DCU School of Nursing and Human Sciences
Assignment Submission
Student Name(s): Kim Mc Donnell
Student Number(s): 16706829
Programme: Bachelor of Nursing Studies (Hons)
Project Title: Personal and professional development
Module code: NS110
Lecturer: Mary Kelly
Project Due Date: 5th January 2017
Declaration
I declare that this material, which I now submit for assessment, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others, save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. I understand that plagiarism, collusion, and copying is a grave and serious offence in the university and accept the penalties that would be imposed should I engage in plagiarism, collusion, or copying. I have read
…show more content…
Autonomy considers participants as being independent and capable of making their own informed decisions and managing any concerns or doubts they may have. (Hadicre. J, 2014). Nurses feel a responsibility to use research evidence in decisions in the healthcare setting and in the care plans for patients. Although new knowledge is generated from research is occurs through a natural process. Nurses are encouraged to build up knowledge on an area of interest through reading research reports on the topic. (Smith, 1998). Ethical issues are concerned with the rules and principles of human behaviour. It is the responsibility of the researcher to safeguard the participants’ rights throughout all stages of the research (Holloway and Wheeler, 2010; Nieswiadomy, 2012). “The principle of autonomy implies that responsibility must be given to the individual to make the decision to participate. Informed consent means that the potential participants are well informed about the research study, the potential risks and benefits of their participation and that it is research, not therapy, that they will participate in.” (Shahnazarian. D,
Nurses everywhere face problems and challenges in practice. Most of the challenges occur due to a struggle with the use of ethical principles in patient care. Ethical principles are “basic and obvious moral truths that guide deliberation and action,” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, 2014). Ethical principles that are used in nursing practice include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. These challenges not only affect them, but the quality of care they provide as well. According to the article, some of the most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical issues were protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent to treatment, staffing problems, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making (Ulrich et. al, 2013). The ethical issue of inadequate staffing conflicts with the principle of non-maleficence.
The first provision of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) “Code of Ethics” states, “ The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.” The second provision states, “The nurse’s primary commitment is the patient, whether the patient is an individual, family, group, or community” (Fowler, 2010). As nurses we need to respect the autonomy and allow for the patient to express their choices and concerns. We also need to provide them with support by giving them knowledge and understanding so they
Truog, Robert D., Walter Robinson, Adrienne Randolph, and Alan Morris. "Is Informed Consent Always Necessary For Randomized, Controlled Trials?" The New England Journal of Medicine 340, (March 1999): 804-807.
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.
Informed consent is the basis for all legal and moral aspects of a patient’s autonomy. Implied consent is when you and your physician interact in which the consent is assumed, such as in a physical exam by your doctor. Written consent is a more extensive form in which it mostly applies when there is testing or experiments involved over a period of time. The long process is making sure the patient properly understands the risk and benefits that could possible happen during and after the treatment. As a physician, he must respect the patient’s autonomy. For a patient to be an autonomous agent, he must have legitimate moral values. The patient has all the rights to his medical health and conditions that arise. When considering informed consent, the patient must be aware and should be able to give a voluntary consent for the treatment and testing without being coerced, even if coercion is very little. Being coerced into giving consent is not voluntary because others people’s opinions account for part of his decision. Prisoners and the poor population are two areas where coercion is found the most when giving consent. Terminally ill patients also give consent in hope of recovering from their illness. Although the possibilities are slim of having a successful recovery, they proceed with the research with the expectation of having a positive outcome. As stated by Raab, “informed consent process flows naturally from the ‘partnership’ between physician and patient” (Raab). Despite the fact that informed consent is supposed to educate the patients, it is now more of an avoidance of liability for physicians (Raab). Although the physician provides adequate information to his patient, how can he ensure that his patient properly ...
However, there is no identity-crisis in our profession; we know that caring makes up just one element in the dyad of nursing. Autonomy allows nurses to practice within the full scope and standards of our profession, and it enables others to witness nursing as a scientific, evidential, and knowledge-based practice (the second element of the nursing dyad). Some additional advantages, along with some disadvantages of autonomy include:
Burkhardt, M. A., & Nathaniel, A. K. (2014). Ethics & issues in contemporary nursing (4th ed.). Stephan Helbra.
Barnett, Wilson J.(1986). Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing. Journal of Medical Ethics. Retrieved on 12th July 2010 from
Autonomy is identified as another professional value and one that the nurse must possess. Autonomy is the right to self-determination. Nurse’s respect the patient’s right to make a decision regarding their healthcare. Practical application includes, educating patients and their families on their choices, honoring their right to make their own decision and stay in control of their health, developing care plans in collaboration with the patient (Taylor, C. Lillis, C. LeMone, P. Lynn, P,
They have found that even today, RN’s experience ethical issues. The problem at hand is that the education of ethics and human rights is not being properly taught to undergraduate or postgraduate institutions (Monaliza 1). Therefore, we as nurses to not need further teaching, we need better teaching while we are in school in order to properly carry out the ANA code of Ethics practice. If we are taught in a more thorough way of to deal with ethical issues, it will only make us as nurses that much better at our
In order to facilitate patient empowerment, we must first be in position of self-empowerment. This requires us to self-reflect on our own values, beliefs, and ideas of power. “Nurses must also surrender their need for control, developing instead attitudes of collaboration and mutual participation in decision making.” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 517) We must understand that patients have the right to make their own decisions even if they differ from our own. Mutual respect for their thoughts, feelings, and decisions creates a trusting relationship. We must be able to openly listen to our patients needs and communicate effectively in order to empower our patients. They need to know that we are listening, that we understand, and that we are going to provide them with the knowledge and information needed to make their own choices. We must first be...
Informed consent is a very serious decision a patient has to make when it comes to their health and consenting to procedures that are believed to cure or treat their current health status. It is important to address the effectiveness of the role a physician play in the informed consent process assuring that the patient has given truly informed consent and what safeguards can be put in place to assure the patient is exercising informed consent. Informed consent is based on the fact that the person consenting is a rational individual that is aware of the action to which he/she is consenting. Allen and McNamara (2011) notes that "On the standard understanding, the important elements of informed consent are the provision of information, the voluntariness of the choice and the competence of the chooser to make the choice— so the potential research participant should be provided with information relevant to the decision to participate, they should be able to choose freely about their participation and they should be competent to decide.
The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses has five elements that pertain to the Principle of Autonomy. Each individual element applies to “respect individual persons” (Baillie, McGeehan, Garrett T, M., Garrett R. M., 2013, p.33). In Chapter 2 of the Health Care ethics: Principles and problems text, it discusses thouroghly the consent of an individual to make their own decisions regarding their health and future requests of care. As a nurse or within all heath care professions, we must treat each individual patient with care, respect, and to remain mindful to the patient regarding any aspect of their lives. In the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, it explains ways of maintaining the empathy required in the health field. It further discusses that the respect for human dignity must be a priority, relationships to patients must remain neutral, the severity of the situation, the right to self-rule, and the professionalism that must be upheld by the nurse and their associates.
In conclusion, there are numerous legal and ethical issues apparent in the nursing practice. Nurses should study and be as informed as they can with ethics and legality within their field in order to ensure no mistakes occur. Ethical issues vary based on patient’s views, religion, and environment. Nurses are influenced by these same views, but most of the time they are not the same as the patients. As a nurse we must learn to put the care of our patients and their beliefs, rights, and wishes before our own personal