Legal and Ethical Aspects of Nursing Care, Best Practice Guidelines - Essay Example

Scenario 2: Scope of practice By student’s name Course code name Professor’s name University name City, state Date of submission SCOPE OF PRACTICE Introduction In a healthcare setting, the role of the healthcare provider is to ensure the safety and well-being of the patient. This duty accrues to the doctors, nurses and any other person whose duty is to take care of a patient. The healthcare providers must at all times ensure that the interests of the patients are addressed with diligence.This essay will look at the roles and responsibilities of a nurse in light of the issues that emerge in relation to a series of aspects or factors provided. Legal and ethical aspects of nursing care The scenario brings about legal issues relating to negligence that may emanate from the actions of both the anesthetist and the anesthetic nurse arising in the course of the treatment of the patient concerned. This may arise where the patient who is the subject of the Orthopedic case suffers further injury as a result of the acts or omissions of the nurse or the anesthetist. This is where the actions of the nurse fall below the standard of care required in the discharge of medical services. (Guido 2006, 23) After the anesthetist goes to the bathroom and the 10-minute coffee break, the patient becomes unstable hence requires the attention of the anesthetist. The fact that the anesthetist gives instructions to the nurse without the need to go and check the condition of the patient, especially if the condition is one which the nurse could not handle, may lead to issues related to negligence in the course of the treatment of the patient involved. Negligence may also arise where the nurse fails to administer the medicine as instructed by the anesthetist causing further injury to the patient. In such a case, where the nurse follows the instructions as given by the anesthetist, the liability for negligence would be on the doctor where the instructions given lead to further harm to the patient. Some of the ethical issues that emerge from the scenario revolve around ethical requirement for the nurse to give respect to the patient. Respect to the patient covers issues such as respecting the dignity of the patient and practicing good judgment. In this case, the when anesthetist delegated the responsibility to take care of the patient to the nurse, it was upon the nurse to practice good judgment in dealing with the patient. Every decision had therefore to be in the best interest of the patient. This is evident in the reaction by the nurse once the patient became unstable. The anesthetic nurse stays with the patient and consults the anesthetist on the way forward in order to stabilize the patient. Nurses are supposed to be devoted to the care if the patients. This means making sure that interests of the patients are met to ensure their well-being. (Janie 2014, 1) The nurse has a duty towards the patients to ensure their safety. In this case, the anaesthetic nurse had the responsibility to ensure that the patient was attended to in order to stabilize his condition. This meant that the nurse had to consult and closely monitor the condition of the patient. Best practice guidelines One of the major issues from the scenario provided concerns whether or not the nurse adhered to the set best practice guidelines. Nurses are required to communicate effectively especially when providing information relating to patients. This is to ensure that the correct information is acquired which may be used to guide the process of treatment for the patient. This includes any information that is recorded that pertains to a patient. In the scenario provided, the nurse effectively explains the state of the patient to the anesthetistin a bid to seek the correct way of handling the patient who had become unstable. Through the information communicated to the anesthetist, who was not near the patient at the time, he was able to provide guidance on the way forward. (Lois 2005, 4) A nurse is also supposed to ensure safe and effective care for the patients under their care. This includes ensuring that the interests and the needs of the patients are addressed. This can be seen in the decision of the nurse to stay with the patient to ensure their well-being. This is also evident in the response by the nurse after the patient’s condition had become unstable. The nurse is required to respond promptly to an emergency and this is evident from the actions taken by the nurse. In ensuring safe and effective care, a nurse is required to liaise with other health care professionals to ensure continuity of care to the patients. This, for example, is evident in the decision to consult the anesthetist in regard to the best response to the condition of the patient at the time.An emerging issue from the scenario is the duty of the nurse to take responsibility for their actions and to discharge their duties to the patients.(Lois 2005, 4) Professional development Nurses who are registered are required to improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence in order to further develop their professional qualities in the discharge of their duties as nurses. This allows the nurses to adapt to an ever-changing environment due to factors such as increasing consumer needs and interests, development in technology and the development in medicine. Professional development is also aimed at ensuring that the best care is offered to all patients. Professional development also enables the nurses to be trained on the best way to deal with patients from different cultures.(Lois 2005, 4) Scope of practice The role of an anaesthetic nurse is to provide primary support to the patients and anaesthetists throughout the anaesthetic process. The nurse is responsible for ensuring the safety of the patient in the course of treatment. In the scenario provided, the fact that the nurse was left to watch over the patient falls under the scope of the responsibilities of the nurse. However, in the event that there is an issue beyond the ability of the nurse, there is room for consultation. The issue in this scenario concerns whether the anesthetist ought to have left the critical patient in the care of the nurse even after the patient had become unstable. In this case, though the nurse had the responsibility to provide support to the patient and the anesthetist, the complexity of the condition required that the patient be under close observation by the anesthetist. (Keleher et al. 2007, 45) The Orthopedic case was a long and complex one. This meant that the nurse could not offer the best care for the patient. It is only the anesthetist who was in such a position. However, in this case the responsibility was delegated to the nurse who did not have the required knowledge and expertise needed. Accountability The anaesthetic nurse is accountable to the anesthetistwhich therefore means that their actions and decisions may be questioned. In this case, the level of accountability of a health worker determines whether or not certain duties will be delegated to them. In this case, an issue arises as to the level of accountability of both the nurse and the anesthetist. The accountability of the anesthetist in this scenario is of concern. The situation at hand, that is the condition of the patient, meant that the patient needed more specialized care. This means that there was the need for the anesthetist to personally keep an eye on the patient and respond to any emergencies. Though the nurse was to offer assistance, such assistance could only be offered to the extent of the expertise and knowledge that the nurse had.(Lois 2005, 4) Patient safety Ensuring patient safety is one of the major roles of a nurse. A nurse is supposed to provide the best care to the patient in order to ensure their well-being. This also includes doctors and other staff members and health care providers. In this case, the safety of the patient concerned was put at risk when the doctor delegated an emergency to a nurse. The case involved a delicate Orthopedic case that needed special expertise. It was clear that such expertise could not be offered by a nurse. In the scenario provided, the anesthetist ought to have personally responded to the emergency since he was in a better position to understand and respond to the condition of the patient.(Keleher et al. 2007, 45) In ensuring patient safety, the health-care providers are required to consult in order to provide the best care for the patient. The nurse is concerned about the condition of the patient and therefore consults. In serious cases, however, the anesthetist as well as any other doctor, is required to be more involved in the care of the patient. Duty of care Nurses and other health-care providers have a duty of care towards their patients. In this case, the nurse and the anesthetist had the duty to ensure that the best care is given to the patient bearing in mind that this was a serious case. The failure to discharge this duty of care means that the health-care providers would be liable for negligence.(Guido 2006, 23) In this case, the anesthetist had a duty to provide specialized care to the patient who had a serious condition. This duty was not discharged when the anesthetist delegated an emergency situation to the nurse. References Royal College of Nursing, 2010. Accountability, delegation and professional issues. [Online] Available at: http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/health_care_support_workers/professional_issues [Accessed 17 August 2015]. Guido, G. W. 2006,Legal and ethical issues in nursing. Prentice Hall. Lois Hamlin 2005, Setting the standard: the role of the Australian College Operating Room Nurses. [Online] Available at: https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/research/bitstream/handle/10453/6264/2006004488.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed 17 August 2015]. Keleher, H., Joyce, C. M., Parker, R., & Piterman, L. 2007, Practice nurses in Australia: current issues and future directions,Medical Journal of Australia, 187(2), 108. Janie B., 2014, Ethics in professional nursing practice, [Online] Available at: http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763748986/48986_ch03_pass3.pdf [Accessed 17 August 2015] Read More