Ethical Issues in Health Care Practice - Desklib

Tittle: Ethical Issues in Health Care Practice
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Qn1. Most nurses all over the world are struggling with ethical issues such as
confidentiality and the ability to meet the patients’ needs. Nurses are obliged to uphold strict
moral principles, virtues and duties in their profession. It is increasingly becoming difficulty
for the nurses to uphold integrity in their professional practice due to increasing pressure and
complex moral choices the nurses have to make (Ulrich et al. 2010). Ethical issues arise in
the health care setting where moral questions on rightness and wrongness of health care
practices underlie decisions making in the hospital concerning the patient. According to a
research carried out by Ulrich and Grady (2009), most nurses claim that staffing inadequacies
and protecting patients’ rights are the most stressful issues in the health care setting.
Insufficient stuffing, systematic and organizational shortcomings make it difficult for nurses
to meet the professional and ethical standards in their practice.
On daily bases, nurses make decisions on care delivery. In a correlational health care
settings, different ethical principles arise. These include veracity, non-maleficence,
beneficence, justice, fidelity and respect for others (NCCHC, 2011).
 Code of ethics and code of professional conduct- These codes guide the nurses
in making ethical decisions as nurses occasionally refer to these principles in
as they make decisions. According to the NCCHC, a common ethical concern
for the nurses is finding a balance between their attitudes of care, compassion
and keeping safe boundaries (McElroy, 2012).
Nurses and midwives registered by the NMBA must adhere to the professional code
of conduct. This code ensures that nurses respect, uphold and protect the fundamental rights
of the Australians.
 Justice is an ethical principle that involves the equitable allocation of health
care services and fair treatment of patients

 Rights- health officers have the right to practice nursing in accordance to their
code of conduct. Patients have the right to make decisions in accordance to
their treatment.
 Continuing professional education opportunities- this is education made
maintain knowledge, experience and skills gained as a nurse is working.
 Beneficence- is an ethical practice whereby nurses do good to their clients as a
moral obligation.
 Nonmaleficence- this must be in balance with beneficence. Nurses should not
inflict any harm so as to attain a good result
 Code of practice- The code of ethics together with the code of practice offer a
framework for responsibility and accountability in health care practices
(Waubra foundation, 2015).
 Children in work place- According to Scott (2010), a professor at the
University of South Australia, there has been an urgent need standards for
child protection in Australia due to the increased child abuse and neglect. She
claims that child maltreatment is on the increase and has serious consequences
on the child and long term effects on their mental and adult health. The health
sector in partnership with the universities came up with a project aimed at
equipping nurses and midwives with skills and knowledge to identify, respond
and also prevent child neglect and abuse and even promote and enhance child
wellbeing (Scott, 2010).
 Discrimination- According to Lampert (2016), 561 cases were reported on
racial discrimination, 740 on disability discrimination and 453 on sex
discrimination between 2014 and 2015. This indicates the increased rates of
discrimination in the health sector.

 Stonewall Scotland (2018) describes direct discrimination as a situation
whereby a person is treated unfavourably due to their gender, their sexual
orientation or of their family member or any other person they are close with.
 Indirect discrimination is a situation whereby the health care policies group
people into a given gender or sexual orientation whereby they are
disadvantaged as compared to another gender or sexual orientation (Royal
College of Nursing, 2018). It is unlawful according to the Equity Act 2010 for
any one including patients and health practitioners to be discriminated, be it
direct or indirect.
 Duty of care- Dowie (2017) thinks that nurses consider duty of care as a
fundamental aspect in their nursing practice. It is a legal obligation that the
nurses take to act within their competence and to the best interest of their
patients (and everyone else) and avoid endangering their health and wellbeing
(Young, 2009).
 Equal employment opportunities- The WSLHD is working hard to come up
with an environment which is a real reflection of the diversity in the society.
This would be achieved through ensuring there is equity in employment as
Australia in one of the socially, and culturally diverse nation. This would
make the nurses and patients feel accepted and supported regardless of their
culture, religion, gender, race, sexual orientation and physical abilities (NSW
Government, 2018).
 Informed consent- Legally, informed consent is the right of the patient or the
surrogate to know the risks, advantages and alternatives to the health care
practice. Ethically, informed consent is the patients’ autonomy; the patients
should be informed of their treatment details and freely agree to them. Health