the eyes of an RN on a medical surgical ward. Karen is 20 years old, female, and has been admitted for a series of bruises and cuts. Some of the cuts are so severe they require antibiotics. Karen is clearly in pain, but also needs to vent and download information. You quiet her concerns the best way possible, but also have other patients to attend. During the course of your shift, you notice another nursing colleague intentionally engaging Karen. When you check on the situation, the feeling is tenuous and the patent responds to the question as opposed to the colleague, suggesting something conspiratorial in their behavior.