Summary: Ethical Impact Of Proposed Policy

The ethical theory that underpins one’s perspective on nursing staff shortage is the utilitarianism theory since staffing of the healthcare facilities would lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It would be important to put into place measures that bring little harm to the fewest people. As an advocate of utilitarianism, one would like to see the consequences that result from the actions of the policymakers rather than goodwill towards other people. The utilitarianism theory assists in decision-making regarding public policy development. As such, policymakers’ presumed goal that whatever money is appropriated will further the general good of society.

In the Code of Ethics for Nurses provision 4 states “The nurse has authority, accountability, and responsibility for nursing practice; makes decisions; and takes action consistent with the obligation to promote health and to provide optimal care.” This was not done, there was no regard for human life. The patients in the hospital were treated as a burden. A meeting was held where the doctors agreed that

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

“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

Although the concept of principles guiding right and wrong conduct is not new to nursing, professional ethics has received increasing attention in nursing circles. Professionals such as nursing require a code of ethics on which practice can be based and evaluated (Black , 2017). There are sic ethical principles based on human dignity and respect: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity. Today, I will talk about two ethics that nurses have to face a lot in patient care: beneficence and fidelity.

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

In an article published by Applied Nursing Research the authors point out that nurse staffing is related to patient outcomes, “lower levels of RN staffing are associated with higher rates of OPSN (Outcomes Potentially Sensitive to Nursing) in both medical and surgical patients treated in hospitals, U.S. Medicare, and other publically available administrative data” (Duffield et al., 2011, p. 245). The writer of this paper researched 5 relevant articles regarding the relationship between nurse to patient ratio, morbidity, and mortality, every article related similar information. “A systematic review of 102 studies concluded that increased RN staffing levels are associated with lower rates of morbidity and mortality” (Ball, Murrells, Rafferty, Morrow, & Griffiths, 2013, p. 2).

A few nurses expressed their concern of patients’ losing confidence in the nursing staff. One nurse stated, “Patients want nurses to talk to them, they need to feel safe…if you stay with him for 5 minutes doing a procedure and not listening, next time he will not talk to you, he will be afraid to ask, will not want to bother you because you are busy…”(Nurse 7 from the test group). The findings in this research support the view that nurses work in complex environments that tend to give priority to medical or technical interventions, whereas establishing caring relationships with their patients is of secondary importance. Limited resources will always generate difficult decisions along with ethical and moral choices. The nursing profession needs to analyze and openly discuss the criteria used for rationing and at which point and for which tasks nurses accept or reject rationing and its’ repercussions. Prioritization in nursing needs to be recognized as a major patient safety issue and openly discussed at a policy level.” (Papastravrou, Andreou, & Vryonides, 2014, page

First is the principal of beneficence which “requires nurses to act in ways that benefit patients” (Burkhardt, 2014, p.69). This principle tells us that one should promote good, prevent harm and remove evil or harm.

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

As an individual’s ethics will play a large part in their practice, there are specific guidelines and legislation that exist to ensure that nurses, as well as other health professionals, practice in a way that is ethical (Avery, 2013). These laws further exists to attempt to simplify the ethical issues that sometimes present in nursing practice and to attempt to guide one’s actions. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) provides guidance to nurses by providing a number of professional codes and guidelines (Avery, 2013). The NMBA has developed a code of ethics for nurses comprising of eight codes (Avery, 2013). These are as follows; 1) Nurses value quality nursing care for all people; 2) Nurses value respect and kindness for self and others;

Codes of ethics contain a coherent set of normative principles underlying a nurse’s purpose and associated values (Vanlaere and Gastmans, 2007). Two perspectives of ethics are the ethics of justice and the ethics of care (Botes, 2000). The ethics of justice constitutes an ethical perspective in terms of which ethical decisions are made on the basis of universal principles and rules, and in an impartial and verifiable manner with a view to ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of all people (Botes, 2000). The ethics of care, on the other hand, constitutes an ethical approach in terms of which involvement, harmonious relations and the needs of others play an important part in ethical decision making in each ethical situation (Botes, 2000).

Nurses strive to provide quality patient care and ensure patient safety. It is both a job and an ethical obligation for nurses to provide “safe, compassionate, competent, and ethical care” (CNA, 2008). However, some situations such as an overbearing workload can make this very difficult. This system of dedication to care puts many in the field in a moral dilemma. Studies have shown that upon investigation, this is a common problem facing many in the health field. Increasing workload on nurses has a direct correlation to patient safety, which is a big problem in both our country and globally (paraphrased Davies, Hebert, & Hoffman, 2003, p.12). A national research project by Baker et al.

In conclusion, nursing care are based on ethical considerations about humanity, health and life. Due to unlimited patient needs and limited resources, rationing is somewhat expected to happen, either implicitly or explicitly