Nursing Ethics: Analyzing Ethical Issues in a Case Study

Running head: NURSING ETHICS
NURSING ETHICS
Name of Student
Name of University
Author’s Note

NURSING ETHICS1
Introduction
The aim of the essay is to analyze the ethical issues related to the given case study and
conclude the response of Anh based on ethical perspective of Nursing. The essay will be
discussing about the various ethical principles and issues related to Nursing and how Anh the
nurse has used her communication skills and effective therapeutic relationship management
techniques to provide effective treatment to her patients. Layers of ethics guide the field of
Nursing, in order to govern the moral principles and behavior of Nurses. Relational ethics is
present in the interpersonal relationship between the nurses and the patients (Burston, & Tuckett,
2013). In the given case study, Anh, the nurse and Maddie, the patient has developed mutual
trust and respect for each other. They have become comfortable in each other’s company, as
there is not much age gap between them. Good level of communication skills and excellent
therapeutic relationship of Anh gave Maddie the confidence to trust her and ask for her personal
details. Effective and efficient identification and interrogation of ethical principles helps the
nurse – patient relationships to develop into a therapeutic relationship for effective healthcare
treatment (Oh & Gastmans, 2015). Regarding the ethics of Nursing, Relation Ethics is
significant, as it helps to provide quality care medication, to develop an environment of trust and
mutual respect and to understand the clinical disorder of the patient. The essay discusses about
the various elements of Relational Ethics ,which are engagement, mutual respect, embodiment
and interdependent environment and how these elements along with the principles of ethics and
communications helps Anh to treat and care for her patients effectively (Hutchinson et al., 2014).

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Ethical Values
Ethical values are the fundamentals of Nursing. The nurse- patient relationship is goal
oriented. The goal is the effective treatment of the patient in the best way possible. Nurses try to
develop a comfortable environment for the patient in such a way that ethics of relationship
determines the therapeutic relationship (Burston, & Tuckett, 2013). According to the ethical
values of Nursing, nurses are supposed to build a professional relationship with the patient and at
the same create a healthy and sensitive environment for the patient to them feel comfortable. In
the given scenario Anh found her work interesting but a bit strenuous as she was appointed to
take care the orthopedics’ patient who were mostly old and semi dependent (Kim, 2015). Anh
developed a healthy therapeutic relationship with Maddie and she liked talking to her because
Maddie was quite of her age only. To maintain a relationship strictly based on the benefits of the
client, nurses acts according to the interests of patients. They make sure that client’s needs are
being fulfilled professionally. Nurses have to unite their body, emotions and mind for efficient
outcomes of treating patients effectively (Engel & Prentice, 2013). Nurses believe that caring for
patient is outside the limits of any disease or disability treatment. In order to maintain a
therapeutic relationship, nurses are required to have deep interpersonal knowledge, objective of
illness/health,, health care policies, knowledge of person, understanding and knowledge of
treatment and knowledge of systems. For appropriate treatment, nurse must have knowledge of
the patient’s health or issue and the evolving health care systems to provide excellent services
(Oh & Gastmans, 2015).
The first step to build a healthy and professional relationship between nurse and patient is
by communication. Nurses are instructed in such manner that they use communication to build,
support and adjourn a nurse-patient relationship. The relationship can provide treatment of

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healing which is much more effective than the medication expertise. Anh has followed the
communication policy for effective treatment of her patients like Maddie.
Nurses have to understand themselves in order to understand others. This is regarded as a
significant aspect of their professional tradition (Leuter et al., 2013). This helps nurses to
stabilize the relationship with patient while relating patient’s experiences to develop emotion and
empathy. Another important aspect of effective relationship is mutual respect. Respecting patient
builds a unique connection between the nurse and patient. In case of Anh, she was appointed in
the orthopaedics department, to serve old and semi dependent patient. She enjoyed her work, as
the work was interesting for her. She developed effective relationship with the patients by
respecting their decisions, demands and choices (Afshar et al., 2013). Nurses tries to improve the
health of patient as well as patient’s family by engaging them into learning of various aspects of
health. They achieve the desired nurse-patient relationship by being genuine and revealing
themselves in front of the patients. Nurses needs to remain quiet at times to show acceptance
and encourage patient to take control of the conversation, in order to behave professionally.
Nurses respect their patients by being calm, polite and punctual. They motivate patients by
encouraging them on taking decisions and attempts for efficient treatment (Lillemoen &
Pedersen, 2013). Nurses have to keep notice of their doings, because sometimes behaviors are
send out unconsciously resulting in negative impact on the patient’s health. To deliver support
and understanding and to share experiences, empathy is significant behavior of nurse. Empathy
helps in strengthening the communications between nurse and patient, which is the foundation of
treatment and care. Communication helps nurses to understand the patient’s viewpoints, to
maintain an effective and healthy relationship. Trust is the result of effective communication
(Engel & Prentice, 2013). Anh has provided potent and impressive treatment, as the patient