Professional Identity

Running head: PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
1
Answer number 1.
In the given case scenario, Jessica of 15 years old had fainted and brought to the
emergency department for diagnosis. Where the registered nurse Sam after interrogating with
Jessica found that she is pregnant, Jessica does not want this to be disclosed, especially to her
mother. Her mother was curious and asked the registered nurse about the reason for her bad
health. In such a situation, Sam was in an ethical dilemma as if he discloses the health issue of
Jessica to her mother, and there will be a violation of patient autonomy and confidentiality would
be not maintained. However, RN is responsible for providing adequate care with keeping the
ethical principle (Andersson et al. 2017). The problem identified in the case can be defined as the
dilemma that makes the RN choose between the ethical and unethical practice in case of Jessica.
From the case study, the registered nurse must address the ethical issue that involves conflict
between confidentiality, autonomy and beneficence of the patient (Murgic et al. 2015). Jessica
being of 15 years, is considered as minor and RN must involve her parents to make an informed
decision for her better health.
Answer number 2.
The registered nurses are responsible for identifying and recognising the ethical issue that
can affect the staffs and patient (Söderhamn, Kjøstvedt & Slettebø, 2015). In the given case
scenario, the ethical principle of autonomy, veracity, beneficence, confidentiality and non-
maleficence has been identified to be an issue. It is seen that Jessica does not want to let anyone
know about her pregnancy, which has put in an ethical dilemma. According to the ethical
principle of autonomy, the patient has the right to take the decision for themselves, and they must
be given respect for their choice (Alaieri & Vellino, 2016). Informed consent is another ethical

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
2
principle that can be applied in the case study. As seen in the case study, Jessica does not give
consent to disclose about her pregnancy, and accordingly, to the theoretical concept of ethical
principle, RN must respect her choice (Marrone, 2016). This also involves the principle of
confidentiality, which states that the information about health issues and diagnosis must be kept
private and should not be disclosed (Petrova, Dewing & Camilleri, 2016). As per the decision of
Jessica, she is showing an unwillingness to inform her health issue to her mother. If the RN
discloses the diagnosis of the health issue, there would be a violation of these ethical principles.
However, Jessica is of 15 years old and below the legal age of consent. Therefore, RN is
legalised to include the parents in decision making for maintaining the principle of beneficence
and non-maleficence. It is seen in the study of Cipriani (2016) that children of age less than 18
years do not have the liberty to take the decision for her health issue. If Sam does not inform
about the pregnancy of Jessica to her mother, this would violate the principle of beneficence and
non-maleficence. According to the principle of beneficence and non-maleficence, RN is
responsible for doing good to the patient and avoid taking any step that could cause harm to the
health, respectively. It is evident that RN should include family in decision making for a better
health outcome of the patient (Rongsawat et al. 2018). Informing about the pregnancy of Jessica
to her mother will help the RN to take an informed decision and reduce the risk of harm. Nurse
are also responsible to maintain veracity in practice. In the case study, conveying truth to the
mother about pregnancy is the legal duty of the registered nurse (Rongsawat et al. 2018).
According to the legal principle, RN is responsible for providing quality care to the patient by
maintaining ethical rights. It is evident that any violation to these right or misconduct in practice,
can cause legal obligation against the nurse or cancel the registration (Cashin et al. 2017).