HNWT4001 Fundamentals of Professional Practice
This essay will take inspiration from a theoretical character named Sam (see appendix 1).Sam is a minor aged fifteen who, after a head injury whilst watching a game of football attends her local accident and emergency department. Whilst in the company of her mother she initially denies the possibility of a pregnancy but when taken to for an x-ray and separated from her mother admits that she could be pregnant. Sam’s case highlights issues of confidentiality, consent and disclosure of information.
This essay will attempt to illustrate and investigate the issues that a nurse is likely to face when providing care for Sam within the healthcare setting. Although a nurse needs interpersonal skills whilst in practice, there is also a wide range of tools that can be used to ensure that Sam receives the most appropriate person centred care possible. This essay will examine the professional issues, ethical issues and legal issues as well as legislation designed to protect not only the Sam but also the professional.
A number of laws, statutes and codes exist to protect not only the service user but also helps professionals to justify any action with regards to any intervention or advice that they provide. The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Code of Conduct, The Mental Health Act, The Children Act 1989, the Human Rights Act 1998 and case law will also be examined closely in order to understand the legal and professional issues uncovered during the course of treating Sam.
During the course of this assignment there will be a number of ethical terms used that it would be helpful at this stage to introduce. Beneficence is a principle used during interactions with people that would see the Professiona...
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...ofessional must be actively listening and engaging so that Sam can exploit her nursing kills in order to help her sense of well being. The professional must also be empathetic to the anxiety and stress that Sam may be feeling and also must show an unconditional positive regard; that is they must recognise that Sam may have made a mistake but still hold her in high regard in order to help her and reduce her feelings of isolation as she chooses not to involve her mother in her care. Masson would argue with Carl Rogers theory and state that he was looking at a situation in an idealistic way and argued that as a human being it would be within the nature of the professional to make a snap judgement of Sam and in doing so would effectively place a barrier in the way of unconditional regard thus hampering the development of a therapeutic relationship. (Dryden et al. 1999.)
Deontology is an ethical theory concerned with duties and rights. The founder of deontological ethics was a German philosopher named Immanuel Kant. Kant’s deontological perspective implies people are sensitive to moral duties that require or prohibit certain behaviors, irrespective of the consequences (Tanner, Medin, & Iliev, 2008). The main focus of deontology is duty: deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. A duty is morally mandated action, for instance, the duty never to lie and always to keep your word. Based on Kant, even when individuals do not want to act on duty they are ethically obligated to do so (Rich, 2008).
Through the utilisation of the accompanying text, I aim to discuss and reflect upon one person’s care, to which I have had previous involvement. Using the perspectives set out by Chapelhow et al (2005), I aim to gain a broader outlook on what is expected of me as a Student Nurse. Chapelhow et al (2005) has identified six skills that they feel are required of every Health Care Practitioner. These skills are defined as ‘enablers’ as they are fundamental skills that provide the means for expert professional practice (Chapelhow et al 2005). Although there are six skills outlined, I will only be using two of them to analyse the care I provided. I have chosen to use communication and risk management as my two enablers.
Define a critical thinking task that your staff does frequently (Examples: treat high blood sugar, address low blood pressure, pain management, treating fever etc.). Create a concept map or flow chart of the critical thinking process nurses should take to determining the correct intervention. Include how much autonomy a nurse should have to apply personal wisdom to the process. If the critical thinking process was automated list two instances where a nurse may use “wisdom” to override the automated outcome suggested. Note the risks and benefits of using clinical decision making systems.
A nurse’s role in decision making is minimal depending on the place of work residence. Authors Shoni Davis, Vivian Schrader, and Marcia J. Belcheir’s opinion on Ethical decision making in nursing is “a process that involves making an ethical consideration of a patient care situation” (738-749). It seems like nurses can just cite immediately or take a hunch of what is wrong with a patient, but doctors are the ones that actually do the direct diagnosing. There have been many decision making processes and theories. Each has its own unique concepts and terminology, but all have similar components. It identifies good nur...
An example that promotes the importance of the care standards act within a hospital is if a male nurse was to start bathing an elderly schizophrenic female patient who did not wished to be touched by a male nurse then this is violating her own wishes and therefore she is not receiving a high standard of care as her views were not listened to and respected. The care standard act protects patient’s view and ensures that the well-being of the patient is being put first. This is important for the services to put the patients first as they are using the services and without them the services may not exist.
One of the five key principles of care practice is to ‘Support people in having a voice and being heard,’ (K101, Unit 4, p.183). The key principles are linked to the National Occupational Standards for ‘Health and Social Care’. They are a means of establishing and maintaining good care practice. Relationships based on trust and respect should be developed between care receivers and care givers, thus promoting confidence whilst discussing personal matters without fear of reprisal and discrimination.
Planning included reaching out to other health organizations, objectives, and goals of health fair were established. The implementation includes getting volunteers, set up for the health fair. The evaluation of the process occurred throughout the implementation and changes were made as needed. The evaluation will be completed by gathering information from health booth to determine the number of participants. Review vendor and participant evaluations about the health fair including how they heard about the health fair, ratings of booths and suggestions for improvements. Record everything to determine changes. Reflection on past experiences and what worked and did not work.
The concept of moral distress can be defined in a number of different ways. Generally speaking, when individuals make moral decisions about the right course of action in a situation but are unable to carry it out, they will experience moral distress. A man by the name of Andrew Jameton defined moral distress in 1984 as “a phenomenon that arises when one knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action” (Nursing Forum, 2007). Because of their particular position in the medical world and their conflicting responsibilities, nurses are especially prone to experiencing moral distress. Whether they are aware of it or not, nurses are becoming more and more involved in making ethical decisions regarding their patients. However, the doctor’s policy always rules over the nurse and the patient’s wishes must always be respected. The consequences of not being heard by fellow co-workers or having your plan of action overruled by other policies can often be frustrating and upsetting for a nurse. While there is no data that directly connects the effects of moral distress and the quality of care nurses give, it can be inferred that the feelings of moral outrage, frustration, and anger cause nurses to care for patients in a less effective way. A nurse who is at conflict with him/herself and those that surround him/her will experience difficulties in treating a patient with the best care.
However, we are looking at a case study where patients safety has been compromised, professionalism has been voided, lack of communication, nurses aren’t liable for their work, the duty of care has been breached and lot more issues can be discovered. Which will be incorporated in this paper. Looking at the patient Christopher Hammett
In this essay the author will rationalize the relevance of professional, ethical and legal regulations in the practice of nursing. The author will discuss and analyze the chosen scenario and critically review the action taken in the expense of the patient and the care workers. In addition, the author will also evaluates the strength and limitations of the scenario in a broader issue with reasonable judgement supported by theories and principles of ethical and legal standards.
An ethical dilemma is defined as a mental state when the nurse has to make a choice between the options and choices that he or she has at her disposal. The choice is a crucial task as the opting of the step will subsequently determine the health status of the concerned patient, hence it requires a great deal of wisdom along with proper medical and health training before any such step is opted as it is a matter of life and death. Strong emphasis should therefore be on the acquisition of proper knowledge and skills so that nurses do posses the autonomy to interact with patients regarding ethical issues involved in health care affairs and address them efficiently. It is normally argued that nurses are not provided sufficient authority to consult and address their patients on a more communicative or interactive level as a result of which they are often trapped in predicaments where their treatments of action and their personal beliefs create a conflict with the health interests of the patient. (Timby, 2008)
1. Legal, ethical and professional principle frameworks underpin all fields of nursing, and it is a requirement for all Registered Nurses to be competent and knowledgeable, act with integrity and maintain professional standards set out by Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2015). Working with multidisciplinary teams within our profession, it is important to acknowledge and recognise the way in which all the professionals are guided by law and their independent regulatory bodies. The needs of the individual patient is to be considered by doctors and nurses alike, who share professional values and are set out in the respective codes of practice, The Code (NMC, 2015) and GMC (2013).
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callanan, P. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions. (8th
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
The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means character (1). Being moral always fills a nurse with morals respects, guidelines of good judgment and expert lead. There are three essential obligations for nurses, among many other which are the duty of autonomy, confidentiality, and obligation of care to all patients (2). There are professional duties with becoming distinctly legitimate obligations if any law and policies are ruptured in between professional practice. In 2001, a review found that there was an apparent requirement for more guidance on moral predicaments inside the medical professionals, subsequent to expanding legal cases and open request (3). Medical attendants ought to withstand to regulatory law and statutory law while managing the nursing practice.