Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing

This assignment analyzes a scenario involving a nurse who violates ethical and legal protocols, highlighting the consequences of such actions. It discusses relevant legislation, professional codes of conduct, and the importance of critical thinking, communication, and accurate documentation in nursing practice. Furthermore, it examines the impact of these violations on patient safety and healthcare outcomes, emphasizing the need for continuous professional development to prevent future incidents.

Running head: DIPLOMA OF NURSING
Diploma of Nursing
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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1. Scenario
1.1 In the given context, the nurse failed to act in compliance with the established
professional code of conduct. She did not act within the scope of practice and even failed to use
critical thinking and analysis skills effectively, as she did not resorted to perform her duties
ethically and reflectively as stated in the professional code of conduct for nurses. She has been
found to deviate from her ethical virtues, as she did not seek any approval from any medical
personnel prior to administration of the prescription only drugs to the patient. She did not even
conform to the informed decision making principles. She even made false entries pertaining with
the medical records of the patient that may be considered as a gross violation of the professional
code of conduct. Therefore, it is evident that ethical management of data and culture of safety
was compromised immensely in this particular situation.
1.2 In today’s times, contemporary nursing practice is emphasized for the nurses to abide by
the nursing standards comprising of the laws, procedures and policies so that optimal healthcare
delivery may be streamlined. However, as per the given scenario the nurse made serious
deviations of these standards. Lack of responsibility and accountability for her actions was
evident. She failed to collaborate and communicate with her colleagues and seniors in the
healthcare team in course of planning suitable care for the patient. Information and reporting of
care services to the appropriate authority was also missing in this case that further implied
deviations from the safety and quality guidelines as laid out by concerned bodies, threatening the
lives of the healthcare service recipients.

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1.3 Nursing practice is governed by certain legislations and professional regulations that may
be further evaluated in the given context. Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009
advocates for a national registration and accreditation scheme targeted to the health practitioners.
Further, as per the professional standards, the nurses are to communicate and use documentation
for the purpose of informing and reporting care. This standard was not followed in the given case
as the nurse knowingly administered prescription only drug to the patient without properly
communicating with the persons in authority. Further, the nurse made false entries thereby
delineating from the virtue of accurately documenting the health-related data of patient.
1.4 In order to prevent future such incidents, the nurse must go through certain types of
professional development. Understanding about the professional standards and professional
boundaries is essential on her part to avoid repetition of similar mistakes. Training has the
potential to inform her about such necessities in addition to warning about the consequences that
might follow due to breach of the established codes of practice and legislations. Value of
correctly documenting the medical records must also be directed for her in addition to
disseminating knowledge regarding administration of medications after formal approval and
consent from the competent authority, through abidance with Registration Standard in
Continuous Professional Development.
1.5 A number of gross violations and breach of professional standards and ethical guidelines
occurred in the given case that might have had serious repercussions due to posing of serious
threat to the quality of healthcare delivered. First unauthorized administration of medications on
the part of the nurse has challenged the health-related outcomes in the patient. Serious adverse
outcomes might have taken place due to lack of medical supervision in advocating drugs
unlawfully. Further, tampering of medical record may be stated as a serious offence in which the

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health of the patient may be severely threatened. Lack of knowledge on the part of the medical
practitioner about the tampering of medical record might culminate in preparing a faulty
treatment plan that in turn might jeopardize the purpose of provision of safe and quality
healthcare service to the distressed patient. However, reflective practice may be promoted
through continuous professional development as offered through clinical placement setting in
addition to arranging for proper training for the nursing practitioners.

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1. Article
1.1 The purpose of the study was to examine the association between critical thinking and
confidence in decision-making among new graduate nurses through utilization of correlational
methods.
1.2 The sampling size for the study was chosen as 83. Chosen population for the research
was new graduate nurses hailing from 11 different universities and entering into two areas of
health services in Australia, one belonging to the major metropolitan area and another
comprising of major area health service who demonstrated a wide array of undergraduate
preparation.
1.3 SPSS software was utilized for data analysis whereby descriptive statistics was
performed for the demographic as well as raw data. Frequency distributions were plotted for
critical thinking ability (WGCTA) scores and confidence in decision-making ability scores
alongside computation of mean and standard deviation for these two parameters. Association
between critical thinking scores and confidence in decision-making scores was adjudged through
correlation analysis.
1.4 The study has used the correlational research design.
1.5 Data collection meant for the study has utilized two different instruments, both of which
were essentially demographic questionnaire. One tool used for the study was the Watson and
Glaser Critical Thinking Assessment tool, while the other was the Confidence in decision-
making scale.

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1.6 As part of the research process, consent was sought from the participants to conduct the
study, prior to completion of the questionnaire that consisted of demographic information in one
and questions targeted to nursing practice that held potential of the nurse’s perceptions about
themselves. Purpose of the research alongside provision of support as and when required was
rendered to the participants. Precautions were taken to maintain the confidentiality of data and all
data retrieved was saved as anonymous and participants had the liberty of withdrawing from the
study as per their discretion without providing any justification.
1.7 The different tools used for the study are the Watson and Glaser Critical Thinking
Assessment tool and the Confidence in decision-making scale.
1.8 The study being conducted at two areas of health service makes it difficult for
generalizing the interpretations to other settings. Moreover, selection of convenience sampling
for the study might affect the study outcomes.
1.9 Clinical implications for the study may be cited as:
 Necessity for professional development courses
 Enhancement in nursing awareness to understand better the significance of nursing
culture
 Improvement in open questioning attitude for fostering decision-making in healthcare
service for the patients