Legal and Professional Issues in Nursing and Midwifery in Australia

Legal and Professional Issues in Nursing and Midwifery in Australia
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Exploration of Legal and Professional Issues in Australian Nursing and Midwifery
Misconduct in the Nursing Profession
RN H, a medical ward nurse, loves classical music. Mr B is one of her patients and also loves
music deeply and they enjoy and discuss favourite recordings as well as classical composers.
Mr B offers RN H some of his CDs, an offer which is accepted by RN H. After returning the
CDs, Mr B offers RN H tickets for the both to attend a local performance by an artist of their
favourite. This was to come after he was discharged from the hospital.
Professional code of conduct means the manner or way that one person behaves in the
process of their performance their professional capacity. The professionals need to be of a
good example in their conduct as compared to the lay people or any other person in the street
(Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Health Care Complaints
Commission (NSW) 2000). In Australia, the Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses gets
the support of the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. This Code is a set of minimum
standard required in the normal and acceptable practice so as to ensure good standing in the
profession of nursing.
The two Codes sets minimum standards for the nurses such as; nurses to practice according to
the set professional standards as well as systems for broader health and that this practice
should be consistent with the relevant laws applicable in the profession of nursing. The
nurses have the responsibility of ensuring that their conformity to the set professional
standards so that the environment in the nursing profession is safe for their partners, the
people they care for, their families and other people generally in the community. The nurses
should be cognisant of their professional position hence should shy away from benefits or
gifts which might be perceived to influence the nurses for any favours (Australian Nursing
and Midwifery Council 2006). This therefore means that RN H should have drawn a
professional line between her as a nurse and Mr B as a patient and treated him as so bearing
in mind the two Codes of conduct in her profession. The tickets offered by Mr. B may be
viewed as benefits to RN H so that there can later exchange of some favours of some sort.
This is against the Australian nursing Code of conduct and therefore the offer ought to have
been declined by RN H.
Informed Consent
Patient A, a 17 year old and a female, is diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and
has gone through several chemotherapy rounds but has not been successful to go into
remission. She now focuses on palliation with the hope of receiving treatment. She does not
want to continue with the chemotherapy any longer despite her parents’ insistence.
The Australian healthcare setting does not allow the clinicians to do anything to the patient
without having to obtain their consent in the first instance. This calls for the clinicians to be
aware of the obligations they have as professionals as well as the rights of the patient.
According to the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibility Act (2006) Vic, no one must be
forced to medical treatment without their free, full and informed consent. Informed consent