Nursing Ethical/ Spiritual - Essay Example

Nursing Ethical/ Spiritual al Affiliation Nursing Ethical/ Spiritual Section In nursing, the principle of autonomy refersto the agreement to respect a person’s right to self-determination in terms of choosing a course of action. This principle does not guarantee a person the right to do something that is harmful to oneself or to others. This principle gives a person the right to choose a course of action that is helpful to his or her care and not harm others. It was developed to protect patient’s health needs and not to make them worse.

The principle also does not allow one to harm others in the pretext of self-determination. One is only allowed to use this principle for instance in the provision of information and in determining aspects that will be helpful in the provision of care towards them (Armstrong, 2006).Section 2In nursing, beneficence refers to compassion in the sense that one should take positive actions to help others or desire to good for others which is an important principle in patient advocacy while non-malfeasance refers to the avoidance of harm against another person, for instance a patient.

It is a core principle of medical oath and nursing ethics. An example of beneficence from my clinical practice occurs when an emergency patient comes in, I should immediately take the necessary steps to ensure that he or she immediate placement and medical attention if I am available at the reception. An example of non-malfeasance is I should ensure a patient takes the right medicine and at the right time when he or she is under my care to avoid suffering (American Nurses Association, 2001).Section 3Compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for other people expressed in emotional and physical pain.

I find myself on the edge of compassion fatigue (with your family, your friends, your coworkers, your patients, your clients) not so often. Even when I experience it, the people can sometimes read it in my face, but not always because I try to keep it far inside as possible. To ensure that I have emotional reserves, I listen to music and engage in other recreational activities such as jogging and storytelling with friends and family when I am off duty. This helps me let out my stresses and frustrations.

We also have a group at work where we meet and discuss issues affecting us at work and at home. This helps us because we motivate each other and aim to help as much as we can (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011).Section 4It is realistic to expect health care workers to model mental, physical and spiritual health. This is so because healthcare professionals have the responsibility of ensuring a holistic treatment or care for the patient and other people as well because they are qualified to do so and their profession mandates them to do so.

When Americans tend to be overweight or underactive workaholics who experience burnout, healthcare professionals should be different because first, they understand the consequences of such actions from a medical or health point of view and would make sense if they do. Secondly, they ought to act as a good example in the society because they are responsible for healthcare and as such should encourage people to lead healthy lifestyles (Rippentrop et.al. 2005).ReferencesAmerican Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements.

Nursesbooks. org.Armstrong, A. E. (2006). Towards a strong virtue ethics for nursing practice. Nursing Philosophy, 7(3), 110-124.Lombardo, B., & Eyre, C. (2011). Compassion fatigue: A nurse’s primer. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16(1).Rippentrop, E. A., Altmaier, E. M., Chen, J. J., Found, E. M., & Keffala, V. J. (2005). The relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health, mental health, and pain in a chronic pain population. Pain, 116(3), 311-321.