Critical Reflection on Ethical Standards in Nursing Practice

Running head: CRITICAL REFLECTION
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1CRITICAL REFLECTION
Introduction:
On assuming the role of a registered nurse, it is extremely important to abide by the
ethical standards of the nursing profession. This paper would discuss my ability and experience
to comply with ethical standards of the nursing profession and deliver appropriate services. The
two AHPRA standards that have been chosen by me to critically reflect upon are the standard 1
and standard 2. Standard 1 effectively deals with the critical engagement in nursing practice and
standard 2 deals with the ability of the professionals to establish therapeutic relationship with the
patients. I would talk about my personal experience and reflection with respect to the two
standards in the subsequent paragraphs.
Standard 1: Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice
The primary duty of an efficient registered nurse is to critically plan and undertake a
clinical decision (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.,2018). A variety of decision making
frameworks and evidence based strategies are used in the process
(Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.,2018). In order to think critically it is important for a nursing
professional to access and analyse the best evidence to deliver a safe and standard service
delivery. It is also important for a registered nurse to be able to reflect upon the experience
gained through clinical practice (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.,2018). In addition to this, it
should be noted that the ethical considerations also include the fact that nursing professionals
must be culturally competent to deal with a culturally diverse group of patients
(Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.,2018). Also, the nursing professionals must adequately comply
with the patient welfare policies and guidelines while devising interventions and commit
themselves to provide quality service delivery (Truong et al., 2014). The nursing professionals

2CRITICAL REFLECTION
must be proactive and efficient in documenting patient details and accurately make use of the
ethical frameworks while clinical decision making (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.,2018).
On critically reflecting upon the ethical guidelines of the nursing profession, I feel that
there is a lot that I still need to learn in order to become an efficient registered nurse. The major
complexities that I have faced while working in the hospital include my inability to manage time
and prioritize tasks and lack of cultural competency. In this context, I would like to mention an
instance where I mistakenly administered a drug intravenously which was supposed to be
delivered intramuscularly. This happened because of my carelessness. The major problem that I
face while handling clients is the lack o efficient time-management. A number of tasks need to
be taken care of, that includes, documentation, explanation of the treatment intervention and
follow up. I find it extremely difficult to prioritize tasks and accordingly proceed. It seems as if I
am entitled to manage everything at the same time and as a result I have often made mistakes
while documenting observations or documentation of patient details. Another problem that can
be listed is my inability to provide a culturally safe intervention. In this context, I would like to
mention an incident where I was supposed to administer electrolyte to the patient intravenously.
While checking the progress notes of the nurse who had been in charge earlier, I noticed that the
patient was an aboriginal old man. I did not feel comfortable with the patient. I could not
communicate efficiently and I felt that I was not capable of providing a culturally safe service
delivery which is the most important aspect of the nursing profession. Hence, I feel that I need to
work a lot on improving my skills so that I am able to provide quality in terms of care and an
also prioritize tasks with efficient time management.