...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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...Contents: Topic Page Number Glossary Of Terms 1 Introduction 2 Aspect Of Care 3 The DNACPR Policy 4 Ethics 7 Patients Consent 9 Withholding Information 14 Informed Choice 17 Forcing Information Upon Patients 20 The Nurses Role 22 Conclusion 25 References 26 Appendix 27 Glossary of terms CPR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. DNACPR: Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. NMC: Nursing & Midwifery Council. GMC: General Medical Council. BMA: British Medical Association. GP: General Practitioner Introduction The Aim of this module is to encourage me to enhance my personal and professional skills, to increase the efficacy of patient care and interaction. Also to make me more aware of the legal, professional and ethical implications of practice. The module allowed me to further develop my knowledge of these topics: Ethics & Accountability, Legal Aspects of Practice, finally Accountability & Professional Practice. I was then asked to submit an essay of 4500 words based on the following: “Critically analyse an aspect of care from your practice setting that encompasses the ethical, professional & legal role of the nurse. Issues of accountability should be incorporated into this essay”. Aspect of care The aspect of care I have chosen to include in my essay is the “Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR)” Adult Policy...
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...Individual Analysis Standards of Nursing Nursing is a multi-faceted and evolving profession defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA) as, “The protection, promotion, and optimization of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human responses, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities and population” (ANA, 2010, p.1). Standards of nursing care set by the ANA include standards of care, code of ethics, and professional standards. The standards set forth by the ANA help to define the scope of nursing practice. For the purpose of this paper, I will further detail how these standards affect my professional nursing care. Nursing professionals are obligated and expected to practice within the scope and standards of nursing care. Within my own scope of practice, I follow the standards of care on a daily basis. I am assessing patients, planning patient care, implementing, and evaluating the outcomes of patient care. My facility has outlined standards of care. By following these policies and procedures, I can commit to safe nursing practice. Nursing professionals are also obligated and expected to adhere to the standards of professional performance. Within my own nursing practice, I am expected to provide nonjudgmental care, therefore I must disrequard my own prejudices and be an advocate for the patient no matter the patient’s race, economic status, disease process, or chosen lifestyle. The nursing professional is also responsible to...
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... A. Functional Differences The functional differences between the Oregon State Board of Nurses (OSBN) and the American Nursing Association (ANA) are varied. The State Board of Nurses is a body of nine individuals chosen by the Governor, only four of whom are Registered Nurses, and one is a nurse practitioner (Oregon State Board of Nursing, n.d.). Some of the things the Board is responsible for is the issuing and renewing of all medical licenses for nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and certified nursing assistants. The Board represents all the licensed nurses in the state. The Board also interprets the Nurse Practice Act and evaluates and approves nursing education programs, as well as investigates complaints and takes disciplinary action for wrong doings of nurses (Oregon State Board of Nursing, n.d.). I feel that the Nurse Practice Act written by the OSBN, is a very important body of laws. “These rules have the effect of law and help define safe and competent practice.” (Oregon.gov, n.d.) It entails guidelines to govern my practice: it covers the laws that direct how I would conduct my self in a delegation situation, how I renew my license, how I would report illegal activity and to whom, how I should ensure my legal safety when accepting assignments and floating to another floor. It also contains many other laws to guide my practice. (Oregon.gov n.d.) On the other hand, the American Nurses Association (ANA) consists of 15 Board...
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...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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...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 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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...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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...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 and patient during ethical dilemmas, is the foundation for ethical decision making (Blais & Hayes). According to American Nursing Association (2001), the nurse should place the patient first in both of these cases. The nurse’s top priority and legal responsibility is to the safety and wellbeing of the patients as their advocates (American Nursing Association, 2001). This...
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...of 14 NURSING LAW AND ETHICS JURIS OUTLINE ( Atty. Aleth Joyce T. Cubacub) Chapter 1- Overview Nursing Profession - Process of constant change - Etymological perspective it comes from the Latin word meaning NUTRIX or nourish Nursing - Art, a science and a social science - Being an art, deals with skills that require dexterity and proficiency - Science : systematic and well-defined body of knowledge which utilizes scientific methods and procedures in the application of nursing process - Social Science: primordial interest is man whether well or sick - It is involved in total quality patient care when giving the patient prescribed medication or treatments - Primary focus is the individual’s response to health related problems FOUR FUNDAMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF NURSING a. Promote health b. Prevent illness c. Restore health and d. To alleviate sufferings - Noble goal to promote the harmonious or symphonic interaction between men and their environment CHARACTERISTICS OF NURSING a. Nursing is caring b. Involves close, personal contact with the recipient of care; c. Concerned services ( humans as physiological, psychological and sociological organisms) d. Committed to personalized services regardless of color, creed or social or economic status e. Committed to promoting individual, family , community and national health goals f. Committed to involvement in ethical, legal and political issues in the delivery of health care NURSING PROCESS - Use nurse process as a tool in nursing practice...
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...CODE OF ETHICS FOR NURSES WHEREAS, the Board of Nursing (BON) has the power to promulgate a Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses in coordination and consultation with the accredited professional organization (Sec. 9, (g), Art III of (Republic Act) No. 9173, known as the “Philippine Nursing Act of 2002); WHEREAS, in the formulation of the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses, the Code of Good Governance for the Professions in the Philippines was utilized as the principal basis thereof: All the principles under the said Code were adopted and integrated into the Code of Ethics as they apply to the nursing profession; WHEREAS, the promulgation of the said Code as a set of guidelines, regulations or measures shall be subject to approval by the Commission (Sec. 9, Art. II of R.A. No. 9173); and WHEREAS, the Board, after consultation on October 23, 2003 at Iloilo City with the accredited professional organization of registered nurses, the Philippine Nurses Association, Inc. (PNA), and other affiliate organizations of Registered Nurses, decided to adopt a new Code of Ethics under the afore-mentioned new law; NOW, THERFORE, the Board hereby resolved, as it now resolves, to promulgate the hereunder Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses: ARTICLE I PREAMBLE SECTION 1. Health is a fundamental right of every individual. The Filipino registered nurse, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognizes the primary responsibility to preserve health at all cost. This responsibility...
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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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...Administrative Ethics Heather Holcomb University of Phoenix Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility HCS 335 Deborah Laughon February 5, 2012 Administrative Ethics Abstract of Article: Administrative Ethics and Confidentiality/Privacy Issues This article presents a case study highlighting the conflict between an individual’s right to privacy and the rights of patients and staff to know when a professional standard has been breached. The process by which the administrator determines a course of action is reviewed in the context of workplace realities through an ethical analysis. The growth of information systems and the increased involvement of third parties in decision-making have created new issues regarding confidentiality and the release of sensitive information for health care personnel who are in a position of public trust. The issues facing nursing administrators are complex, and of particular concern are the conflicting demands of providing quality care with limited resources. The authors identify strategies to deal with the workplace issues that give rise to the potential for abuse as well as the strategies to support an impaired colleague who attempts to reenter the workforce (Badzek, Mitchell, Marra, & Bower, 1998). Introduction When asking the general public what health care ethics and health care privacy mean, most will relate that they are about protecting patients. Health care ethics and health care privacy do exist to protect patients and...
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...Ethics in Nursing Practice, Values and Decision Making Name Name of College Abstract Nurses work with a wide range of patients, and each patient presents their own economic, social and cultural differences. While nurses work to provide care for the sick, injured and dying, they are always working within the boundaries of their professional codes of ethics. The nursing code of ethics is more than laws and common etiquette, and upholding the code of ethics is understood and agreed upon by people in the nursing profession. The two kinds of ethical theories discussed most in nursing are consequentialist and nonconsequentialist theories. By examining these two theories, nurses are able to evaluate the principle of confidentiality and how to apply the principle within reasonable limits. Further understanding of these normative theories gives nurses the abilities to evaluate conflict avoidance and resolution. As nurses further navigate the world of ethics, they discover how the code of ethics is influenced by a person’s culture, and they acquire a solid foundation for current ethical decision-making models used in their industry. Ethics in Nursing Practice, Values and Decision Making Nurses who take care of patients are encouraged to do so with a certain level of politeness. Other than being polite, nurses are required to be skilled, and they must follow the laws which govern them in their field of practice. Between all of the skills, politeness and laws...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing Team C NUR/391 Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing Nurses face various ethical and legal issues in the medical setting. As professionals, nurses must be aware of these legal and ethical issues when they occur. Nurses have a legal and ethical obligation to respond to these issues. Being a professional nurse requires a nurse to assess the pros and cons of different situations, but also to withhold their personal beliefs and listen and respect the beliefs and traditions of others. Legally Nursing implications require nurses to maintain licensure, obey state and federal laws and to remain within their scope of practice. Within these legal and ethical issues the American Association Code of Nursing ethics, personal and societal values, legal aspects and legal responsibilities all affect decisions. Two different cases will be discussed and explored; an advance directive case involving a woman by the name of Marianne, and a malpractice case involving a nurse and the involved healthcare organization. The American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics can influence the final decision made in the case study involving Marianne’s family by designating a surrogate. According to "American Nurses Association" (2011), “The nurse supports patients self-determination by participating in discussions with surrogates, providing guidance, referral to other resources as necessary, and identifying and addressing problems in the decision-making...
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