Apply legal and ethical parameters to nursing practice

Assessment Task Instructions
and Feedback Form
Task No. 3 Task Title Legal and ethical case studies
Unit / Module details
Qualification/Course Code HLT54115
Title Diploma of Nursing
Unit/Module Code HLTENN008
Title Apply legal and ethical parameters to nursing practice
Assessment details
Elements / Learning
outcomes
For successful completion of this assessment students must demonstrate the ability to:
 Perform within scope of professional nursing practice
 Apply knowledge of the legal framework to nursing practice
 Apply ethical concepts to clinical practice
 Support the rights, interests and needs of the person and their family
Task overview
(see below for specific
instructions and criteria)
This assessment consists of four case studies containing different legal and ethical issues related to
nursing practice. Each case study is followed by a series of short answer questions which the student is
required to answer.
Assessment
conditions
 This assessment will be completed in student’s own time or in class as directed by the facilitator
 Students will complete this assessment individually
 The due date of this assessment is listed at the top of this page
 The student must complete their assessment using the templates provided
Resources  Learning materials on MyLearning
 Staunton, Patricia J & Chiarella, Mary, (author.) (2017). Law for nurses and midwives (8th edition).
Chatswood, NSW Elsevier Australia https://www.clinicalkey.com.au/nursing/#!/browse/book/3-
s2.0-C20150018792
 Johnstone, Megan-Jane (2016). Bioethics: a nursing perspective (6e). Chatswood, NSW Elsevier.
https://www.clinicalkey.com.au/nursing/#!/browse/book/3-s2.0-C20150005615
 Keeping Children Safe in The Workplace - http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/pages/forms-and-
publications/forms-and-publications/keeping-children-safe-in-the-workplace
 NMBA Professional Codes and Guidelines - http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-
Guidelines-Statements.aspx
 Government Legislation and Regulations - http://www.austlii.edu.au/databases.html
 LaTrobe University APA referencing guide - http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/apa-
6/book#single-author
How to submit Upload a completed copy of this assessment document to MyLearning by the due date.
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Assessment Task Instructions
and Feedback Form
Assessment instructions
and criteria
With competency based
assessment all assessment
requirements for each
assessment task must be
assessed as satisfactory (S) for a
competent (CA) result to be
recorded. If an assessment result
for any task is assessed as not
satisfactory (NS) a resubmission
will be required for the
outstanding (NS) assessment
task.
Instruction/Task Criteria that you will be assessed on S
Legal and ethical case studies
Review each of the four case
studies provided, and provide
responses to the questions that
follow.
See further details below.
Your ability to:
 Perform within scope of professional nursing practice
 Apply knowledge of the legal framework to nursing practice
 Apply ethical concepts to clinical practice
 Support the rights, interests and needs of the person and their family
☐
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Assessment Task Instructions
and Feedback Form
Case study 1: Dr and Mrs Jones
An aged care health service provider you work for as a community nurse has received a request from Dr Jones, 80-years-old, for
support to maintain his 78-year-old wife, Mary, at home. Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 10 years ago.
Dr Jones is a former GP, who retired to care for his wife.
Along with the aged care health service provider’s social worker, you recently conducted a home visit to assess Mrs Jones and
discuss support options with Dr Jones. On arrival, you found the house was unclean and in disrepair. Both Dr and Mrs Jones were
unkempt and unclean.
Mr Jones is fully dependent on Dr Jones for all of her personal care needs. The assessment found she was emaciated,
malnourished, dehydrated and constipated. Mrs Jones’ skin was yellow and she also appeared lethargic and depressed.
Despite her obvious state of poor health and need for care and treatment, Dr Jones vehemently rejected any suggestion of
admission to hospital. He insisted his wife remain in his care at home. Dr Jones became agitated when you insisted that a hospital
admission was required.
Earlier in her life, Mrs Jones had devoted herself to Dr Jones and raised their six children almost single-handedly while her husband
worked in his GP practice. The social worker surmised that for Dr Jones to allow his wife to be cared for by others would be an
admission that he had failed as both a husband and a GP.
Dr Jones was also very thin and stated he lacked sleep because his wife was restless and wandered at night time. Further
discussion with Dr Jones revealed he had been prescribing medications for his wife and administering large doses of analgesics.
Question Response
1. Identify the legal/ethical issues in
this situation.
Answer 1- There are the various issues, legal and ethical while taking
care of the adult patient of the Alzheimer’s. Such the major issue is keep
confidentiality of patient data so that they can be safe at community.
Then providing the effective intervention and care along with the
consideration of patient choice in care process. Justification and
paternalism, where nurse have to provide the care by concerning it to
patient. Providing them soft and hard lying in order to help Mrs. Jones
to remember the good things and forget the bad things. Providing best
and selective evidence based practices or interventions.
2. Explain your duty of care and likely
course of action as a nurse in this
situation. In your response, explain
your reasoning and decision making
process.
Answer 2- As a community care nurse in the care support role of the
Mrs Jones and Mr. Jones, in the situation of unclean home and unclean
Mr and Mrs Jones. Its my responsibility to provide them healthy
environment with different course of action according to the legal
criteria of care and environment management. Along with the
consideration of their personal needs, I should provide the clean and
healthy health care environment by the aid of matrons and renewed,
who's role is to provide the clean and infection free investment to the
patient and this action should be done due to the government policy of
providing the infection free care environment, that policy is NHS
plan(DH 2000). Patient Environment Action Team inspections (PEAT) the health
care policy which providing cleaning standers in order to maintain the infection free
environment, so their I will assure that cleaning should be done according to the
instructions of this policy. Along with the environment cleaning Mr and Mrs Jones
will be clean with proper bathing and cleaning, because it is the role of
nurses to analyse the cleaning requirement and monitor the process of
cleaning along with the quality. Such as nurses have to deal with the
body substances spillages and cleaning of that along with the wash bowl
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Assessment Task Instructions
and Feedback Form
cleaning. So cleaning should be done on the routine basis by cleaning
staff and equipment’s and all this process should be done according to
the requirement of patient.
3. Explain whether this situation could
require mandatory reporting and
why. Who would you need to
disclose this situation to?
Answer 3-
There is the need of mandatory reporting due to the unwell
condition of Mrs Jones and Mr. Jones is also not well so they have to
be treated and diagnose at the hospital by the help of siniour authority's.
So have to consider this with some of their family members and
doctors. I will first conduct some test and consider that with doctors.
Then is situation will be serious and require hospital care then this will
be consider with their children's so that we can provide the best care
according to their requirements.
4. Describe the documentation that
needs to be completed in this
situation. What information needs
to be included in this
documentation?
Answer-4 there are the some documentation process which should be
done by the community care nurses in order to provide the best care
with legal rights and practices. That start from the assessment of the
patient situation by considering their past and present condition along
with some medical tests. Then planing for the evidence based practice's
which can be effective for care. Net documentation include
implementation of the interventions and practice's for care. Then final
documentation is involving the data of care effects evaluation, this
involve the analysis and illustration of the improvement and control in
patient situation.
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