Importance of NMBA Standards and Codes in Nursing Practice

This essay discusses the importance of NMBA standards and codes in nursing practice, focusing on the ill conduct of a registered nurse and the role of these standards in changing her practice.

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
plagiarism has been removed as much as it could be.
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Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Nursing practice in the healthcare setting aims to provide appropriate care to the patient
suffering from any injury or illness (Ellis, 2019). To enhance the efficiency of the registered
nursing practice, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has formulated 7 standards, which is
expected to be followed by every registered nurse. Apart from the standards, NMBA has also
formulated codes and conducts of the nursing that deals with the legal, behavioral and ethical
requirements of the registered nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Board, 2019). This essay primarily
focusses on the ill conduct of a registered nurse, Mary and role of NMBA standards and codes
and conducts towards her. The essay includes the nursing practice of Mary and its consequences
upon the patient care. The peers of the Mary have reported her ill behavior to the mangers which
is incorporated into the essay along with the role of NMBA standards and codes and conducts in
changing her practice.
The main purpose of the essay is to describe the importance of NMBA standards and
codes and conducts in the nursing practice.
Section A:
Mary who works as a registered nurse at the aged care, does not indulge herself in the
appropriate nursing practice. Rendering to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2019),
registered nursing standard 5, it is the responsibility of the nurse to convey appropriate and safe
care to the patient. However in the case of Mary, the safety of the patient is at risk, as Mary is not
providing much time for the care of the patient. The wet bedsheets of the patients are not
changed regularly which violates the safety of the patient, as it can give rise to any other illness

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in to the patient. Other example of Mary's nursing practice which reflects her ill behavior
regarding the patient is that the urine bottles are not emptied regularly. Therefore, the care
provided by Mary is not meeting the standards of the registered nurse formulated by NMBA in
delivering patient centered and evidence based care to the patient.
Person centered care is demarcated as the care provided by the registered nurse by
considering the needs and preferences of the patient (American Geriatrics Society Expert Panel
on Person‐Centered Care et al., 2016). It helps in improvising the health outcomes of the patient
and patent experience. To deliver patient centered care to the patient, it is essential to know about
the needs and concerns of the patients, which can only be achieved by the help of effective
therapeutic communication between the patient and the nurse which requires both time and effort
of the nurse (Rasheed, 2015). According to registered nursing standard 2, nurse should engross
themselves in effective beneficial association with patient to enhance the quality of care (Nursing
and Midwifery Board, 2019). However in the case of Mary, she is not providing enough time to
her patient. From the case study, it is evident that instead of taking care of the patient and
spending time with him, Mary spends much of her time at the nursing station, which hinders her
communication with the patient. Hence, by observing the evidence from the case study it is clear
that Mary has not formed any therapeutic relationship with the patient and also is not involved in
the patient centered care.
It is important for Mary to deliver patient centered and evidence based care to the patient.
In order to do so, she should maintain an effective therapeutic connection with the patient with
the assistance effective statement (Dang et al., 2017). For that, instead of spending majority of
time at the nursing station, she should spend time with the patient in order to gather more
information regarding the needs and concerns of the patients (Delaney, 2018). In addition to that.

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Mary should also be more concern about the safety of the patient. She should assess the health
condition of the patient on regular basis and should also be more alert about the risk factor that
can cause further health deterioration of the patient such as wet bedsheets or unemptied urine
bottles. It will help her to grow both personally as well as professionally. It will benefit her in
delivering appropriate and safe care to the patient (Griffith & Tengnah, 2017), which is the
primary aim of the nursing practice. Along with that, it will also help her to avoid any further
legal or ethical issue related to the patient care (Potter et al., 2016).
Section B:
By reviewing the case study it is observed that Mary is not dedicated to her profession.
As Mary is a registered nurse in an aged care, her conduct and behavior might impact negatively
to the reputation of the aged care as well as it can also hamper the health condition of the patient.
Mary’s peers have observed this behavior, they observed that Mary left their patient unattended
and spends most of the time at the nursing station, which hinders the therapeutic relationship
amongst the patient and the nurse. She is also not careful about the safety of the patient, as the
patient who has been under the care of Mary remains most of the time uncared. The wet
bedsheets remains unchanged and urine bottles are not emptied regularly, which can lead to other
health complications and urine. According to Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2019),
codes of conduct, a nurse should report and raise concern if they believe that the practice
environment of the healthcare setting is making compromise with the safety and well-being of
the patient. Hence, by observing the condition, it can be stated that it is reasonable for the Mary’s
peers and colleagues to report her ill behavior regarding the patient care to the managers, so that
they could tale an appropriate action against her as soon as possible.

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Appropriate nursing practice leads to enhanced health outcomes of the patient, which is
the primary responsibilities of the registered nurse in health care setting (Smolowitz et al., 2015).
Nursing and Midwifery Board Of Australia has formulated certain codes and conduct, which
should be followed by every nurse while taking care of the patient. The NMBA codes and
conduct of the nursing helps the nurse to identify their responsibility towards the patient in terms
of legal, behavior , ethical and nursing conduct requirements. Apart from that, the Nursing and
Midwifery Board Of Australia has also set some standard for the registered nurse of Australia. If
a registered nurse is observed to be not following the standards and legal rules of the nursing, it
can lead to legal complexities. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) code of
Conduct for Nurses (2019) and the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (2019), can guide
Mary in changing her behavior regarding the patient and the clinical nursing practice. It can help
the nurse to identify the standards which she should include into her nursing practice for the
quality treatment of the patient. There are 7 registered nursing standard formulated by the
Nursing and Midwifery Board Of Australia which should be educated to Mary for improvised
nursing practice. These standards will help Mary to engage in healing association with the
patient, analytically analyzing the heath condition of the patient, comprehensively conducting the
assessment, provide harmless and suitable care to patient and in delivering patient centered care
to the patient (Fisher, 2017). The principle formulated by The Nursing and Midwifery Board of
Australia (NMBA) code of Conduct for Nurses (2019), will help the nurse to change her ill
behavior with the patient and will also her in getting more information about the legal and ethical
consequences of such illegal nursing practice. If after educating Mary about the standards and
codes of conducts of the nursing, her behavior regarding the patient and their care is not

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observed to be change, her license should be cancelled, as her nursing practice enhances the risk
of the harm of the patient (Johnstone & Facn, 2019).
Conclusion:
From the above essay, it is evident that for a registered nurse it is vital to follow the
standards and conducts as stated by NMBA. Mary who works as a registered nurse in the aged
care is not responsible towards her patient which is reflected into her clinical practice. The
nursing practice of Mary does not reflect the NMBA standards which is vital for delivering
appropriate care to the patient. Person centered care and evidence based care is one of the most
effective tool used in health care setting to enhance the patient outcomes. In the case of Mary,
she does not seem to follow such tool during her nursing practice and is also not able to form an
effective therapeutic relationship with patient. Mary's peers have reported her ill conduct to the
managers as it is having negative impact on the aged care's reputation as well as on the patient
care. The peers and mangers of the healthcare setting manages the situation with the help of
NMBA code of conduct and standards for the registered which is involved in the essay.

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References:
American Geriatrics Society Expert Panel on Person‐Centered Care, Brummel‐Smith, K., Butler,
D., Frieder, M., Gibbs, N., Henry, M., ... & Saliba, D. (2016). Person‐centered care: A
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