Running head:An essay on Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing 1

INTRODUCTION.

Nursing as a career requires more than the course work and certificates to understand

fully. Besides the academic work and extensive tests that are needed into becoming a nurse

there is also need for training to understand the ethical and legal implications of actions

involved in the field. Ethics refers to the standards of professional conduct and moral

judgment. Ethics are put in place to foster high standards of work.Nurses have several duties

to their patients which include nonmalefience which frefers to doing no harm to the patient.

Other responsibilities include fidelity,veracity,beneficdence and justice. The main focus of

nursing as a career includes illness treatment and prevention and also easing pain. Besides,

the code of ethics states that respect for human life must be part of the job.

Legal issues, on the other hand, refer to the law, which is a set of rules that regulate

nurses conduct or behaviors. There are many bodies that stipulate the requirements which nurse

must abide by. They include state and federal laws, polices determined by the employer, and

the national regulatory boards such as the national council of state regulatory boards of nursing.

The ethics and legal issues in nursing as a profession, are considered as the code of ethics and

standard of practice that govern the profession. Nurses need to fully know their duties and

contents and incorporate them as a framework for their professional work.

According to Nicholson (2012), “Nonprofessionals cannot be held to the standards of

the medical professions persons who have specially trained, educated and licensed and are

accountable for performance that deviates from customs of their field.” Therefore a well trained

and competent nurse is the one who is fully aware of their moral standards and professional

values and will make wise decisions in their practice maintaining their professionalism,

integrity and putting the needs of the patient at mind.Nursing career just like other proffessions

has its own share of ethical and leagal dilemmas. One of the major professional requirements
An essay on Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing 2

in this career is the intergreation of prffessional values and leagal factors in healthcare into the

nursing career.

Knowledge of the dilemmas nurse face and how to successfully overcome them is

important. Nurses should also know what malpractice is and how they should protect

themselves from the lawsuit. A nurse is therefore expected to make ethical decisions, and this

will be systematically based on the moral and legal principles. This essay will, therefore,

examine the ethical and legal issues experienced in the nursing career, basing the argument on

the scenario involving the ethical and legal issues. The main goal as a nurse is to advocate for

the patient and ensure the treatment

A CASE SCENARIO.

On a busy morning in a surgical ward, Mavis, a 70-year-old retired nurse who is one

of the patients had undergone laparotomy for an acute bowel obstruction. However during

that morning her vital signs had altered leading to the heart rate increasing to 92bpm,the

blood pressure had denoted to 105/70, and the temperature reading was 38c. Upon taking her

vital signs she seems quote confused,disoriented and anxious. This is considerably different

from the last time she was attended to which was less than an hour ago, and she looked fine.

She would later inform the nurse that she wants to go home as she is supposed to commence

her work. She would then get frustrated and chase the nurse away.

The nurse then decides to review the medication to determine if they had in any way

lead to the behavior and these results are given to the shift coordinator. When the nurse returns

to the room Mavis is no longer there, efforts to find her locate her in the visitor's room. On a

closer look her gown is open (and back to front). By this time, the dressing in her wound site

is already removed, and she has smeared faeces across her abdomen and at the surgical wound.

Besides, the IV cannula has been pulled out, and the insertion site is bleeding.
An essay on Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing 3

The nurse immediately closes the door to cover her and provide privacy. The nurse

tries to direct her to the bathroom in her attempt to wash her, but Mavis rejects any help and

states that she doesn’t want a wash. The nurse tries to persuade her, but to no avail,Mavis

demands that she should not be touched and that she needs to go home or else she would be

late for work.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW.

Based on the scenario above there are some ethical issues that were violated. The

responsibility of nurses is to identify the ethical issues that are affecting their patients and

take the necessary actions. These practices should always be guided by the law. The law

should be observed in all cases including whenever implementing a new policy or method.

Nursing is thought to be one of the fulfilling careers in the world. However this profession is

faced with challenges and commonly the ethical dilemmas on a day to day basis.

According to the passage above, it's clear that some of the ethics were violated by the

nurse. The nurse tried to act against the freedom of the patient by denying her the leave she

wanted to go home. This is displayed as one of the most common ethical dilemmas the nurses

encounter in their careers. The code of ethics contains the right to choice and cultural ethics.

Theis two give the patient the right to reject any medical advice given by the nurse. Being one

of the professions with highly experienced and educated personnels profound to tackling any

action, if a patient refuses any medical advice it doesn’t always mean they will comply with it.

It is considered unethical to deny patient's requests because the patient may seem

dramatic even I this accusation is true. The nurse denied Mavis her request to go home

because she thought that Mavis had received medication that resulted in the portrayed

behavior. By doing this the nurse violated one provision of one of the codes. According to the

( “Nursing world,”2010), a nurse is accountable and will be responsible for his/her nursing
An essay on Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing 4

practice, and the appropriate delegation of duties that are in conjunction with the nurses

obligation will be determined to ensure provision of optimum care to the patient.

These ethical problems are some of the most common challenges the nurses face in

their profession because their naturally sensitive nature. They require adherence to rules and

sound judgment that are not always as clear cut as laws. Ethical issues are mostly

encountered due to delicacy of patient-caregiver relations. In this case Mavis wanted to go

home before she was adequately recovered in her wounds. The nurse wanted to practice her

profession diligently by evaluating if the behavior had resulted from the medication she was

given. This, in turn, went against the patient's rights of demanding leave, and she exhibited

rebellious cats to the extent of pushing the nurse away and smearing faces on her wound.

Ethical problems in the nursing career often arise in nurses who care for the patients.

Communication is essential in promoting good relation between the nurse and patient. In this

case, the nurse should have communicated well with the patient to ensure she understands

what the patient was going through and why she wanted to go home. This would help to

prevent the confrontation and the frustration of Mavis, who wished the nurse to leave. The

principle of ethics is shown not by the words but usually b the actions of the nurses. By

examining the rationale behind the potential unethical decisions one can start putting their

won moral values within the context

the situation at hand. This could be seen when the nurse concludes that the medication

administered to Mavis was the cause of the behavior she was exhibiting.

In this scenario, the ethical dilemma is seen when the nurse denied giving the patient

leave nut further going to examine the medication to determine the cause of the observed

behavior. The nurse decided to analyze the drug concerning the consequences seen in mavis.

Therefore by dismissing other extraneous variables the nurse chose to focus on the known

ethical codes and analysed the possibilities without any bias. A nurse should be able to make
An essay on Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing 5

any decision on the patient's well being, feelings, perceptions, and rights without upsetting

the therapeutic relationship, and the aspects in the decision process should be diligently

clarified.

The logic of ethical reasoning in the function of nursing is to ensure provision of

quality care to the patient. This reasoning supports the practice of nursing while defining the

nursing profession as a whole. Besides in order to make any decision concerning patient well

being, one should weigh the ethical outcomes and challenges . in order to prevent

confrontations between the patient the nurse should have been supportive and go on to

ascertain the useful information which would have assisted in calming the patient down to

ensure she is given proper treatment til recovery without asking for leave.

Interview and the standard medical evaluation is essential in picking the useful

information required for the narrative. This would help in gaining in-depth knowledge and

understanding of the patient ad also provide insight into how the patient was feeling in

discussing their issues and the possible solutions. Acknowledging the suffering of the patient

and discussing their feelings about various medications, their experience so far in the hospital

would also be an essential approach. In the end the patient may be more receptive and calm

down enabling a treatment approach that will be of help to her.

Highest standards based on legal and ethical framework should be practiced in

nursing. The nurse is required to practice and maintain standards of proffesion conduct and

personal conduct which bwill be a reflective of the public confidence and profession at large.

The judgement and perception in the healthcare sector as well as the right of the patient are

key elements in the nursing practice. Decision making should nbe made at the best interest of

the patient. In this case the nurse should have coomunicated effectively with the patient and

take the decision with the best interest of the patient. This would have avoided the

unnecessary confrontation between her and Mavis.

Proffessions in the healthcare sector are required to have enough knowledge in the

ethics and legal requirements so as to provide optimum patient care. They should asso be

aware of the current national and state legistaltion ,the guidelines and actions as well as the

consequences of this nursing practice. Regardless of the situation a nurse has a set standard

that has to be followed. These usually include the nonnegotiable ,responsibilities,ethical

satndards and obligations that one swears to abide when starting the nursing career.

Unrelenting patience is important in serving patients bests interests.

CONCLUSION.

In conclusion, the ethical and legal issues are most common in the health care sector

and, most importantly in the nursing practice because they often have connections with the

patients in their line of duty. These ethical and professional legal laws which regulate the

conduct of professionals do not necessarily require education in the field and the

knowledgeability of the risks of any personal decision they made regarding the patient.

Therefore the nurses should be guided in learning about ethics within their profession to

enhance the provision of excellent services and prevent mistakes from occurring. Ethical

problems awareness requires the knowledge of the rational actions that should be taken in

particular scenarios as well as adhering to the principles guiding these actions.

The nursing practice is influenced by many factors such as professional,personal and

cultural aspects. Their primary focus is to promote good health, prevent illnesses,act in the

best interests of the patient,remove the suffering the patient is undergoing and provide these

services not only to the individual but also to the family and the community at large. This

then shows as demonstrated by this outline on ethical and legal issues that the decision-

making process in the nursing career can be extremely complex and involving.