The Ethical Issues Of Nurses

Florence Nightingale, considered the founder of modern nursing, first began to establish nursing as a profession during the Crimean War. Since then, nursing theorists have continued to expand on the thought that patients are made up of more than just the symptoms they present with, Abraham Maslow, Carl Jung, Dr. Larry Dossey and Dorothy Johnson, but none more so than Jean Watson. She developed a theory of human caring that contained several core concepts, these concepts lay forth the ground work for how we, as nurses, should care for a patient. These concepts included transpersonal caring relationships (going beyond ego to higher “spiritual” caring

The nursing profession has progressed greatly since it roots with Florence Nightingale, moving from reliance upon total medical direction for providing basic care and “the first duty of the nurse it that of obedience-absolute fidelity to his orders, even if the necessity of the prescribed measures is not apparent, you have no responsibility beyond that of faithfully carrying out the directions received” (Jennifer C. Telford), into an autonomous practice with its own nursing theory practices, models, and interventions.

In clinical setting, nurses face ethical dilemmas everyday. There is no perfect answer to ethical dilemmas in clinical area. It is important to identify ethics related situation, work as a team to address these problems and provide support for patient and families. Dealing with dilemmas is not just a nursing issue. But the role and function of nurses could affect whole team member and their patients too. In the given scenario, two different views of parents for the sick child create dilemmas. Mother (biological parent) insists that no medical treatment for religious reasons but in the other hand father (biological parents) insist for medical treatment and consultation. This paper discusses the ethical dilemma of given scenario and the solution by using Uustal’s ethical decision making.

Nursing as health care provider every day facing multiple challenges in decision making to provide a good care, that parallel to ethical competency which reflect nurses critically best ethical behavioral practice (Cannaerts, Gastmans & Casterle, 2014). Furthermore, nursing ethics teaching nowadays appear highly importance, because of many argumentative and debatable issues in clinical practice become a challenge for nurses to make a balance decision with patient care.

Care can be considered simply an ethical task and thus a burden of one more thing to do, or it can be considered a commitment to attending to and becoming enthusiastically involved in the patient’s needs (Lachman, 2012). It is important for nurses to understand their role as a patient care provider and the commitment to providing the best care possible that is safe and effective. The commitment to preserving and respecting the patient’s autonomy is one key ingredient in maintaining a good nurse/patient relationship. A nurse must also ensure that the patient is being informed and consulted about his treatment and plan of care regardless of the patient’s decision-making capacity. Protecting patient’s privacy and confidentiality is one way of gaining the trust and confidence of the patient. There will always be an ethical issue in the nursing field that comes daily in which a nurse must make a decision. This ethical decision will be affected by many factors including their own personal values and beliefs; however, the code of ethics set by the organization provides the nurse a tool guide in which they can base their ethical decisions on. It also provides the nurse guidance for legal and ethical responsibility to the patients. Geriatric nurses may encounter difficult ethical issues in patient care but proper ethical training class for elderly care and geriatric education will better equipped them to confront the ethical issues and dilemmas they are likely to encounter in nursing homes. With education qualification, knowledge and compassion, nurses, can make conscious, moral choices that have long lasting impact on the

Everyday many nurses remove their private hats at the door to transform into an advocate for patients whom they’ve never met or may never see again. Nurses choose nursing as a profession to make a difference in their patient’s life. Florence Nightingale, a pioneer who defined the evolution of her philosophy in nursing by anticipating the needs of her patients, advocating on their behalf when they could not speak for themselves and educating the public about her theologies (Masters, 2017, pp. 51-52). The core of my philosophy of nursing is compassion. Compassion is the key component of professional nursing; it renders hope, loves selfless, and displays acts of kindness regardless of race, color, creed, sex, or economic status. An integral parent of my nursing is taking time to adequately and compassionately assess where my patient is psychologically and giving them my undivided attention to listen to their concerns, educate them about their illness and allow them to make informed choices about their care. Compassion delineates my personal existence and places the physiological, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs of my patients above my own within my professional practice.

Nightingale was a member within the profession of nursing as she was a founder and changed the face of the nursing profession. She utilized ethical behaviors based on the Code of Ethics for Nurses when providing care. She believed that you should uphold your ethical standards when treating patients, to do no harm to them, and to treat them with respect and veracity. According to Nightingale’s assumptions, the nurse should be observant and confidential (Parker 2006). Confidentiality should always be practiced when treating the patient. Only persons directly involved in that particular patient’s care should know what is going on with that

Nightingale believed that patients needed a good environment in which to recover and that nurses needed to help make this happen. She argued that patients needed things like good light and fresh air. She felt they needed sufficient food and clean water to drink.

Nurse professionals may become susceptible to a variety of license issues if the standard care of nursing practice is not executed. Nurses must adhere to institutional protocols, ethical principles and responsibilities that come with the profession. Safety needs to be implemented cautiously and is top priority when nurses render patient care. Legal actions may be taken towards the nurse’s license if failure to perform occurs. An example of a nurse license issue would be malpractice. Malpractice is unethical nursing conduct that involves performing unskillful patient care, exposing the patient to danger (Hogan, 2009). Common unethical conduct includes failure to communicate, mediation errors, and improper documentation that may jeopardize

Therefore, this reason is why ethical decisions have to be made carefully. In order to know what to do in this situation, a nurse needs to investigate the matters carefully in terms of the action involved, its outcomes and the situation in which it takes place. Once the nurse has understood these points, they can make the final decision.

Since the time of Florence Nightingale, it was made possible for nurses to be valued members of society who not only promote patient well-being but also provide a safe and caring environment for the healing process. Nightingale found that effective use of patient advocacy greatly enhances the care-giving environment (Reed, Fitzgerald & Rae, 2016). Through the study of Nightingale’s many letters and publications, researchers have been able to identify her professional goals and successful techniques, that she was one who valued populist human rights and created authority standards and practices that give helpful support systems to nurses practicing in the 21st century (Wellard, 2014). Florence

In the early 1800s nursing was looked at as a position held by people that were dishonest, unfavorable and illiterate. This all changed after Florence Nightingale entered the nursing field. According to Lee, Clark and Thompson (2013) Nightingale’s core purpose was cleanliness. She was able to introduce sanitary and hygienic practices as basic nursing skills, which consisted of fresh air and light and clean linens and surroundings. This also brought about the idea that nursing would not bring additional injury to the patient. She required nurses that worked with her and under her adhere to strict code professionalism. If they could not follow that code, they were sent home. As Florence 's career advanced, her ideas and expectations became public. This would lead to the British government honoring her for sustaining life through her practices and teaching. Using the discipline she had promoted, she then moved towards opening her own school for nurses. For over the last 100 years, Florence Nightingale has inspired nursing at its very foundation. Her ethics and principals have set standards in the nursing profession more than any other person.

In the early 1800s, nursing was considered as a position held by people that were dishonest, unfavorable and illiterate. This all changed after Florence Nightingale entered the nursing field. According to Lee, Clark and Thompson (2013), Nightingale’s core purpose was cleanliness. She introduced sanitary and hygienic practices as basic nursing skills, which consisted of fresh air, light and clean linens and surroundings. These brought about the idea that nursing would not bring additional injury or compromise the safety of the patient. She required nurses that worked with and under her to adhere to a strict code of professionalism. If they could not follow that code, they were sent home. As her career advanced, her ideas and expectations became public. This led to the British government honoring her for sustaining life through her practices and teaching. Using the discipline she had promoted, Nightingale then moved towards opening her own school for nurses. For over the last 100 years, Florence Nightingale has inspired nursing at its very foundation. Her ethics and principals have set standards in the nursing profession more than any

Florence Nightingale is a woman with endless wisdom and timeless insight, which she has shared with the world. Born in 1820 in Florence, Italy, to a wealthy family, Nightingale was blessed with the privilege of education and money. She worked as a nurse, an educator, statistician, environmental activist and healer. Nightingale had great passion for all of her work and was honored with the title of the first recognized nursing theorist. Much of modern day nursing has been influenced and defined by those theories of Florence Nightingale. A nursing theory is defined as a concept that provides a framework for nursing. There are four main components associated with nursing theory; person, environment, health and nursing. Person refers to the patient that the nurse is interacting with and can include more than one person including families and small groups. Environment defines the space in which the nurse-patient interaction is occurring. This can include hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and schools. Health refers to the continuum of optimal health, which as humans we each hold a specific level of optimal health. Lastly, nursing refers to the nursing plan that is adapted to each patient. The nurse must use assessment and diagnosis to create a care plan that will effectively help the patient reach their optimal level of health. Each nurse should develop a nursing theory, which they base their practice off of. Nightingale has defined the profession of nursing, written profound

“Nightingale was committed to empiricism. Theories could not simply be ideas thought up by the mind, but must be validated and verified by real life experience. In fact, this is the only way to obtain knowledge”(Selanders, 2010, p. 86). Therefore, Nightingale 's leadership style was extremely knowledge based experience, her theory is a framework designed to organize knowledge and explain phenomena in nursing which continues to provide guidance to modern nurses today, at the most concrete and specific level.