Essential V: Case Study

This essay is going to discuss on ethical issues abounded in the nursing practice and the dilemma in the case scenario about Mark, a 28 year old man who has been admitted into the emergency department following a car accident. Also the essay will aim to I identify the appropriate ethical decision making model for the scenario and how the nurse should make ethical decisions relevant to their own practice or help to facilitate patient and family decision making.

The Baccalaureate Essentials are educational tools that are utilized to prepare the graduating Baccalaureate Generalist nurse to practice at the professional level delivering safe, top-quality, competent care to an ever-changing diverse patient population. “Baccalaureate-prepared nurses provide patient-centered care that identifies, respects, and addresses patients’ differences, values, preferences, and expressed needs” (AACN, 2008). The Essentials expand on previous learned skills and knowledge of sciences and humanities to promote enhanced communication, critical thinking/reasoning and encourage the continuation of life-long learning.

I’ve learned to integrate the essentials of baccalaureate education into my current practice by setting professional goals for myself and learning that I’m in a proficient level of nursing in my current practice as well as what it will take to reach expert level. I also learned how the use of evidence base practice is necessary for this changing healthcare environment and how nursing leadership can help through advocating for policy changes or new policies. The continuous changes in the healthcare environment have also created special populations who require a particular level of care. Also learned how important critical thinking is when it comes to developing a focused plan of care based on evidence along with the necessity of advocacy in

The conventional role as the nurse has been the hospital bedside caregiver. However, the U.S. is unable to finance a health system that requires expanded delivery of outpatient and primary care throughout the nation. Furthermore, citizens need a greater number of clinical specialists to treat an array of acute and chronic illnesses. The populations require a wider use of nurse practitioners and other advanced generalists to provide more available and cost-effective care, especially in under-served areas. Even so, producing more direct-care professionals will be insufficient to meet the growing need for nurses in other areas, such as health development and disease prevention, case management, and governed care settings. To meet the developing needs of the United States, students should obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).

“Finally nurses should be educated with physicians and other health professionals as students and throughout their careers,” (IOM, 2010, pg163). Baccalaureate education provides nurses with critical skills for the more complex patients and increases the opportunity for leadership, professional mobility and advancement. The role of the nurse is continually changing, therefore so must the level of education, to be able to care for the increased acuity and diversity in the patient population. Nursing prides itself in being a lifelong learning profession, thus improving the professionalism of nursing will directly impact the outcome of the healthcare reform. The AACN (2007) has stated that, “Given the demands of today’s health care system, the greatest need in the nursing workforce is for nurses prepared

As a student nurse, I did provide care according to the standards of practice and the nurses’ code of ethics and followed the hospital’s mission statement. For instance, I maintained clients confidentially, advocate for the clients, collaborated in every reasonable manner with my preceptor and other nurses in the unit to ensure the highest quality of client care, and provided compassionate care. Patients confidentially was maintained in this paper as well. I was really careful in providing any specific patient information that can harm the clients. I was careful in including information such as name, date of birth, age, sex and address. Also, during my preceptorship I did advocate for my patients. For example, I had a patient with a subdural hematoma who was discharged by the doctor; however, the patient still had a blood pressure 182/100, headache, and vision disturbance. I contacted the doctor about the patient’s signs and symptoms and revealed my concern that

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate degree education, it serves the public by providing standard framework, that fosters innovation to advance professional nursing education, research, and practice. Emphasis is placed on the importance of nursing research and evidence-based practice. As baccalaureate prepared students, it is important to consider essential frameworks as a guideline to ensure high quality and safe practice. The BS essentials for nursing practice is helpful in preparing student nurses on a professional level. It demonstrates knowledge and skills needed to manage issues in public health, such as obesity. There are many essential frameworks that can be

In requiring nurses to obtain their BSN, it poises them to continue to higher levels of education like masters and doctoral levels. This helps open the doors for nurses to serve as primary care providers, nurse researchers, and nurse faculty, and demonstrate “true leadership.”

Baccalaureate programs contain everything that a diploma or associates degree have, however they further include research in nursing, social sciences, public and global health classes, and leadership programs. This prepares the nurse to have a better sense of where the future of nursing is going and the many opportunities it can lead too. Recently, research has shown that having a higher education has made a difference in how you practice as a nurse and your patient outcomes. In chapter 8 of Policy and Politics, the authors state “inadequate nurse staffing could be linked to increases in rates of infection, morbidity, and morality-outcomes that can increase institutional costs and jeopardize an institution's reputation and future business,” (Mason, Leavitt, Chaffee, 2012, p. 65). This an important factor to notice, that there is a correlation between nurses with an inadequate nursing education and poor patient outcomes. The questions that remain are will this become a mandated requirement when obtaining a nursing job, will tuition be reimbursed from the hospital or federally if it becomes a necessity legally for a nurse with an associate or diploma degree

In recent years, ethical and legal principles have been emphasized in the practice of medical practitioners such as paramedics, nurses and biomedical technicians as it is important to build up a solid foundation to protect human beings in relation to the drastic development in the medical industry. In this essay, the two legal principles that I will be focusing are justice and negligence. Besides that, I will be discussing on two ethical principles which are autonomy and confidentiality. As autonomy and consent are tightly connected, the consent of a patient will be included in part of my discussion.

Registered Nurses (RNs) and nursing students may confront complex legal or ethical issues in nursing practice (Cerit & Dinc 2012). RNs and nursing students are required to have knowledge of legal and ethical requirements relevant to nursing practice, and are expected to abide by them (Heaton 2015). When facing a legal or ethical problem in practice, RNs and nursing students should identify the issue, and consider its legal and ethical implications in a decision-making process in order to draw an appropriate conclusion (Then & McDonald 2014). In each of the three Case Studies, this paper will identify the main issues and discuss the legal requirements for nursing students and RNs, and the implications for the education provider or health facility. This paper will also include personal reflections for each case study, involving discussions about ethical considerations.

This paper will be based on a patient name Frank, discussing the significance of bioethical and normative principles that apply to nursing practice. The reason for these moral principles is important to make an ethical dilemma decision based on Frank's case. The ethical dilemma decision will base on two ethical choices, where the nurse decides to wash or not to wash the patient. Depending on the action or decision that the nurse takes there always a consequence can be aroused affecting the patient and the nurse. For this reason, the ethics, law, moral principles and values were established for the nurse to act according to standards of care and duty of care. When, the nurse intended or unintended to breach of any of ethical rules or laws an

Nurses in today’s society should be required to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) as the minimal degree required to practice as a registered nurse. A baccalaureates degree provides great outcomes for both the patient and the nurse. While in that type of nursing program the nurse will be able to gain more expertise. These programs provide the nursing student greater depth in learning about the multiple disease processes that can be encountered with patients. “BSN programs focus more emphasis on the family and community and health promotion and illness and prevention; a large part of clinical experience is in diverse community settings” (Cherry & Jacob, 2014, p. 52). Upon obtaining the BSN you will be able to further your education if you decide you would like to specialize in a certain area. “Most specialty areas require the BSN degree for practice and as preparation for specialty certification. Admission into master programs usually requires a BSN or other degree” (Cherry & Jacob, 2014, p. 52).

Nursing is a profession where legal (law) and ethical situations may arise and it is imperative for a nurse to understand the importance of both components. These two distinct concepts in nursing can hinder a nurse’s license, career, and life if the nurse is found guilty of a wrongful act or neglect. The following will explore a reflective statement describing the importance of learning legal and ethical components of the nursing profession, a legal or ethical situation that may occur in nursing, the legal standard of care on the situation, and application of the research to the situation.

The differences as it relates to competencies between ADN and BSN are may seem minimal in writing however they require large undertaking of responsibilities. ADN prepared nurses participate in activities that promote the development and practice of professional nursing (BON, 2010). BSN prepared nurses exclusively focus on advocacy and leadership of the nursing profession, Additionally, since the BSN nurse must be able to assess populations and communities the care cannot be limited to patients and their families. Advocacy and leadership are exercised in the BSN nurse’s ability to assess population and systemically approach and advocate change in legislation. According to the Board of Nursing (BON) BSN programs must place emphasis on scope altering topics such as practice research, community, and leadership (BON, 2013). BSN graduates are able to provide care for communities and society within the context of the environment, available resources, and technology.