Legal Issue That May Arise When Caring For Highly Dependent Child - Essay Example

? Module Program Legal Issue That May Arise When Caring For Highly Dependent Child Matriculation number: of ModuleLeader: Date of Submission: Word Count: 3739 This piece of coursework is my own original work and has not been submitted elsewhere in fulfillment of the requirement of this or any other award. Introduction: Over the past couple of years, the care for the highly dependent children has increased to a great extent (Pillitteri, 2009, p.9). Thus the nurses can be understood to have a greater role to play in this regard. The intensive care for child treatment has been found to have improved in the recent years implying better health care and conditions available for the highly dependent children (Dixon, 2008, p.1). Nursing of children require the nurses to take special care of the ill children that include caring for the child on the intensive care services made available by the nursing or health organization, as well as supporting the parents of the child with all measures that the parents need to follow in regard to their child’s health. The nurses in such roles also possess the rights to take their own decisions towards their care and treatment to the ill and highly dependent child (Trigg, Mohammed, & Huband, 2006, p.2). However the nursing of critically ill children and particularly those who are highly dependent and are even unable to express their difficulties and suffering (Candy, Davies & Ross, 2001, p.106), seems to be a highly sensitive issue with respect to the role of the nurses. Thus strict legal aspects are associated in this regard. One of the major legal issues that can be very commonly heard of reflects on the child abuse or maltreatment of child and the ignorance on the part of the nursing or the health departments to report any cases of child abuse if they are observed. Such abuses are often physical or psychological and often such neglect or abuses are intentional. It comes under the accountabilities of the nurses to report any such maltreatment if they find to occur with a highly dependent child that is based on particular guidelines and formulation of laws (Lee, 2008, p.141). Yet the issue arises when nurses and health departments do not perform their roles as per the rules they are in general supposed to follow (Coyne, Timmins & Neill, 2010, pp.57-61). When such a legal issue arises it also impacts not only the family members of the affected child but the treatment and caring process of the nurses in the highly dependent environment also gets influenced. The present study focuses on the legal issue that might arise in the nursing of a highly dependent child in a highly dependent environment. For the particular study, the legal issue selected deals with the maltreatment of the nurses towards the highly dependent children and their roles to report in cases of child neglect of child abuse. The study also focuses on the impacts of the nursing and care of the nurses for such children when such a legal issue arises within a health organization when the nurses ignore the cases of child abuse and do not report them accordingly. Nursing of Highly Dependent Children: Small children require additional care from the nurses and a constant monitoring process (Moyse, 2009, p.241). Physical examinations might be required to detect any disease in the child and this include observing the child, providing the child with physical touch and assessing the child’s health with an affectionate feeling, listening to the various sounds produced by the body of the child, as well as using the techniques of percussion (Fergusson, 2008, pp.8-9). Hence it is very essential that nurses take their responsibilities sincerely and provide the child with care and service of enhanced quality (Rosenbloom, 2005, p.483). The professional codes of conduct are also essential for a nurse to be followed in order to maintain their roles of care and treatment within a health organization. It would be relevant to mention the name of the International Council of Nurses with whom several nurses and organizations of nurses are connected through membership (Johnstone, 2008, p.1-4). The primary role of nursing involves the treatment and caring of the patients (Cox & Hill, 2010, p.44) which in the case of highly dependent children implies at a greater level of involvement and understanding on the part of the nurses. However when it comes to professional performance of the nurses, they have greater responsibilities since they have to make use of the scientific and technological advances as well in the understanding of the disease of the child and accordingly provide the required treatment. These responsibilities have other positive attributes for the child care since they allow the nursing facility to detect the drugs and treatment therapies appropriate for the treatment of similar diseases in other highly dependent children (Thompson, Melia & Boyd, 2001, p.39). Thus it can be realized that the nursing of highly dependent children proves to be a huge responsibility on the part of the nurses. If nurses are instead found to neglect their performances and duties, legal issue is expected to occur that in turn affects the entire role of work of the nurses. Legal Issues Associated with Nursing: An Overview: Health care issues involving the law and policies are more on the rise in the recent times with the advancement in the use of different new technologies, newer inventions of drugs and treatment facilities. Thus issues with respect to a child’s birth or death are sensitive to the services of the health organizations and the nurses taking care of the highly dependent child who are either newly born babies or are children with acute diseases at very early ages. Several incidents of wrong treatments or ill-treatments are on the records in different countries. One such example is the “death of 29 babies at Bristol Royal Infirmary following heart surgery, which ultimately led to a cardiac surgeon and the chief executive being found guilty of serious professional misconduct in 2001” (Hendrick, 2004, p.1). Misconduct at a professional level is considered as a major aspect if negligence on the part of the nursing activities of a nurse, particularly in relation to the nurses taking care of highly dependent children (Resnick, 2009, p.59). Nurses are licensed and educated for performing their roles efficiently. Thus their roles also involve providing with suggestions and teachings in relation to healthcare of such children, and make arrangements for proper care of the child (Iyer, 2001, p.5). The laws stated for the practice of nursing and the nurses responsible for the care of highly dependent children are different in different states. One of such laws has been reflected by the US code under the name of NPA or nurse practice act that determines the policies and the professional conducts needed to be followed by the nurses (Westrick & Dempski, 2008, p.3). The legal policies are highly concerned with the proper development and care for the children who are highly dependent and the nurses are thus bound to maintain those rules in order to present themselves effectively to their services (Linsley, Kane & Owen, 2011, p.19). Thus negligence of such responsibilities leads to the rise of the legal issue particularly when such misconducts are intentionally not reported to the authority. The Particular Legal Issue: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse: From the previous sections of the study, it has been realized that a nurse in charge of the treatment of a highly dependent child has extensive responsibilities and duties on her part to be fulfilled and that too with utmost care and sincerity (Smith & Martin, 2008, p.54). Misconducts, maltreatments or negligence towards the highly dependent child might lead to hamper the health and desired treatment for the cure of the disease. It can be understood that in such situations the family members of the child shall create issues and complaints that is obvious in such situations. In regard to the above mentioned concerns, there are laws and regulations that present the rules for different health organizations to make and record documentations of any maltreatment or child neglect or abuse cases that might be observed by the nurse in charge of the treatment and care of any highly dependent child. The need for such documentation arises since it aids in recollecting any such activity of misconduct or child abuse that might have occurred. These documents tend to work as proofs in cases where the police or the courts take charge of such child neglect on request of the child’s parents (Schwab & Gelgman, 2005, p.201). It has now become mandatory for health organizations to report any form of child abuse or negligence. The law can be observed to be applicable in several countries that include the United States, Israel, Spain and some other countries as well (Krug, 2002, p.74). The primary reason for introducing the mandatory reporting laws was to detect the chances of occurrence of any severe issues of child abuse and prevent them in order to protect the child as well as to avoid the rise of the legal issue in the context (Krug, 2002, p.74). It can be realized in this regard that such laws are primarily meant to protect the lives of the highly dependent ill children and provide them with their necessary healthcare from the nurses. Since nurses often tend to lose their focus on their responsibilities and ignore reporting the necessary noted child abuse issues, the laws can be realized to have significant power and use particularly for the parents and other family members of the child who might want to take justified actions against any misconduct or negligence on the part of the nurses. Studies reflect that in several states, strict laws have been formulated to penalize in cases where health organizations or nurses fail to follow the process of mandatory reporting of child abuses. Here, it can be discussed as an example regarding a case that might present an idea as to how the reporting of child abuses is necessary. The case of State vs. Brown reflects the story of a child being brought to a nursing department in a severe condition that indicated damage of the brain. The nurses had also witnessed certain bruises which however had give explained by the foster mother of the child provided through some reasons. The child was treated and sent back home but the cases of the bruises were not documented by the nurses. After a few days the child was once again brought to the health department where he died of trauma of the brain. Had the nurses not neglected the case and documented whatever they observed and whatever negligence occurred, they might not have to face the legal issues. However, in this case, the nurse was charged for neglecting the case of child abuse (Pozgar & Santucci, 2011, p.325). The above case clearly reflects the necessity to report any kind of child abuse or negligence as noted by the nurses, this documentation being a part of the responsibilities of the nurses. Considering the British laws of child protection, the impacts on the nurses for not reporting the cases can be realized. According to the British law, the laws for child protection are primarily classified into civil and criminal laws. Several Acts on the protection of child and their health have been presented since the early times. The Children Act 2004 was amended with the intention to improve the earlier laws in regard to enhanced protection of child, particularly from abuses and neglect. The Act presents the mandatory rules for the health organizations and nurses as well to be cooperative through their performances towards the reporting of child abuses cases and thus prevent severe harsh incidents against children and protect their lives and health. The Act also makes clear the actions against a child that are punishable in nature (An introduction to child protection legislation in the UK, 2011). Thus with respect to the role of the nurses in the treatment of highly dependent children, it can be realized that if the nurse do not report and record documentation in case of any child abuse, then it would be considered as a lack of responsibility and negligence on the part of the nurse who might also be penalized if anyone brings out the legal issue against the nurse. If the English or the British law in regard to the protection of the child is considered, it can be understood that the law is supposed to have significant impacts on the nurses. The law makes it clear that it is the responsibility of the nurses and the health organizations to cooperate in the protection of the child. Thus if the nurses are found to neglect such responsibilities they are bound to encounter serious legal implications and penalties since breaking laws would not be accepted by the legal system without punishment. In turn this can be expected to affect the performances of the nurses and the proper care of the highly dependent child in the highly dependent environment. It is considered as a crucial role of the nurses in charge of the highly dependent children to realize and identify if the child has undergone any abuses. The nurses being close to the child are expected to at least suspect any such cases. Since nurses in charges of highly dependent children are in continuous touch with them when the children come under the responsibility of their care and treatment, they would be able to detect any abnormality on the behavior of the child hinting towards the suffering that the child might be inflicted to (Westrick, Westrick & Dempski, 2006, p.59). Nurses thus have the responsibility to report any such behavior implying suspected child abuse. They are hence referred to as mandatory reporters as well. They just need to report for any suspected child abuse cases that they might have observed (Miller, 2008, p.177). The responsibility of the nurses to report the cases of child abuse being a severe task, the negligence of this task can be expected to give rise to legal issue against the concerned nurses in charge. Such legal issues and the penalties thereby can be realized to affect the overall performance of the nursing and caring of the nurse(s) towards the highly dependent children in a highly dependent environment. The next section would further discuss on the study to reflect on the impacts that such a legal issue might have on the nursing of the highly dependent child. Impacts of the Legal Issue in Regard to Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse on the Nursing of the Highly-Dependent Child: It can be realized from the study that if a legal issue arises owing to the negligence of the nurse in charge of a highly-dependent child, it can be expected to have severe impacts on the nursing responsibility of the nurse. A nurse has to take thoughtful decisions before reporting the cases of child abuse to the necessary authorities. In order to undertake such decisions the nurse needs to observe the child and focus on the indicatives that the child provide in regard to any kind of abnormality that might have arisen as a result of the child abuse (Alkon et al, 2003, pp.13-15). However, this responsibility is not found to be effectively followed by the nurses caring for the highly dependent child. The nurses often fear that they might report a wrong case of child abuse since they are unable to be sure of the occurrence of such incidents with the child. Moreover, often they neglect reporting of such suspected cases owing to the kind of relationship that they possess with the family members of the child (Karageorge et al, 2008). However, the negligence of the nurses of not reporting the necessary cases of child abuses leads to civil or criminal legal actions against the nurses (Basavanthappa, 2003. P.550). If the nurses do not follow the rules of the law and do not perform their roles sincerely in regard to reporting of child abuses, they might even lose their nursing license (Hatfield, 2007, p.133). Thus the penalty of the nurses for not conforming to the legal system associated with the mandatory reporting of child abuses can be found to impact the nursing career of the nurse forever. Thus she might not be able to perform her roles of treatment or care for such highly dependent children if she is penalized for such a legal issue. The legal issue against the nurses might arise if the family members of the affected child request legal authorities to take measures against the nurses in charge of the highly dependent child. However, the law regarding the mandatory reporting of child abuses also requires the nurses to keep such reporting confidential. It is presumes that the nurses would not let the family parents or any other individual associated with the child know about the issue of reporting of the suspected case of abuse of neglect or any maltreatment on the child (Michalowski, 2003, p.249). Such confidentiality not only reflects the ethical aspects of a health organization but also stresses on the safety of the child. The nurses might feel that letting the parents know about their suspicion and talking to them could help resolve the problem without issuing any legal reporting of the case. However it has been obtained that such ideas might prove to be harmful for the life and health of the child (Karageorge et al, 2008). If the parents are themselves responsible for the child abuse, they would not want such cases to be disclosed in the public and to protect their own interests, they might harm the child as well or withdraw the child from their homes. Thus the confidentiality is an essential factor in the mandatory reporting of child abuses that comes under the role of the nurses in the care of the highly dependent child. The violations of the legal system on the part of the nurses occur as a result of the nurses not realizing the effects of the violence on the highly dependent child as a result of the child abuse or neglect or maltreatment (Ball, 2008, p.232). The legal issue, arising out of the nurses violating the laws of mandatory reporting of child abuse cases, impacts the nursing of the highly independent child in the highly independent environment since the nurses are supposed to be penalized in such situations. They might even lose their nursing license that means their career getting affected forever. In such a situation the entire nursing responsibility within a health organization gets affected which in turn affects the care for the child. Also, when such a legal issue arises, the health and security of the child also comes under danger thus affecting the entire nursing situation for the highly dependent child. A Critical Analysis of the Impacts of the Legal Issue Arising from the Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse on the Nursing of the Highly-Dependent Child: The study has focused on the role of the nurses in mandatorily reporting the cases of the child abuses or neglect if they suspect any such cases while treating highly dependent children. It can be realized that highly dependent children are often victims of child abuse and neglect from their family members. However, such family members would never want their acts to come in front of the public or the legal system. Thus the nurses need to take the responsibility sincerely to report such cases in order to save the life of the child. At the same time, it becomes necessary to keep such reporting confidential such that the criminal parents or other associated members are not able to harm the child for their own interests. This implies that if the nurses do not perform their roles to the extent they are supposed to do, they fall under the legal implications that might result in the nurses getting penalized for their ignorance and negligence. Such impacts come in association with the nurses losing their nursing license or getting penalized on civil or criminal legal implications. Thus when legal issues arise in relation to the mandatory reporting of child abuses, the performances of the nurses are significantly impacted which in turn affects the care of the highly dependent child. In this context it can be recommended for the nurses to perform their roles sincerely such that such legal issues may be avoided to be reflected against the nurses. Conclusion: With the gradual development in the healthcare and the introduction of several technological advancements, the role of the nurses can be realized to be increasingly important, particularly in relation to the highly dependent children. The current study has focused on the nurses’ role in regard to the mandatory laws to report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to the appropriate authorities. These laws are primary meant to protect the life of small children and prevent the occurrences of any severe incidents with such highly dependent children. However it has been obtained that the nurses many times do not take their roles seriously and hence are ignorant about reporting such cases. When the health of the child is affected severely owing to this negligence and the family members of the child takes actions against the nurses, the legal issue arises and the nurses become eligible for the punishments or the loss of their license. The importance of the reporting has been realized in this respect since the documentations reflect that the nurses are not responsible for the child’s deteriorated health; rather child abuses might have affected the child. Since the legal issue that arises is significantly severe it impacts the performance of the nurses and hence affects the caring of the highly dependent child. Thus the nurses are needed to perform their roles in this context sincerely such that they are able to avoid such legal implications against them. In this regard they also need to understand the need to keep the reporting activity confidential such that the lives of the affected children as well as the health organization’s performance do not get affected by any harmful measures undertaken by the parents or the family members who might have abused or neglected the child. Thus to conclude the study, it can be said that the legal issue arising from the nurses not conforming to the laws of mandatory reporting of the child abuse cases can lead to serious implications on the career of the nurses, thus affecting their performances and the care of the highly dependent child in a health organization. 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