Six-Step Decision-Making Model

It is important to know that the task a nurse performs is within the scope of practice. So that a nurse can perform his/her task in a permitted way safely.

Decision making is defined as "the cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among alternatives" (Decision Making, 2006, para. 1). Decisions are made continually throughout our day.

The purpose of this post is to discuss the nurse’s scope of practice. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has established guidelines to provide nurses a safe parameter to work within, while also protecting the patient. These laws are based on the competency, knowledge, judgment, and skills required by nurses in order to provide safe care for the public (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2015). It is imperative that nurses know their scope of practice within their state to avoid being charged with a violation of the Nurse Practice Act (Wilkinson & Treas, 2011). I will be discussing my states scope of practice in this posting.

Nurses play many roles in the healthcare field, can have many duties to fulfill under their licensure. It is important for a nurse of any degree, or licenses to know all of the duties that can be performed under their scope of practice. Olin (2012) states, “Scopes of practice are the same for every nurse at a basic level and very different by specialty.” Therefore, it is important to understand the scope of practice, that the nurse is licensed for. A nurse has many roles under the scope of practice that the nurse is licensed under. There are times when a nurse is asked to perform a task that isn’t under the nurse’s scope of practice and guidelines, and it is very important not to fulfill the task at hand if it

According to American Nurses Association (ANA), (2010) “the nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the heath, safety and right of the patient” (p. 6). Nursing responsibilities should be acted at the highest standard and must be based on legal and ethical obligations.

In my experience as student nurse during clinical placements and as a PCA, I engaged, selected and prioritized patient safety. I can clearly communicate the evidence base (strength and type) for the patient safety practice topic(s) and the conditions or setting to which it applies. I am aware that being engaged in adopting patient safety initiatives when I understand the evidence base of the practice, in contrast to administrators saying, “We must do this because it is an external regulatory requirement.” However busy the my work may be, I clearly know the importance of the evidence-based rationale for doing fall-risk assessment and I understand that fall-risk assessment is an external regulatory agency expectation because the strength of the evidence supports this patient safety practice.

They are responsible for what seems like everyone and everything. However, nurses have all the tools they need to be effective and safe nurses early on. The standards of precautions are one of those tools nurses are taught that aids them in protecting every patient they care for, including him or herself. Regardless of the patient’s health status, the nurse should use their better judgment when implementing care. In order to prevent interruption in the chain of infection, nurses are to adhere to the standards of precautions by thinking critically when providing patient care. No matter how presumably capable or experience a colleague may be, evidence-based practice proves that standard precautions are greatly impacting the nursing field. Nurses need to stick to their guns and not compromise their beliefs for fear of being the odd man out. The more the nurse implements those practices in their everyday routine the more it will become second nature. By gaining knowledge of the importance of standard precautions, the nurse will in turn become more compliant and adherent, and be better suited to provide effective quality care to all

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how safety in the nursing profession affects the nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing research. Safety in the nursing profession means to minimize the risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performances (QSEN, 2014). Patient safety is a very important aspect in the profession of nursing. It is the nurse’s job to keep up to date with their patients and to make sure that protocol is being followed at all times. To maintain this strategy, the nurse must show proper knowledge of a nurse, skills of a nurse, and also a professional attitude.

When nurses are held to a professional standard, staffing becomes safer and more efficient. The professional standard created by the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics (ANACEN) for Nurses is commonly used. The standard is made up of nine points that ensure patients will receive the highest quality of care. The purpose of the standard is to determine whether nurses have the assets, abilities, responsibility, and expertise to make judgments concerning professional practice and optimum care for patients and families (Clevenger, et al. 2005). The goal of safe staffing is to provide optimal care for patients and the patients’ families, so facilities should invest in nurses with a high degree of professionalism who can

Nurses are undoubtedly one of the most trusted professionals worldwide. Patients, family members, and doctors entrust nurses to provide the utmost quality care to sick individuals. Top priorities of all nurses are advocacy for their patients: including advocating for their physical health, holistic welfare, and utmost importantly, their safety. Patient safety will always be the top priority when providing patient care. The nurse’s responsibility during every patient encounter is to ensure that each patient under her care, receives no harm. As a direct result of the previous statement, it is crucial that every nurse knows their rights to refuse unsafe patient assignments, the process to refuse unsafe patient assignments, and the legal or ethical ramifications that could present themselves if proper judgement is not used. By understanding these rules, nurses not only achieve the responsibility of advocating for patient safety but also safeguard their careers and license.

Recognizing the power of the nurse is important for clinicians and practitioners to understand. Maintaining a profession image is paramount in not distorting the main focus, which is patient care. Additionally, considering prior to acting, who’s at risk, and whether or not the action will affect the therapeutic needs of the patient is helpful in avoiding and preventing boundary violations (Catlin, 2013). When boundary crossing occur nurses should proceed with caution as these are perceptive actions to violations, and it becomes difficult to remain objective after a crossing has

“The definition of a health professional is a person who works to protect and improve people’s health by the diagnosis and treatment of illness to bring about a complete recovery from mental, physical and social perspectives, either directly or indirectly (Kurban, 2010, pg. 760).” Nurses in the community today have acquired an increasing responsibility to intervene with medical decisions. In the past, there were clear differences between nurses and doctors. It was more common for a nurse to be supervised directly under the physician. They are not just performing Doctor’s orders anymore. The nurse role in patient care has been widely expanded. Allegations against someone can be one of the most stressful moments of their careers. Negligence

Every academic discipline in any profession is governed by its rules and policies developed and prone to amendment from time to time after viewing or arises of an issue. Nursing as a profession practice and an academic discipline is however not an exemption to this (Lasater et al., 2015). The nursing practice has different policies governing the procedures, and that promotes health and wellbeing of the patients as well as creating a conducive environment for nurses and the people they interact with in delivery of their services such as medical therapists, technicians, among others (Blegen et al., 2007). These policies ensure that there is a smooth running of the activities for the nurses as well as the patients. There exists a broad array of policies, but in this paper, the registered nurse safe staffing Act system will be looked into particularly in Florida.

I choice to use the Seven Step Model of a Decision-Making Model for Resolving Ethical Issues in order to define what is ethical in this case study.

There are many different variations of healthcare professionals that assist people in regaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The career field of licensed nursing is often considered to be one of the most vital professions within the medical community. Registered nurses work to prevent and heal various different types of injuries, diseases, and illnesses. They are also responsible for administering a variety of patient services, consisting of individual patient care, analyzing and monitoring patient medical reports, and also possessing the ability to operate technical medical equipment. As well as, be able provide comfort and emotional support for both physically, and mentally ill patients. All Registered Nurses are responsible for providing patients with quality health care, in compliance with professional standards set forth by the American Nurses Association. As the field continues to rapidly evolve, an increase in responsibility is placed upon registered nurses to maintain a professional standard of care. With the increase in responsibility, the role of registered nurses consistently changes to accommodate individual patient needs. As a result, the rise in responsibility placed on registered nurses correlates to a higher probability of malpractice and negligence occurring within the community. The consequences of malpractice and negligence can