Role of the Nurse Demonstrating Understanding of the Professional and Ethicolegal Issues - Essay Example

Role of the nurse demonstrating understanding of the professional and ethicolegal issues: Introduction: According to The American Nursing Association, "Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations. Nurses assist and complement physicians, and work in all the same areas and specialties as doctors, while remaining in a profession that is a separate discipline of its own." Nursing at its core is caring for people, bringing them to wholeness and healing within their health experience and the total environment; an environment which includes both natural and socio-cultural systems having the health care systems as the especially important components of it. [01] Ethico-Legal Issues and Role of Nurses: Ethicolegal issues are those which involve ethical and legal considerations when one is deciding on a course of action. They include topics in advance directives, basic human needs, general nursing care, and health care decision-making. By understanding the professional and ethicolegal issues and their importance, a professional nurse's role is to acquire the trust of the patient through constant communication. Thus, such a professional nurse will also be more effective and active in eliciting information from the respective patients. This information is needed in order to address patient's ethicolegal needs. Another ethicolegal issue is advance care planning, or advance directives. Advance directives include do-not-resuscitate orders, durable power of attorney, and directives to physicians, otherwise known as living wills. Because the focus of the interaction between a professional nurse and patient consists of mutual goal setting and goal attainment, nurses are ideal persons to address advance care planning. In light of these ethicolegal issues, it is important to investigate the needs of patients from the perspective of the patients themselves. In this regard, role of professional nurse, who is familiar with ethicolegal issues, becomes very vital since a professional nurse can contribute to the better use of advance directive. [02] Rights and Values of Patients, Clients, and Service Users: Rights of patients, clients and service users encompass legal and ethical issues in the provider-patient relationship, including the their right to privacy, the right to quality medical care without prejudice, the right to make informed decisions, and the right to refuse treatment. These rights include the right to participate in the development and implementation in the plan of care; the right to be treated with respect and dignity; the right to be informed about condition, treatment options, and the possible results and side effects of treatment; the right to refuse treatment in accordance with the law, and information about the consequences of refusal; the right to quality health care without discrimination because of race, creed, gender, religion, national origin, or source of payment; the right to privacy and confidentiality, which includes access to medical records upon request; the right to personal safety; the right to know the identity of the person treating the patient, as well as any relationship between professionals and agencies involved in the treatment; the right of informed consent for all procedures; the right to information, including the medical records by the patient or by the patient's legally authorized representative; the right to consultation and communication; the right to complain or compliment without the fear of retaliation or compromise of access or quality of care. [08][09] Nursing as a profession has to meet and act as the interface between patients and practitioners so as to transform these abovementioned rights and values into practicality. Along with these values and rights the patients, clients and service users do have certain responsibilities. These responsibilities vary from place to place and culture to culture. Attributes Required In Nursing Practice: Caring is the scaffold through which nurses implement the art and science of professional practice. The five key attributes of Caring include: Compassion, Competence, Conscience, Commitment, and Confidence. [03] (Roach, M.S. 1997) 1. Compassion: Compassion means to be with another in their suffering. It is empathy and sensitivity to human pain and joy that allows one to enter into the experience of another. It is the understanding of whom that person truly is for whom one is caring. Compassion is an essential component of the nurse/client relationship. "With compassion, one becomes a colleague of humanity". [04] (Roach, 1992, p. 18) 2. Conscience: Conscience directs moral, ethical and legal decision-making. It motivates one to increase the knowledge and skills needed to respond appropriately to moral, ethical and legal issues faced by one and others. It directs one to adhere to the standards of professional nursing practice. It directs one to respond to social injustices. It is the increased awareness of local, national and global health concerns and current trends in health care that affect all ages and populations. It is the sense of accountability, responsibility and leadership for patient Care. [04] [05] (Roach, 1992) 3. Commitment: It is maintaining and elevating the standards and obligations of the nursing profession and assuring the delivery of excellence in nursing care. Commitment is the loyal endeavor to devote oneself to client welfare. It assures that caring will be part of every nurse-client interaction. It is a conscious effort to grow within the nursing profession through dedication to continuing education, life-long learning, and becoming more skilled, socially conscious, ethical, politically competent and caring. (Roach, 1992) [04] [05] 4. Confidence: Confidence is trust in one's ability to care for others. It is the belief that one's skilled and professional presence can make a difference. Confidence is necessary to effectively implement the roles of the nurse as caregiver, teacher, counselor, advocate, leader, manager, and researcher. Confidence in one's ability to create caring environments serves as a catalyst for change. Confidence empowers oneself and others to define and accomplish goals. Confidence is developed through the successful utilization of knowledge and experience. (Roach, 1992) [04][05] 5. Competence: Competence is acquiring and using evidence-based scientific and humanistic knowledge and skill in the application of therapeutic interventions in the current practice of nursing. Competence is reflected in the cognitive, affective and technical domains of learning. It is the knowledge of the role of the nurse in the health care delivery systems of the hospital and the community. (Roach, 1992) [04] [05] 6. Comportment: Comportment is the professional presentation of one's self to others in behavior, attitude, appearance, dress and language that communicate a caring presence. It includes the need for self-awareness, awareness of impact of self on others, and accepting responsibility for one's actions. This extends to responsibility for the healthcare environment and the behavior of others who contribute to it. (Roach, 1992) [04] [05] 7. Creativity: Creativity is having a vision of how nursing care can be, and making it better. Creativity in nursing requires thinking reflectively, critically and imaginatively to create healing environments and enhance caring practices. It requires the nurse to develop the qualities of envisioning, risk-taking, openness and resourcefulness. Creativity results in integrating new insights into existing nursing knowledge and awareness. It creates the potential for the nurse to individualize care and embrace change. (Roach, 1992) [04] [05] Role of Nurse and Importance of Health Promotion: Never before has health promotion been more important than it is today. Nurses in education, practice, and research settings can participate in the advancement of health promotion not only to the mainstream but to the forefront of nursing practice. Historically, nurse educators have taught patients how to manage illness; in the future, the focus must be on teaching people how to remain healthy. Nurses must have an evidence-based understanding of the significant effect that can be made through health promotion interventions and communicate this understanding to the public at large. As more people grow in their awareness of activities that lead to good health and become knowledgeable about their own health status and the health of their families, the overall health of the population will improve. (PMID: 14621418)[06] Nurses, like other healthcare professionals, have a role in health promotion. Nurses can identify causes, create treatment plans and empower patients to be involved in all aspects of their care. With different approaches to health promotion - e.g. medical, behavioral, educational, public policy and empowerment - improvement of the role of the nursing in the promotion of healthcare can be achieved. (PMID: 16603985) [07] Importance of Effective Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication to Patients/Clients/Service Users: Effective communication and teamwork is essential for the delivery of high quality and safe patient care. The intricacy of medical care, joined with the intrinsic confines of human act, makes it gravely significant that clinicians have consistent communication approaches, create an environment in which individuals can speak up and express concerns and share common critical language. All too frequently, effective communication is situation or personality dependent. In addition, nurses' good communication with patients, colleagues, team members, and other departments is vital to achieve technical excellence and individualized, holistic patient care. Terminally ill patients and their families face many decisions at the end of life that can sometimes be irresistible. Nurses play a key role in providing decision support so that patients and their families can make timely decisions about their health care that reflect their individual needs and circumstances. Therefore, it can be said that patient centered communication process with patients, their families, team members, and other healthcare professionals is essential for nurses in order to provide quality nursing care for patients. The mechanism of effective and sympathetic care at the end of life requires successful communication with patients, families, and members of the health care team. Unfortunately, few health care professionals are formally trained in communication skills. Nurses who possess self-awareness and are skilled in effective communication practices are integral to the provision of high-quality nursing care for patients and families. Conclusion: Although, nursing, like all professions, is based on the ideal of service to humanity; the practice of nursing involves altruistic behavior is guided by nursing research and is governed by a code of ethics. Nursing continues to develop a wide body of knowledge and associated skills. There are a number of educational paths to becoming a professional nurse, but all involve extensive study of nursing theory and practice and training in clinical skills. The authority for the practice of nursing is based upon a social contract that delineates professional rights and responsibilities as well as mechanisms for public accountability while being regulated by the ethical codes of conduct. [01] Quality nursing care requires nurses to fulfill their professional role in a health care system, which is heavily influenced by sociological factors. These factors have a direct impact on the way in which nursing is perceived and utilized within the system, as well as the way in which nurses perceive themselves, and their role. Nursing profession needs nurses to identify the forces which have shaped into this profession in order to accurately assess and discuss the issues which confront nursing profession today. These issues include industrial and professional nursing issues, images of nursing, gender issues, socio-political and economic issues, and ethicolegal issues. These ethicolegal issues, though they are confusing at times, they do guarantee the nursing proceedings go in the correct and right direction in the presence of sympathetic caring. Therefore, role of nurses while demonstrating better understanding of professional and ethicolegal issues has become as vital as it can be. Works Cited Page: [01] PubMed, Professionalism and the evolution of nursing as a discipline: a feminist perspective by Wuest J. PMID: 7822625 February 22, 2007 [02] Online Journal of Health Ethics Vol-1 No-2(2005), Elders Impressions of Ethicolegal Issues in Health Care by Gabriella H. Cooper, BSN, RN and Ellen Buckner, DSN, RN Available: February 22, 2007 [03] Roach, M.S. (1997). Caring from the heart: The convergence of caring and spirituality. New York, New York: Paulist Press. [04] Roach, M. S. (1992) The human act of caring: A blueprint for the health professions. (Rev. ed.). Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Hospital Association Press. [05] The Vision, Mission, and Philosophy of the SFCC Department of Nursing Education Available: February 24, 2007 [06] PubMed, The future role of nursing in health promotion by Chiverton PA, Votava KM, Tortoretti DM Available: PMID: 14621418, February 24, 2007 [07] PubMed, Role of the continence nurse in health promotion by Kelly AM, Byrne G. Available: PMID: 16603985, February 24, 2007 [08] Healthline, Patients Rights by Jacqueline N. Martin M.S Available: < http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/patient-rights> February 24, 2007 [09] Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health 2002, Jacqueline N. Martin M.S., The Gale Group Inc., Gale, Detroit. Read More