Assignment on Code of Ethics in Nursing

Code of Ethics in Nursing
1. These principles are considered to be the main moral justifications for professional nursing
care
Refer to Atkins et al., 2020 (p. 78), and complete the table below.
Overview of moral rights and duties of the nurse-patient relationship
Autonomy Non-
maleficence
Beneficence Justice
Right (of
the client)
The client has a right to
self-governance, which
refers to determining if
the prescribed
treatment is in support
of their one’s interest
Any harm or ill-
effect arising
from the
treatment will
be minimum.
To have promotion
for one’s welfare
activities.
Fair treatment and in
an equal manner with
all relevant people.
Duty (of the
nurse)
To support the person
and enable them to
make their own
informed decisions and
not engage in
inappropriate
paternalism.
To minimise
any harm caused
due to the
treatment.
To ensure that
they act in such a
way that benefits
others and ensures
their welfare.
To treat all the patients
equally with respect to
relevant people.
2. Respect for Autonomy: Atkins et al., 2020 (pp. 74 - 76). Read the case study about Linda on
page 76, and reflect on what your understanding of "autonomy" is and consider how you would
provide respectful care in this situation.
Use a cycle of reflection to write your response, no more than 5 sentences.(USE GIBBS
CYCLE)

Linda is inclined to go home out of the fear of the angioplasty that is essential for her health. I
think it is still within the principles of respecting her autonomy if the nurse tries to convince her to
stay. From a nursing perspective, respecting a patient’s anatomy does not forbid trying to inform her
of the risks of not doing the angioplasty, especially since she may not be completely aware of the
scenario and her condition (Atkins et al., 2020). While I will not be trying to force her or coerce her
decision, I will calm her down and educate her on the process and explaining both the benefits and
possible side effects. After an in-depth discussion, if she is still inclined on leaving the hospital
without the procedure done, I will respect her decisions as a she will be making an informed decision
after knowing the results.
3. Non-maleficence relates to "doing no harm". Reflect on what you, as a nurse needs to know
to guide your actions in avoiding harm. Refer to Atkins et al., 2020 (pp. 72-76) to assist you with
your reflection. Use a cycle of reflection to write your response, no more than 5 sentences. .
(USE GIBBS CYCLE)
The concept of Non-Maleficence or ‘do no harm’ relates to the patient’s rights of having
minimal damage due to any procedure as well as the nurse’s duty to minimize any ill-effects due to
any treatment procedure. I think this is a principle in place for the benefit of the patient and ensure
that the good outweigh the bad (Atkins et al., 2020). For this, I must assess the patient first, and
evaluate the possible risks and ensure that the treatment plan I have for the patient does not do more
harm than it does good. This must be done for each patient in order to specify what is good for them
and what is harmful for them personally. After each treatment, I must also reflect what I could have
done better and learn from the experience.
4. An act is beneficent when it is done with the intent of benefiting an individual or group. In the
case of Oliver Tan, Amy (his mother) has made an informed decision, and has approved the
administration of the DTPa-hepB-IPV-Hib vaccine to Oliver. Reflect on the ethical
considerations that you as the nurse needs to know and understand when giving a vaccine.
Refer to the World Health Organisation Bulletin on this topic:
https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/91/4/12-113480/en/ (highlight and right click on the link;
select Go to . . . )
Use a cycle of reflection(GIBBS CYCLE) to write your response, no more than 5
sentences. (USE GIBBS CYCLE)
Amy has approved the administration of the DTPa-hepB-IPV-Hib vaccine or the Hexaxim
vaccine to her son Oliver and there are certain ethical aspects to be considered before the vaccine
administration can be done, including vaccine-related risk, chance of disease transmission and ways
of administration (Who.int., 2020). For example, Hexaxim should be administered intramuscularly
and the nurse should know that, as well as the contraindications (Guildlink.com.au., 2020). As a nurse
it is my duty to keep in mind of this specifications for each vaccine and act accordingly. I must also
respect the patient and her family’s decisions and make sure that they are giving informed consent.
This will help me not only in case of Oliver but also future patients.
5. Justice requires that nurses treat their patients equally and fairly, and fidelity requires that
nurses remain loyal to their word. Consider the scenario that you considered in your study
question this week: Oliver’s mother Amy is very upset with the fact that Oliver needs to have a
nasogastric tube inserted to provide additional nutrition, and you know that spending some
time with her to discuss this issue will benefit her. However, Matilda requires her prescribed
medication via the nebuliser in the next 2 minutes. Reflect on how you would prioritise your
delivery of care.

Use a cycle of reflection to write your response, no more than 5 sentences.
According to Gibb’s reflective cycle (www.ed.ac.uk., 2020), the issue is that Amy needs to be
educated regarding the use of nasogastric tube for Oliver while Matilda urgently needs the
medication, and this issue should be analysed fairly. While it is important to give fair treatment to all
patient, Justice entails that the care must be appropriate to the time of the administration to the patient
(Atkins et al., 2020). Matilda’s need is more urgent and while it is important to educate Amy of the
need of the nasogastric tube for Oliver, she can be quickly informed that the nurse is coming back to
her shortly. I would prioritise my plan of care based on the urgency of the care and how appropriate
the care is for that moment. This will ensure that every patient is treated equally and fairly.
6. Having attended to all the readings and completed the required questions, rate you
understanding of this week's topic.
A score of 1 being a limited understanding and a score of 5 being a comprehensive
understanding.
Limited
1
2
3
4
5
Comprehensive
Please provide a brief reflective statement as to why you gave this rating (no more than 5
sentences).GIBBS CYCLE
Points to consider:
 What did you know about the topic(s) before?
 What have you learned?
 Has your thinking / views / values / understanding changed or been challenged? If so, in
what ways? if not, why?
 How will this impact on you going forward?
I learned a lot about the topics of nurse ethics and while I was already aware of some basic points
like non-maleficence and autonomy, I never studied them in-depth and completely understood the
ramifications of it. This will help me understand how to take decisions with different scenarios
regarding patient care. Learning in-depth about this topic has given me insights regarding how to
approach patients and how to take proper nursing decisions and challenged my previous conceptions
of blindly administering textbook interventions. Going forward, I expect that this understanding of the
ethics will help me administer better quality patient care in the future but I have still have to learn the
concepts better through practice, which is why I rated 4.