Research Critique Part 1

Studies have shown that many factors have been contributing to influence patient’s care in an ethical manner. What factors could affects one decision for their medical care? Does it also included the nurse’s individual views or should consider their moral obligations? But what is ethics really is? Based on the book Nursing Ethics by Butts & Rich, “Ethics is a systematic approach to understand, analyze, and distinguish matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and deplorable as they relate to the well-being”. Ethics should follow the current AMA guidelines.

Ethical issues have always affected the role of the professional nurse. Efforts to enact this standard may cause conflict in health care settings in which the traditional roles of the nurse are delineated within a bureaucratic structure. Nurses have more direct contact with patients than one can even imagine, which plays a huge role in protecting the patients’ rights, and creating ethical issues for the nurses caring for the various patients they are assigned to. In this paper I will discuss some of the ethical and legal issues that nurses are faced with each and every day.

There are a number of legal and ethical duties expected of nurses. Most of these involve care for patient’s autonomy and confidentiality despite the medical care. Failure to act regarding these can give rise to liability. One aspect of Patient’s autonomy involves giving or withholding his consent about treatment. This paper takes into account ‘consent’ as the aspect of law regarding nursing.

Healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to respect patient’s wishes. Consequently, many legal and ethical dilemmas arise in healthcare in response to clinical decisions related to the needs, beliefs, and preferences of patients and families. Other dilemmas result over concerns about the integrity, competence, or actions of other healthcare professionals. Preserving human dignity, relieving suffering, equality, integrity, and accountability are essential nursing values (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Nurse leaders have an

Healthcare provider’s perception and judgment in the patient’s well being as well as taking into account the right of the patient in every action is one of the key elements in nursing practice. International Council of Nurses (ICN), (2006) states “The nurse at all times maintains standards of personal conduct which reflect well on the profession and enhance public confidence” (p. 3). Furthermore, nursing action guided by theory and principles of moral and legal

Sule stated that, “The Patient Bill of Right adopted by American Hospitals Association states that ‘a patient possesses the right to be informed of the medical consequences of his or her actions and decisions and refuse treatment to the extent permitted by the law’. However, this is true only if the patient is in position to understand the consequences of his treatment. Incompetent, senile patients neither have the correct judgment regarding which treatment is appropriate for them, nor are they in a state of understanding the implications of their treatment. In such case, their willingness to grant or deny consent cannot dictate the course of treatment.” Problem with the Act is being able to find that the patient component enough to make such a call. Another issue that Sule stated was on confidentiality and autonomy. According to Sule, “This is another ethical issue erupting from the conflict of patient's rights and professional ethics in nursing job and profession. The Patient Bill of Right makes it mandatory for the medical practitioners to reveal the form and extent of the ailment along with the course of treatment to be undertaken by the practitioners. However, this law of autonomy clashes with the nursing ethic that the professional should maintain high degree of confidentiality regarding the patient's health and treatment.” This can cause conflicting issues in the NP’s

Initially informed consent meant saying “YES” to any treatment or intervention laid out by the physician and advocated by a nurse (Ref 1). Now informed consent means being able to say “NO” and this in itself is a part of exercising ones autonomy.(Ref2)Nurses should practice with the knowledge that clients must consent to be touched ,to have treatments administered ,

Ethics is part of the decision making process that a nurse uses and is a foundation of nursing. Nursing needs ethical standards to rely on in order to provide quality care for patients and to keep them from harm while respecting their wishes (da Silva Santos, Cartaxo, & Buriti 2016). Ethics is defined as a guide, or a code, that given populations use to model behaviors (Finkelman & Kenner 2016). When referring to the nursing profession, ethics are the driving factor when considering what is right and wrong. The goal of ethics in nursing is to provide a means to support the decision making process of the patient. Nursing informatics will be specifically discussed as a resource for the purposes of this paper. Only peer-reviewed articles from professional journals were reviewed. The ethical dilemmas the author will present surround the use of informatics in technology and how they now arise in the medical profession, with nursing in particular. The nursing code of ethics addresses the issues of patient rights. The nursing code of ethics challenges the nurse to provide complete and accurate information in order to facilitate informed consent, while weighing the benefits, responsibilities, and options for treatment (ANA

Nurses are constantly challenged by changes which occur in their practice environment and are under the influence of internal or external factors. Due to the increased complexity of the health system, nowadays nurses are faced with ethical and legal decisions and often come across dilemmas regarding patient care. From this perspective a good question to be raised would be whether or not nurses have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to make appropriate legal and ethical decisions. Even though most nursing programs cover the ethical and moral issues in health care, it is questionable if new nurses have the depth of knowledge and understanding of these issues and apply them in their practice

Nursing is an all encompassing profession in which practitioners are not only proficient in technical medical functionality, they also have the obligation to remain compassionate and respectful of patients and as such are expected to adhere to pre established codes of ethics. Of these ethics, autonomy is of extreme importance as it offers patients a sense of personal authority during a time where they may feel as if their lives, or at the very least their health, is no longer under their control. Autonomy in the context of nursing allocates the patient and often their family with the final word on the course of treatment. The concept of patient autonomy is a highly variable subject in all fields of health care. It is a universal concept that varies widely in its meaning and interpretation. Autonomy in its simplest form can be defined as a state of independence or self governing (Atkins, 2006). Patient autonomy can also be defined as the ability to make once own decisions, based on one’s sound judgment. It is defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2011) as the "agreement to respect another 's right to self determine a course of action; support of independent decision making." This seemingly straight forward ethical concept is rife with difficulties when one considers potential disagreements that may arise even when informed consent is provided, particularly among children or vulnerable people. Relevant research and

As a professional nurse, I understand that prior to initiating nursing care and doing any procedure, it is very essential to obtain the client’s consent whether it is a non-invasive procedure and most especially if it is an invasive procedure. Obtaining consent before initiating any procedure means that they understand the whole process, the purpose, implications, advantages and disadvantages, risk factors, and possible adverse reaction of any procedure. It also means respecting their privacy and promoting their rights as a patient. Prior to assessment, before doing any physical examination or before touching and assessing any

Improving patient satisfaction has been the forefront of nursing for the past decade. Many studies have been executed to assess practice and procedures that will improve patient satisfaction and patient safety. Nursing leadership and bedside nursing staff play a pivotal role in transforming bedside nursing. A critical appraisal was conducted in Australia by Gardner, Woollett, Daly, & Richardson, (2009) on measuring the effect of patient comfort rounds on practice environment and patient satisfaction: a pilot study. This research aimed to test the effect of a model of practice that enhanced the role

Debate regarding the role of nurses in promoting patient choices has continued to attract attention in health care research. Patients usually experience personal vulnerability due to their illness. Additionally, they are vulnerable to threats that are part of the institutional processes in the healthcare system (Negarandeh et al. 2006). Despite these vulnerabilities, patients generally have the right to make competent, independent, and informed choices regarding their health care depending on their capacity to execute their moral discretion. These patient choices and decisions are influenced by different aspects of the personal characteristics of the patient and by the nurse-patient relationship (Sondrup et al. 2011). Nursing best practice guidelines require that nurses give one-to-one decision-making support regarding care to all patients. According to the Nursing and

The objective of this assignment is to critique the research article titled ‘Staff-student relationships and their impact on nursing students’ belongingness and learning’. Polit and Beck (2008) highlighted that there is expectancy on nurses to conduct research in order to base their practice on evidence which has emerged from research. Nurses are expected to use their research findings to make informed decisions and actions with patients. The ultimate goal of research is to develop and expand ones knowledge in any field. The development and use of knowledge is essential in improvement in patient care. Research enables the nurse to explain phenomena and the characteristics of certain situations that need to be considered when planning

The health care industry continually deals with the lives of individuals and is bound by the ethical and legal aspects that influence decisions of health care professionals in their clinical practice. This essay aims to discuss the various issues and ethical dilemmas that arise with regards to the consent of consumers. In the attempt to explore these points, different literatures are used to shed light on this topic. This paper begins by defining what consent is and the role of nurses or the health care team in being an advocate of the patient when requiring consent. It moves on with the discussion of ethical frameworks, which are recognized nationally and internationally, as these carry significant influences in health care decision-making. The essay also brings out the essence of ethical theories and its relevance to consent giving. It then tackles the similarities and differences of the Code of Ethics and ethical guidelines relevant to both nursing and midwives as both professions work closely in the care of mothers, children and families. Issues and views from experienced professionals in these fields are presented and critically compared. It then considers both ethical and legal aspects, which seeks arguments and rational implications. The last topic points to the social and spiritual factors pertinent to consent that impact the society particularly on the care of patients and concludes by summarising discussed points and arguments about consent.