...Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing The nursing profession is very complex. Every day nurses deal with patients and medical care. There are some days when ethics and legal issues play a role. We were given examples of the legal complexities of nursing through two case studies we were to evaluate. For this paper we will discuss the legal responsibilities of nursing, how personal and societal values can influence ethical decision-making and how the ANA’s Code of Nursing Ethics would influence the final decisions. Legal Responsibilities of Nurses Nursing boards are governmental state agencies responsible for regulating the nursing practice. A nursing license obtained through state nursing boards validates that nurses have met standards for providing high quality care. Nurses are legally held accountable for administering medications accurately, educating patients and public on health issues, advocating for the patient regarding health care, and serving as a liaison between the patient and the physician. Professional standards are determined by Standards of Practice Acts and the American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics. As professionals, nurses must also be familiar with ethical responsibilities and protect the rights of their patients and families. As the definition of liability has continued to expand through the judicial system, courts of laws have placed higher standards on the profession of nursing. Many times professional...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing The American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Code of Nursing Ethics, personal and societal values, and legal responsibilities all influence the way we care for our patients, treat our co-workers, and take care of ourselves. Never the less, nurses need to make a distinction between their individual values and their professional ethics when caring for their patients. The American Nurses Association’s Code of Nursing Ethics is the cornerstone for nursing practice. Even though patients can still receive quality ethical care even if the code has never been read by the nurse, enhanced and complete nursing care is given when the nursing code of ethics is followed. The nursing code of ethics, according to Lachman, 2009, is the fundamental document for nurses and it provides a social contract with the patients we serve and acts as an ethical and legal framework for nurses, especially while the nurse is taking on more multifaceted roles and is involved in more complex ethical and legal situations. In the case of 55 year old Henry, the ANA’s Code of Nursing Ethics would influence a final decision in the following ways. The final decision would not be based directly on the nurse caring for Henry, but based on a healthcare team approach. It is the nurse’s responsibility to make sure that Henry’s family is fully informed of all possible choices. First, according to Lachman, 2009, the patient is not the only one involved in the nurse’s care. The nurse...
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...Implementing ethico-legal issues in nursing practice. Caldwell, E., Lu, H., & Harding, T. (2010). Encompassing multiple moral paradigms: a challenge for nursing educators. Nursing Ethics 17(2), 189-199. Retrieved August3, 2010, from Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition Database. Aim: As society becomes increasingly globalised, it is imperative to include international educational perspectives in the nursing profession (Robinson, Sportsman, Eschiti, Bradshaw and Bol, (2006). Caldwell, Lu & Harding (2010) argue that the quality of nursing care necessitates nurses to reflect on nursing ethics in relation to their individual principled way of life. Cadwell, Lu & Harding (2010) paper explores these ideas. Summary: The fundamental nature of professional development implies personal development (Glen, 2005). ‘Encompassing multiple moral paradigms: a challenge for nursing educators’, is an in-depth analysis of nursing ethical dilemmas; the efforts that are undertaken to implement professional development through reflection, self-monitoring and self-control; and the challenges for nurse educators to integrate the syllabus into real-life clinical practice situations. Caldwell, Lu & Harding (2010) study analyses nursing ethics, Chinese ethical philosophies, and Judeo/Christian traditions as they endeavour to demonstrate the real-life issues of morally conflicting situations in nursing practice within these groups and the possible legal consequences. Relevant to topic yes/no...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues Ethical and Legal Issues Faced with ethical and legal decisions on a daily basis, nurses must at times make some pretty tough decisions including how to proceed with care for an incapacitated patient with no advanced directive or how to proceed when called upon to testify against a current employer. The American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics is one of the main tools available for the nurse to utilize when it comes to making these tough decisions. The nurse may apply personal values as well as societal values to these cases in order to come to a sound, ethical decision. The legal aspects of each of these cases can have a profound effect on the continuing career of the nurse, a thorough evaluation is necessary to protect all involved. Finally, the nurse also carries a legal responsibility to her profession, workplace, patients, and self. Ethical and legal decision-making are complex but after a thorough assessment, the nurse can continue to make an ethically and legally sound judgment on how to proceed. Influence of the ANA Code of Nursing Ethics The ANA Code of Nursing Ethics is the first reference when deciding how to proceed with an incapacitated patient who has no advanced directive or how a nurse should react when called upon to testify against an employer in a negligence or malpractice case. This code, designed to assist the nurse in maintaining his or her ethical integrity as well as protect the nurse...
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...Dilemmas and D'Legals: Ethics and Law in Nursing Marsha Brice, Barbara Gong, Holly Lavely, Lindsey Talbot, Loveda Turnage NUR/391 August 6, 2012 Esther Van Baren Dilemmas and D'Legals: Ethics and Law in Nursing Every day nurses are confronted with situations that lead them to question their ethics and the legal duties of their profession. Both dilemmas are presented for examination and discussion in this class via two scenarios. In the first case scenario, the family of a victim of a hemorrhagic stroke must decide what measures they want the hospital staff to take to either sustain her life or if they want to deny any or all life-saving steps. In this instance, the father and children are at odds in their decision. The next case presents malpractice lawsuit scene where a nurse is called to testify on behalf of the patient against the negligent nurse and hospital. While these situations are vastly different, they share two inherent questions: What is the ethical thing to do? What is the nurse’s legal obligation? Each case study produced different legal questions. In the first case study the family of the patient could not agree on a course of action. There was no advance directive and the patient was not conscious. The husband of the patient in this case is the legal next of kin and is therefore legally responsible for making health care decisions for his wife when she is unable to do so. The children of the patient could challenge their father in court...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing NUR/391 Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing As nurses, it is our duty to advocate for our patients. At times, we are faced with personal and professional challenges that impact how and when we chose to advocate. It is imperative we have a healthy awareness of these potential challenges. Improvements in health care technology have provided patients with an array of treatment options as well as assumed or possible increased chance of survival. As a result, nurses are met with a rise in ethical decision making. This paper will discuss the legal, ethical, social, and personal factors that can impact our decision making process, with the focus on two specific case studies. American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics Role in Practice The American Nursing Association (ANA) has created a set of ethical standards for the profession of nursing to abide by, which is entitled the ANA Nursing Code of Ethics. The ANA Code of Ethics states that collaboration is central to the care nurses deliver and to their ethical commitment to the patient (Garity, 2005). In the end-of-life case study, the nurse (she) has an unwritten obligation to the patient; the family appears to be in conflict with how to proceed with the patient's medical treatment. The medical team has an obligation to give the family all of their options and possible outcomes. If the family remains in conflict, it would then be appropriate for her to refer the family to...
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...Legal principles Nurses like other healthcare professionals need to practice according to a complex web of federal and state statutes – while making decisions in an ethically responsible manner. Nurses tend to consider the ethical implications of their decisions to ensure their actions are in the interest of their patients and do not cause harm. At first glance, it may seem that making these decisions should be straightforward, but many situations are not clear-cut, and there are times when what seems legal is not ethical and vice versa. The nursing, legal principles fall on the licensure, federal and state laws, the practice scope and the expectation of professionalism. Their license and nursing standard offers a framework that stipulates...
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...Running head: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS Professional Ethics Paper Patrick Kelley University of Phoenix Health Law and Ethics NUR 478 Susan Lawson, RN, MS, CLNC July 18, 2010 Professional Ethics Paper The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationships between legal and ethical issues, identify personal values and professional ethics, examine ethical theories and principles, and apply these to current practice examples. Nurses face an ever-growing complexity within their practice as professionals. Understanding the relationship between legal and ethical issues and how to apply that understanding to every day practice is paramount for today’s professional nurse. This paper will further explore these ethical theories and principles while discussing how personal values affect an individual’s nursing practice. The Relationship Between Legal and Ethical Issues Nurses, as with any job, face challenges in order to accomplish the tasks of their role. This is one of the reasons that it is important to have a description that serves as guidance as to how the role is to be accomplished. Without such guidelines, it is likely that there will be a breach of established rules along the way to performing duties and accomplishing the job duties. In situations where one person exercises authority over another, there are important guidelines that define relationship between the two parties. Legal and ethical principles...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing NUR/391 July 28, 2013 Mary Nicks, MSN, RN Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing In this paper ethical and legal issues will be reviewed concerning the decisions and responsibilities of the nurse in the case of Marianne who has had a stroke and the decisions that the family is facing for treatment or end of life care. The legal and ethical issues in a malpractice case that occurred several years ago and the responsibility of the nurse to her employer, the nurse being sued, the client in question, and the institution’s client will be reviewed. The areas that will be reviewed include how the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics would influence a final decision in each case study, how personal and societal values can influence the ethical decision making, the fundamental legal aspects of each case study, and the legal responsibility of the nurse in the work setting. The ANA code of Ethics must be followed in practice and is an especially useful tool when there are difficult legal and ethical issues that arise in nursing practice. In the example of the malpractice case for negligence, as a witness to questionable practice, it is the nurse’s primary responsibility to protect the safety of the patient. Although the nurse was correct in reporting the episode to administration, she also had a duty to counsel the nurse about the inappropriate standard of care. The ANA is clear that when a nurse is aware of questionable practice...
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...Professional Ethics Paper Carolyn Smith HCS/478 August 15, 2011 Ann-Marie Peckham Professional Ethics Paper The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship among professional values, ethics, and legal issues. A person’s personal values and ethics can influence their professional values and ethics in the workplace. Finding the right balance between personal and professional views in the workplace will help foster a successful career. This paper will cover relationships between legal and ethical issues as well as personal values and professional ethics. Relationships between Legal and Ethical Issues According to Wacker-Guido & Watson (2010), there are eight ethical principles that nurses encounter when making decisions in clinical settings, autonomy, beneficence, no maleficence, veracity, justice, paternalism, fidelity, and respect or others. In other terms nurses have personal freedom, the right of self-determination, a duty to perform good actions, duty to prevent any harm for occurring to their patients, the obligation to tell the truth, treat all patients equally and fairly, allow others to make decisions for individual patients, keep promises and commitments they make, and to treat everyone with respect. Ethical values are influenced by personal feelings, and are interpreted differently depending on the beliefs of the individual. The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia defines the code of ethics for nurses as follows: The code of ethics for nurses was...
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...Ethical and Legal Aspects of Nursing NUR 391 September 19, 2011 Ethical and Legal Aspects of Nursing Nursing is an ever-changing profession that responds to diverse and complex issues of health maintenance, protection of patient safety, human rights, and dignity. Professional nurses are in a unique position as patient advocates, regardless of practice setting. Nurse’s face inherent ethical decisions making, and they are frequently involved in the ethical decisions both personally and professionally when ethical reason both for and against the choice are both equally desirable (Pierce, 1997). The ANA Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements offers a statement for every professional nurse’s ethical obligations and duties, ethical standard, and commitment to society (ANA, 2001). Nurse must continuously meet standards of care and the ANA Code of Ethics and uphold fundamental legalities. Taking a closer look into the nurses ethical responsibility and fundamental legalities associated with direct patient care and as it would apply in the case study case study of patient Marianne, a 79 year-old female, who is admitted to the emergency department with hemorrhagic stroke, a grave prognosis of recovery and no advance directive. This paper will discuss legal responsibilities of the registered nurse as witness in a malpractice case of a nurse colleague found negligent in following standards of nursing practice. “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient who is the...
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...ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES OF Nursing Many confusing factors make it a task to establish, monitor and sustain ethical and legal issues in nursing. Everyone has various personal views based on experiences of life, religion, education and political affiliations, all nurses should be aware about nursing laws and ethics and understand how nursing legal issues can affect them. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics is very influential to nurses because it is used as a framework for making ethical decisions with all aspects of health care. The foundation in any successful professional practice, are based on ethics, values, morals and principles from which the ANA Code of Ethics are formatted. Moral leadership in nursing is about professionalism, responsibility, accountability, and competency. Nurses have an obligation to preserve their patient’s values, beliefs and dignity, to assure optimal health care, personal well- being, and promote quality of life. In all aspect of nursing, nurses are role models, healthcare providers, patient advocates and are required to meet the needs of their patients. Which can be done by communicating openly and honestly, being fair and trustworthy, being proactive, and by putting patients first. Nurses are face with ethical dilemmas on a daily basic therefore, must examine their own personal and professional values and morals in order to maintain a caring and compassionate relationship with their patients. When complex ethical...
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...professional nurses we often find ourselves faced with questions of ethics and legality when it comes to the care of patients. It is here that we find ourselves in the conundrum that is called nursing judgment. ”The basic level of problems concerns the dilemmas which arise for individual professional when they sense that there is a conflict between their private moral convictions and what they believe is required of them…” (Thompson, 1976). Nursing judgment is hard when so many factors are present, from the patient’s viewpoint, to the family/caregiver to the physicians ultimately in charge of the care. Many complicated scenarios can occur for the RN at any time and they must base their decisions on the ethical and legal guidelines that govern the nursing profession. Body In the world of nursing we are faced with ethical decisions on a regular basis but it is how we handle these situations that makes the difference. As a nurse we are bound by the guidelines of the code of ethics. The ANA (2014) states the “Code of Ethics for Nurses is a succinct statement of the ethical obligations and duties of every individual who enters the nursing profession. “It is the profession’s nonnegotiable ethical standard” and “an expression of nursing’s own understanding of its commitment to society”. In the case of the patient admitted with a hemorrhagic stroke whose family disagreed on the plan of care, the code of ethics outlines that the patient is our primary concern. When faced with conflict...
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...Abstract Nursing is a profession focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities in attaining, maintaining, and recovering optimal health and functioning. Modern definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life. In nursing, ethical issues arise daily. There are issues such as death, dying, birth, abortion, genetics, quality of life, and general human rights. The legal system and ethical system overlap in most situations. Every patient contact can produce a legal or ethical situation. Nursing Ethics According to Aiken (2004) “Ethics is the discipline that deals with rightness and wrongness of actions”. The goal is similar to that of the legal system except that in most cases there is no system of enforcement or ethical penalties. “General ethics is the consideration of the morality of human acts in general”. (Fitzpatrick 2002) The Nursing Code of Ethics began in 1893 with the "Nightingale Pledge" which was patterned after the Hippocratic Oath in medicine, and is understood as the first code of nursing ethics. Nursing ethics is a branch of applied ethics that concerns itself with activities in the field of nursing. Nursing ethics shares many principles with medical ethics, such as beneficence, non- maleficence and respect for autonomy. It can be distinguished by its emphasis...
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...the personal beliefs the nurse holds to be true. The client’s wishes may conflict with the institutional policies, physician professional opinion, the client’s family desires, or even the laws of the state. According to the nursing code of ethics, the nurse’s first allegiance is to the client (Blais & Hayes, 2011, pg. 60). The ethical ideals of each nurse must be weighed with the laws of the state along with providing the most ethical care for the patient. The advancements in medical technology make it possible to sustain a patient life where previously there was no hope of recovery. These advancements have put nurses in the forefront of decision making begging the question “just because we can, should we” to be answered. Nurses need to understand the legalities involved with these new technologies to practice safely and effectively. Scientific achievements have opened new ground for nursing exploration. In response to the need for nursing input into social and legal issues, nurses now find career opportunities as forensic nurses, legal nurse consultants, and nurse-attorneys (Blais & Hayes, 2011, pg. 75). This paper will explore the ethical and legal issues encountered by nurses in two case studies. The American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics could influence a final decision in each case study that was presented. The six caps study revealed family members to have conflict in their desires when it came time for a decision in going ahead with surgery (the father’s desire)...
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