Ethical Awareness in Nursing | Critical Reflection

Running head: CRITICAL REFLECTION
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction
The ethical and legal practise by the nurse is essential to ensure safety to the patient and
provide practical and quality care. The main aim of the essay is to develop ethical awareness by
critically reflecting on the case scenario and demonstrate the learning from experience in future
practice. The essay is made of Driscoll model, which address three questions, related to the
description of the scenario, analysis and proposed action plan for future practice (Regan et al.
2018). The critical reflection based on Driscoll model enables to examine the experience and
establish a framework to develop the nursing skill. It helps identify the area of improvement in
order to promote health practice.
What
When I was involved in my one-week PEP programme in a busy medical ward of the
regional hospital. I was asked to take care of the patient named Shelley, who is of 27 years old.
She was having left lower lobe pneumonia and acquired brain injury from the last 18 months.
From a review of the case history, it was known that she is anxious about her mother being away.
She has a significant issue of wandering to any random places and abscond from the hospital
anytime. This issue needs strict supervision and occasional assistance. However, her such
behaviour has caused risk to her health and security. One day she escaped from the hospital and
found wandering in the streets, which was several blocks away from the hospital. However, the
local police found her after they receive a call from the concerned resident. The case depicts the
negligence and ignorance from the end of hospital care management, which has led to the
emergence of such a situation. I was advised in the handover that shelly shall be nursed in bed at
all times, with her bed rails raised and close door all the time. I was also instructed to administer

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a regular dose of sedative medication immediately. When I went to the room of the patient, she
started to screams and urging to let her be out of the bed. Further, she was also refusing to take
any sort of medication.
So what
I was quite anxious and worried about taking care of the patient who is having some mental
complexities. The case that I was involved is subjected to the violation of the ethical principle of
nursing. I was feeling that it is being wrong to the patient by keeping her lock in a room and
giving a sedative to keep her in control. As she was having the issue of wandering to any place,
the hospital must keep strict supervision along with providing adequate care to the patient. The
situation has made me feel that the hospital was not conscious enough towards their work
because despite their guidance, she was successful in escaping from the hospital. I thought that
this could be a risk of to her life, as her families were not given any information regarding the
mental issue from the end of hospital management. The case scenario has challenged my values
and thinking as every action depicted has violated the law and ethical consideration of the health
care sector. I was surprised by the case scenario. I felt that the hospital management should work
as per their moral and legal duty.
According to the study of De Sio (2017), the fundamental concept of both legal and
ethical principle of autonomy, non-maleficence and beneficence are essential to be maintained in
care of the patient, and it is central to medical ethics. The principle of autonomy is concerned
with self-determination, where the patient is allowed to take the decision for themselves
regarding the care plan. No consent was asked from her, and all the actions taken by the health
care system were against her decision (Baykara Demir and Yaman 2015). Principle of non-
maleficence and beneficence is related to of not adopting any activity, which can pose harm to