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Confidentiality in the Moral Community of Nursing
Laabs (2008) stated that nurses require applied ethics to give moral direction while practicing. A moral community is a safe “place where community members are encouraged to bring ethical concerns to light and deal with these in a manner that promotes shared understanding and mutual respect”(Hardingham, 2004). In this paper I will tell you a story of an ethical conflict that I have encountered about breach of confidentiality, I will then go on to discuss how this experience has help to teach me about my own morals and how I can utilize this knowledge to inform nursing practice and encourage others to perform ethically as members of a moral community.
The Ethical Concern
I have changed the following story to protect the confidentiality of the people involved. A nurse was caught reading the electronic chart of a person that is not in her care by the clinic manager. The chart she is reading belongs to the pervious clinic manager who has recently passed away due to cancer. She was a much loved member of the team and her death was very hard on the entire staff. She had let the staff know of her diagnoses and that she was taking time off of work, but kept how sick she really was to herself for reasons that I will not speculate. She was treated at both a larger center and locally. She had gone out of her way to protect her privacy by restricting access to her electronic chart to only allow her chosen health care team access. I will not speculate the reasons that nurse accessed the chart; however I do not believe that the actions of this nurse were out of malaise. The nurse that accessed the chart was promptly dismissed from her position and in the weeks to follow two other nurses we...
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...n a moral community. Nursing Philosophy, 5(2), 127-134.
Laabs, C. (2008). The community of nursing: moral friends, moral strangers, moral family. Nursing Philosophy, 9(4), 225-232.
Marsan, C. (2013). Professional Codes of Ethics as Leading Benchmarks?. American Journal Of Bioethics, 13(10), 24-26. doi:10.1080/15265161.2013.828132
McGowan, C. (2012). Patients' Confidentiality. Critical Care Nurse, 32(5), 61-65. doi:10.4037/ccn2012135
Radzik, L. (2011). On Minding Your Own Business: Differentiating Accountability Relations within the Moral Community. Social Theory & Practice, 37(4), 574-598.
Scott, S., Marck, P., & Barton, S. (2011). Exploring Ethics in Practice: Creating Moral Community in Healthcare One Place at a Time. Canadian Journal Of Nursing Leadership, 24(4), 78-87.
Starr, L. (2013). Patient privacy: so easily breached. Australian Nursing Journal, 20(11), 33.
A code of ethics provides a standard by which nurses conduct themselves and their practice, observing ethical obligations of the profession and providing quality care. To achieve its purpose, a code of ethics must be understood, internalized, and used by nurses in all aspects of their work” (Aliakvari, 2015, p. 494).
Rich, K. & Butts, J. B. (2014). Foundations of ethical nursing practice (Chapter 4, 3rd ed.). In K. Masters (Ed.). Role development in professional nursing practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
During week 4, we became familiar with the application of ethics in the nursing practice settings. We learned about ethical theories and principles, which are crucial when practicing in any clinical settings during ethical decision-making and while facing one or multiple ethical dilemmas. Also, we were introduced to the MORAL model used in ethical decision – making progress. The MORAL model is the easiest model to use in the everyday clinical practice, for instance at bedside nursing. This model can be applyed in any clinical settings and its acronyms assist
Gallagher, Ann. "Moral Distress and Moral Courage in Everyday Nursing Practice." 21 March 2010. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 1 March 2014 .
This paper will focus on two BNUR leaner outcomes (University of Calgary, 2013) relevant to my learned understanding of nurses as ethical decision makers. I will outline the ways that I have seen ethics used and not used in practice, what I learned about ethics and its use in my theory courses and throughout my practicums, and I will reflect on how this understanding will translate into my professional practice moving forward.
The term nursing ethics means that the nurse has an obligation judge what is right and wrong in her or his duties as guided by the profession or the moral principles that govern the profession and as prescribed by the professional body. Nursing ethics initially encompassed virtues that were desired in a nurse. At the time, these virtues included physician loyalty, commitment to high moral character and obedience. Evolvement of nursing profession gradually made nurses embrace patients’ advocacy. As patient advocates, nurses work as part of an interdisciplinary team to provide patient care. Nursing ethics have kept pace with the advancement of the nursing profession to include a patient-centered focus, rather than a physician-centered focus.
Burkhardt, M. A., & Nathaniel, A. K. (2014). Ethics & issues in contemporary nursing (4th ed.). Stephan Helbra.
Davis J. Anne Diane Marsha and Aroskar A. Mila (2010). Ethical Dilemmas and Nursing Practice. Pearson
The main points of provision five of the ANA code of ethics are as follows: section 5.1, which is moral self-respect, suggests that nurses must care for themselves as much as they care for their patients. Nurses must do their best to maintain professional respect to themselves in regards of their competence and moral character. Section 5.2, which is professional growth and maintenance of competence, suggests that nurses must continue to self and peer evaluate themselves throughout their careers. Nurses must continue to learn current, up to date nursing practices through self, peer, and higher education. Section 5.3, which is wholeness of character, suggests that nurses must develop and take into consideration their own moral perspectives when practicing in their careers. Nurses are encouraged to express their moral viewpoint when it is helpful to the recovery of their patients, but must never express moral beliefs based on social stigmas that could negatively affect patient outcomes.
Since you examined the number of moral issues you will face in this profession, look through the code of ethics that you chose for this assignment and explain
Nursing code of ethics was developed as a guide in carrying out nursing responsibilities in a matter consistent with quality in nursing care and the ethical obligations of the profession (ANA, 2010). The term ethics refers to the study of philosophical ideals of right and wrong behavior (Olin, 2012). There is a total of nine provisions however, throughout this paper I will discuss provisions one through four. These provisions would include, personal relationships, primary care, nurse commitment, safety, patient rights, responsibility and accountability of the patient.
The classical term for the word ethics is, moral philosophies that rule an individual’s or group behavior or action. The American Nurses Association used ethics to write the Code of Ethics for Nurses with these values and visions in mind: “(1) As a statement of the ethical obligations and duties of every person who chooses to enter the profession of nursing. (2) To act as the nonnegotiable standard of ethics. (3) To serve as an expression of the understanding on nursing’s commitment to society.” (Nurses Code of Ethics, 2015). With our ever-changing society and healthcare, also comes changes to the American Nurses Association’s
As a nurse, it is within your role to safeguard the right to privacy for individuals. To ensure that nurses are adhering to this, ethical strategies have been proposed and implemented from a legal and regulatory body.
Thompson, I. E., Melia, K. M., & Boyd, K. M. (2006). Nursing Ethics: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.
Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a persons or a group’s behavior, ethical principles apply to both personal and professional relationships (Webster, 2015). The field of nursing is a profession that has been highly regarded and respected in society. Most nurses enter the profession in order to utilize their clinical skills to help others in their time of need. Those in failing health rely on nurses to care for them in their most vulnerable states, and expect a level of compassion and humanity while receiving care. Nurses have an ethical responsibility to their patients, clients, and their community. Compassion, empathy, and integrity are staple characteristics that nurses possess that allow them to successfully perform their