Professional Code of Conduct NMC - Essay Example

? Professional of Conduct NMC (2008). Healthcare is one of the major pillars of the society and without the same, it is impossible to have a progressive society. Owing to its importance, it has been accorded high attention and various medical practitioners have been trained to ensure quality service. Medical professionals include: doctors, pharmacists, laboratory specialists, physiotherapists and nurses among others. These practices all have set guidelines and procedures by relevant bodies that requires adherence to ensure professionalism. These guidelines and procedures are called professional code of conduct. It is important to know that failure to comply with them may cause severe disciplinary actions like withdrawal of practice certificate. Being a nursing student I have to be acquainted with and to demonstrate the professional code of conduct as this will help boost my competency. I will narrate an event from my clinical placement at a mental health elderly assessment unit and discuss how it required me to demonstrate professional code of conduct as per Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008). The mental health elderly assessment unit is a very sensitive section since it involves old people who are also mentally unstable. Being in this unit, I did receive a patient who was elderly, seventy five years old, and he was very violent due to mental instability. Further, laboratory report indicated that this patient was suffering from hemorrhage due to severe nose bleeding and he needed urgent blood transfusion. However, the patient and the relatives who brought him to the clinic were strong believers of Jehovah witness and they strongly opposed blood transfusion since they considered it sin. This scenario led to a dilemma on whether to respect their religious beliefs and rights or to do the transfusion and save life. I needed to be guided by professional code of conduct as documented by (NMC 2008) to discharge my duties accordingly. In this situation, the first instance that required the demonstration of professional code of conduct was the fact that, the patient was violent, yet NMC (2008) states that, “you must treat people as individuals; respect their dignity, do not discriminate, and treat them kindly and considerately.” Being violent, due to mental illness, it was difficult to accord him clinical care but because of professionalism, I had to find a way of approaching him gently and using sedatives on him for management. All these procedures must be done in a humane manner to enhance professionalism in clinical care. Though people suffering from mental illness are difficult to handle due to their low understanding of the environment, as a nurse you must brace yourself and face the challenges in a manner that upholds the dignity of the patients. Being mentally sick does not make him a lesser human being or an animal and must be offered quality care and medication. Another area that required the demonstration of professional code of conduct NMC (2008) is the fact that this client could not be entrusted with making sound decisions as pertains to blood transfusion due to his mental infirmity. The relatives who were supposed to make the critical decision were adamant and very serious about adhering to their religious belief, that blood transfusion is sin. According to Elaine (2004, p. 255), some patients are very particular with their religious beliefs and never want to associate with anything that negates them. The NMC (2008), states that “you must gain consent before you begin any treatment.” Even though these people are deeply rooted in their religious beliefs, it was critical that consent be sought for the treatment to ensure that life is saved. The NMC (2008) further gives the patient a right to accept or reject treatment and care and as a training nurse I am obligated to respect their choice as required by the code of conduct. As much as I must respect the rights and values of patients, I also understand that the life of the patient is in a critical condition and requires speedy action. I therefore, have to professionally convince the concerned parties to give consent for the appropriate treatment. Convincing the concerned parties was not possible until when they understood the urgency of the transfusion. I was therefore, required to disclose the condition of the patient to the wife in order to allow her make an informed decision. Even after revealing to her, the husband’s medical condition, she refused to give the consent on the grounds that this was sin. According to (Thornes 2008, p. 12), people become fanatical with religious beliefs and they can go to any extent to protect them. Despite the obsession, the life had to be saved and I was forced as a trainee nurse to take a critical step of revealing the condition of the patient to the third party who was their family friend to give them a chance of making appropriate decision. According to NMC (2008), I am required to strictly adhere to confidentiality hence, not allowed to disclose the information to a third party. However, NMC (2008) also mandates me to share the information if someone is at risk, and I had to reveal the condition of the patient to allow for a proper and informed decision. Further, I am convinced that can justify my decision of revealing this critical information as required by NMC (2008). NMC (2008) holds me accountable for every action or omissions. This means that if I fail to get the consent for the appropriate treatment, and life is lost then I am answerable. Medics are expected to respect religion, culture and customs with tolerance (Washington Hospital Health Care System, 2011). What about when life is in danger? Life is more important, and nurses should do whatever is within their reach to save it. The main reason why nurses exist is to provide medication and clinical care. The NMC (2008) should be pursued to the later but saving life should be superior to any other thing. In an event of a dilemma between saving life and bowing to religious dictates, the law and the value of life should be more critical. Appendices I have cared for an obese patient and he is recovering. He has been on healthy lifestyle of ensuring appropriate exercise that helps burn excess calories in the body. Exercise if done as required and with consistency is a good practice for human health. Nursing is a profession not an occupation. According to Adam (2010), it is taught at universities and colleges by professionals hence it qualifies to be a profession. Nurses undergo competent training and are required to adhere to professional code of conduct and this makes it a profession. You can be held accountable by NMC for your actions and omissions as a student nurse since you are being trained to be a nursing professional and deviation from professionalism during training can be very detrimental and can jeopardize your practice later. If you are a student nurse and you fail to meet the threshold of professional requirements by NMC, you cannot be registered by this professional body and due to that you cannot practice legally as a registered nurse. Lord Aitkin defined duty of care by using the “neighbor principle” that requires us to love our neighbors. He states that duty of care involves taking precautions to avoid acts or omissions that you can reasonable envisage as injurious to your neighbor or another person NMC (2008). In the case where a patient requests to move to another hospital and is not satisfied with the care at a particular hospital they are at liberty to attend another hospital, and at this point care can be withdrawn but the patient must be strongly advised on his or her condition. Inter-professional practice means that different professionals work together to achieve a particular objective. It is about synergy and team work, for instance, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, laboratory specialists and other medical practitioners work together to ensure good health of patients. There are many professionals I will interact within the mental health elderly assessment unit like psychiatrists, who understand the mind of the patients and are able are able to offer counseling and cognitive exercise to enhance mental treatment as we take care of patients. According to World English Dictionary (2009), a stereotype is “an idea, trait or convention that has grown stale through fixed usage.” The ideas are not based on facts and are outdated and they thrive on mere beliefs and perceptions as opposed to empiricism. It is stereotypical to refer to nursing as an occupation rather that a profession. This is based on inherited beliefs about nurses. Nursing is a major aspect of healthcare and nurses are professionally trained and licensed and the practice ought not to be subordinated. Nursing has over time been stereotypically subordinated and I believed that it is inferior. This stereotype is reinforced by lack of exposure on what nursing entails. Now that I am going through professional training in nursing, I believe that nursing is a profession just as others. References Adam (2010). Is Nursing a Profession or Occupation? Viewed 7 February 2012, http://www.nursing-school-programs.org/2010/10/26/nursing-profession-occupation.htm Elaine P. Congress (2004). Social Work Visions from around the Globe: Citizens, Methods and Approaches. New York: Hawoth. Ktchi, M.M., and McArdle, W.D. (1993). Introduction to Nutrition, Exercise and Health. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008). The Code in Full, Viewed 7 February 2012, http://www.nmc-uk.org/Nurses-and-midwives/The-code/The-code-in-full/ Thornes Nelson (2008). AQA Sociology. London: Scotprint. Washington Hospital Health Care System (2011) Code of Professional Conduct, viewed 7 February 2012, World English Dictionary (2009). Stereotype. Viewed 7 February 2012, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stereotype Read More