Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing

Running head: ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUE IN NURSING
ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUE IN NURSING
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUE IN NURSING
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Response 1.
The case study demonstrates the ethical issue that has been addressed by the registered
nurse Sam. The scenario is about 15 years old girl named Jessica, who was brought to the
emergency department in the ambulance because she was reported to have fainted in school.
Based on subjective data, it was inferred that Jessica is pregnant and all her vital sign was under
the normal range. Her mother was stressed about her health issue and wanted to know the reason
behind fainting. Jessica does want to convey this news of the pregnancy to anyone, especially to
her mother. In this situation, the problem recognised is an ethical dilemma that registered nurse
faced in his practice. There was a conflict between ethical principles of informed consent, respect
and beneficence (Miracle 2016). The registered nurse must address conflict in ethical issue by
considering the right choice of action that must be taken for providing adequate care to the
patient. The problem can be defined as a dilemma of making an appropriate decision in an
account of the ethical and legal principle by the nurse because the patient is under the age of
legal consent (Sanderson, 2018).
Response 2.
In the given case study, the role of the registered nurse has been highlighted as they are
responsible for maintaining legal and ethical principle (Kawar, Pugh and Scruth 2016). The
identified ethical and legal principle in the case study is the principle of beneficence,
confidentiality, autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence. It is inferred from the case study
that Jessica is not giving consent to the registered nurse to inform about the pregnancy to her
mother. According to the ethics of informed consent, RN is supposed to ask consent from the
patient before taking any action in their care plan (Marrone 2016). RN is supposed to give

ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUE IN NURSING
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respect to the decision of the patient and maintain human right according to the principle of
autonomy (Jacobs 2016). In the case study, Jessica was not willing to disclose the news of the
pregnancy to anyone. However, if the RN works as per the choice and desire of the patient, he
must be ending up violating the principle of beneficence and non-maleficence. The ethical
principle of beneficence also applied to the case study, which states that nurses are obliged to do
good to the patient considering the situation and need of care. They are supposed to take relevant
actions according to the urgency of the health issue. The principle of non-maleficence highlights
the responsibilities of the nurse to avoid taking any action that could pose harm to the patient
(Preshaw et al. 2016). Therefore, if the nurse does not give information to her mother, he would
not be able to make an informed decision and promote quality health. Thus, it may have a
negative impact on the physical and mental health of the patient. It is noted in the case study that
Jessica is 15 years old, which is considered as minor and they are not legalised to make self-
decision regarding their health. As per the legal principle in nursing, they should give quality
care and maintain ethical principle and considering her choice and decision may impose an
adverse effect on her future. It will be misconduct of nursing principle and may cause legal
action against her practice (Abolghasemi, Karimi, and Afshar 2018).
Response 3.
The options that Sam have to address the ethical problems of conflict of ethical principle are as
follow:
Option 1.
Sam can inform the news of the pregnancy of Jessica to her mother by demonstrating the
fear of her daughter and future complication that she may have. This action can be taken in order