Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing - Report Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2009 Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing Introduction Legal duties and responsibilities of healthcare practitioners originate from different sources that are found within the law. We have the law and it is inform of a rule of action or conduct which has been obliged by a superior authority. There is a legitimate authority in the society that produces it. The law prescribes what should be followed and penalty for disobedience In this period of rising medical technology, continuously changing means of communication and expanding tasks for nursing professionals, the legal and ethical issues facing nursing and health care are on increase. Basically, nurses are faced with ethical and legal issues on an everyday basis, most of which are directly related to legislative changes in regard to confidentiality matters and the ethics of medical technologies. After reading module one, I have gained a wealth of knowledge on legal system which consists of legal features of consent, neglect, confidentiality and independence. The module has also taken into consideration the convectional and current ethical theory, moral decision making, clearing moral argument, critiquing argument and discovering values within ethical decision making and hence I have learnt about all these techniques and I am equipped with the skill within these areas. Finally, the subject addressed existing matters happening because of the present and emerging policies, matters, diseases, techniques and proof based practice (Decker 2005). Module two was very exemplary in itself. In regard to discrimination, during the dissemination of the nursing services, it is against the law to discriminate any one because of the political, race, colour, physical appearance or ethnic background. According to what I have learnt in module two, it is important that disability discrimination should be discouraged. The module also highlights the fact that there should be no age discrimination which is the discrimination on the grounds of age. Module two also highlights the fact that the nurses should not discriminate any age group and should disburse the services equally. Gender discrimination is also against the law. Sexism is the beliefs and attitudes in connection to the gender of any individual, such beliefs and attitudes are of social character and do not usually carry any legal penalty. However, sex discrimination normally has legal penalties and hence any social and health provider should not exhibit any sexual discrimination and both genders should be treated in the same manner (Decker 2005). Module three has taught me that matters of confidentiality have been a component of ethical nursing procedure for a long time, but major legal changes have defined a larger need to sustain confidentiality. As a nurse, one does not usually tackle confidentiality with the patients. When they are admitted in the hospitals, the nurses get an explanation of the confidentiality from the forms patients sign. Nevertheless, nurses do not watch charts directly regarding the unit. There are patients who have got family members who are doctors who tend to think that they can get access to the patients’ charts. More than once, such nurses and doctors have had to be stopped and directed again since by doing so they violate the patient’s confidentiality through reading of his or hare chart since they are not involved in her or his care. There are also prying family members who attempt to read the notes of the nurses of the patient and even regarding other patients. From the module, it is evident that as a nurse, I ought to keep my notes at the desk locked and not at the bedside especially during the visiting hours. The nurses should not have access to the whole medical records of the patients even they are not involved with their care. This includes surgery report, laboratory results, notes of the nurses, progress notes and many other more. If a nurse is not involved with the care of the patients, they should not have access to their charts. Nonetheless, incase the nurse is involved in trouble shooting of the patients complications at three am, reflecting calling the doctor and striving to decide which doctor to contact, other nurses who are not dynamically caring for the patients can assess the chart or history in order to determine on what to do. The rights of the children are also the same apart from that we as nurses share their information with their parents and not the patient sharing the information. At a point, the child can be old enough to share the information with the parents and hence the HCP has to keep information confidential (Ginny 2007). In module three I learnt that the major ethical issue within the nursing field is coding of the patients who normally do not qualify for life after they have been revived. This is about people who are terminally sick or the patients with multiple chronic medical complications who have deteriorated to the point of being unable to perform anything by themselves and may not even have a lot of brain function left. There are many patients who plainly rot away in hospitals while on ventilators while being kept alive on 100 oxygen and not breathing above the vent at all. Even if life support machine is essential, there are too many patients who should not be there. At times, patients visit the hospitals with advanced instructions that get ignored or they offer health care power of attorney to the patient’s family who get to ignore the wishes of the patient. The nurses normally get worried regarding the family members who could sue them incase they do not do everything possible for their patient. At times, the time for the patient to leave the world just reaches but the nurses and the doctors keep on doing everything to keep the patient alive even when there is no hope for the patient recovering from the illness. Even if at times some patients may recover miraculously, at times there are prolonged deaths with the patients suffering a lot. From my view, I have learnt that the technology is far too beyond our bioethics. The nurses can save the patients but they cannot guarantee that the patient is in reality going to survive and live. The nurses can drain the family’s saving and leave the patient’s family with large bill but the nurses cannot offer the patient the quality of life that last for the few weeks the patient is kept alive. Very rarely, there are cases that can come up in regard to the disclosure of information that could be of public interest. For instance, information can be disclosed in a situation where the failure to unveil suitable information would put the life of the patient or someone else at a risk of death or a grave harm (Ginny 2007). Module four highlights the fact that when caring for a patient there is need for relevant info R/T care one is disseminating. A nurse should not deal with a holistic patient if he or she is not aware of the patient’s pertinent facts. However, this is dependant on what the patient is doing. Venipuncture would probably not need much info like hospice care plan which is likely to be an in-depth patient’s and family’s information. However, the nurses should not explain the confidentiality to the patients but for if a question is posed. This is the right of the patient. The patient ought not to enquire for confidentiality since there are restrictions in a sense. For example reporting the suicidal ideation to a physical, notifying radiography technician regarding the patient being on her pregnancy; this cannot be viewed as breaking the patient’s confidentiality. A reasonable nurse should be aware of the things that need to be shared to know the basis (Dempski 2006). The module points out that fetal rights and assisted suicide are also ethical issues facing the nurses in health care. Whether the fetus should be treated in the same manner as a normal human being is also a dilemma facing the nurses. Incase the mother’s life is in danger, should the fetus be killed to save the mother? Is this denying the fetus its rights? Should the nurses assist a patient who is willing to die to end the suffering? In some cases, families have sued the nurses for taking part in assisted suicide even if it was to the patient’s best interests. Still, is this not ending the life of another human being which is unethical? Conversely, is it not human to end life of a terminally ill patient and end his or her suffering because he or she will eventually die? Incase the records and charts that are used during the nursing are needed for legal proceedings, I came to the conclusion that it is only right to comply with the law and this also applies for deposition as well. Children and minors as well are not any different from the other patients. The minors are also entitled to legalities, informed consent, authorization and also need a legal, nevertheless, only pertinent information require being relayed. The most general question is where the nurse is being asked to do something that is not at the best interest of the patient, and it might actually damage the patient but one has to do it. This definitely compromises the patient (Guido 2005). Conclusion Legal and ethical matters within nursing field continue to be on rise in scope and significance as the nurses and other medical professionals continue to strive with the complicated technology, the consequences of the shortage of the nurses in each and every setting and rising demands of the patients. Therefore, there is need for applicable and contemporary information regarding the nursing ethics and the legal requirements as well. The safety matters of the nurses should be addressed, their disaster situations should be covered, medical errors ought to be tackled with carefulness, and the medicinal usage of marijuana should also be addressed. It is also a legal requirement for interests of the patient to be followed and above all the nurses should maintain the confidential information regarding their patients. Bibliography Dempski, K., 2006, Quick Look Nursing: Legal and Ethical Issues, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Sydney. Decker, M., 2005, Effective leadership and management in nursing, Prentice Hall, New York. Ginny, W., 2007, Legal and ethical issues in nursing, Pearson Prentice Hall, Michigan. Guido, P., 2005, Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing: Custom Edition, Pearson Custom Pub, Upper Saddle River. Huber, D., 2008, Leadership and nursing care management, Elsevier Health Sciences, New Jersey. Pozgar, K., 2007, Legal and ethical issues for health professionals, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Washington D.C. Read More