Nursing Ethical Issues - Essay
Added on 2021-06-15
8 Pages2134 Words103 Views
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Running head: NURSINGNursingName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor note
1NURSINGIntroduction The essay deals with the case study of Jack and Sophie who are paramedics. They werecalled for emergency service by Sandra, who complained that her 2 year old child Milly had afall and is in critical condition. The case study presents the actions of the paramedics andattending nurse in the hospital that demonstrated certain ethical issues. The aim of the essay is toidentify the ethical issues that are raised by the events described in the chosen case study. Theethical issues are analysed in relation to the professional code of ethics/conduct, principles ofhealth care ethics, human dignity and human rights. Based on the analysis the essay makes therecommendations for professional practice. Identification of ethical issues The paramedics did not take the informed consent for patient care. The patient Milly wastaken to the hospital even when his father refused to move Milly from house. The paramedicsthreatened to call the police if Milly’s father stopped them to take care of child. It can beconsidered as disrespectful and unkind towards others. The paramedics could be more polite indealing with the father. Further the paramedic did disclose about the possible physical abuse tothe nurse, Beth in the hospital. There was no confirmation taken with Sandra in regards tophysical abuse of chid. Sophie presumed child was physically abused even when Sandrainformed that her son had a fall. Further without confirmation, sharing the information withBeth could be considered a breach of confidentiality. In the hospital the agency nurse was foundto abuse Morphine that was supposed to be given to the patient in the pain. It is indicating thatthe care provided was not safe and effective. The agency nurse demonstrated unprofessionalbehaviour. It can be interpreted that there was lack of medication safety in the hospital due to
2NURSINGmis-utilisation of resources. It is again a breach of professional standards (Black, 2016). It isalso the breach of the medication standards. It is also regarded as the ethical issue as because themedicines are designated for patient use and such resources in the hospital are restricted. Theseresources if not utilised properly may lead to increase in health care cost and adversely impactthe patient care. In conclusion the ethical issues in the case study can be summarised as breach ofhuman respect and dignity, respect for autonomy, confidentiality of the patient information,professional standards and medication standards. Analysis of ethical issues As per the code of conduct for paramedics in Australia, the paramedics are alsoresponsible for ensuring that their actions and treatment demonstrates respect for client(Paramedics Australia, 2018). In the given case study Sophie was worried about the patient butwas refused to be taken to the hospital by Sandra’s partner. In this case, she must have behavedmore respectfully towards him. It is true that the saving the life of the patient was the firstpriority but then explaining the parents especially Sander’s partner about the need of theintervention and transferring the patient to hospital in respectful manner was required. As perthe code of conduct, the paramedics must maintain the confidentiality of any information that isobtained during the course of work. It must be disclosed only to third party in case of legal andprofessional obligation (Paramedics Australia, 2018). Respect for autonomy is the basic principleof ethics (Grace & DRN, 2017) but in this case the patient is 2 years old and is not in state ofgiving consent for care. In this case the paramedic did override the parent’s wishes and there is arisk of legal precedence. However, in this case the precedence may be given to principle ofavoiding the harm of vulnerable minor child and giving medical benefit to restore life. Here
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