Ethical Issues in Health Care Practice

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ETHICAL ISSUES IN HEALTH CARE PRACTICE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Ethics in healthcare entails the correct way of conduct by medical professionals within
the medical setting. It involves the moral way in which physicians should interact with patients.
The medical profession is governed by principles and rules that all medical professionals should
observe in order to better care and improve health outcomes (Mason, 2017). The Hippocratic
Oath contains a number of pledges that reflect respect to all individuals and human life. Ethical
issues arise when there is a conflict within the systems of morality and principles that govern the
profession.
People of various backgrounds and beliefs interact together in the medical setting. This
involves patients, doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians that all work towards achieving
effective care provision. It is therefore necessary to bring harmony within the care facility by the
set of morals that every single individual should observe. A breach in these moral principles may
have negative effects in care provision. The ANA code of ethics regulates the way nurses
perform their duties as well as enhances better professional development (Miller & Blackler,
2017). It contains guidelines to good clinical practice that all nurses should follow in order to
ensure positive outcomes. The aim of this essay is to critically analyze ethical issues that arose
from the clinical practice of Dan and how it violates the Australian registered nurse standards of
practice and code of conduct.
In this clinical situation, there was a breach in the nursing code of conduct by Jane as she
attended to patients while she was unwell. She did not pay close attention to her patients due to
her state of deprived sleep and low concentration. This has severe consequences in the care
provision process for her patients. This is because she might administer the wrong medication to
her patients as she was not thinking straight. The administration of wrong medication can lead to

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severe effects that may jeopardize the health of the patient. Since Jane was not attentive to
patients, failure to offer correct care and medication could be considered as negligence.
Negligence refers to failure to administer correct care or giving substandard care offered
to patients without an effort to ensure their safety (Moon, 2015). This is considered a breach of
the Australian standard of practice and may result to worsening of the patient’s condition and in
some cases fatal outcomes. Non maleficence is considered as an ethical principle. It is well
defined as ensuring that harm to the patient is avoided by all means in the care giving process
(Martin, 2015). The lack of concentration by the registered nurse can result to harm in the
patients if the lack of or wrong medication is issued to the patient. This can lead to legal issues
whereby the patient can decide to sue the care giver.
Apart from non-maleficence, there are a number of ethical principles that ought to be
followed by care givers and researchers to ensure patient safety and recovery. One of the major
principles is respect for all persons. There is need for the care giver to always respect the patient
they are giving care without showing any kind of discrimination (Davis et al, 2017). Patients
may come from different backgrounds and culture that is different from the care giver. This
should not be considered as a basis to offer care as it can lead to the care giver being biased to
certain people. Racial differences as well as beliefs should be set aside when the health
practitioner is giving care and the goal should always be to preserve human life and ensure the
best outcome for any patient regardless of their state.
Professionalism in the care setting is of importance as it includes respect for the patient
receiving care and maintaining discussions and practice within the scope of care delivery. Jane as
a registered nurse should not have partied till late with knowledge that she would be attending to
patients the same day as it shows she does not respect and highly regard her patients which