Professional Practice in Nursing: Principles, Issues, and Guidelines

Running head: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 1
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PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 2
Introduction
Emergent dieases and illnesses have become a major issue in the modern world.For this
reason many countries have been forced to invest in their healthcare systems to improve the
quality of care.Nurses have a set of professional values that include legal, ethical, social and
medical facts that guide them as they carry out their daily duties (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). This
essay is meant to assess the principles of skilled nursing practice, define the moral and legal
frameworks for the profession to follow and apply them in different situations.
Identify the Problems
In the case study on Registered Nurse Fiona clinical handover notes, there are several
legal, ethical, social and medical facts that can be pointed out using the Identify, Situation,
Background, Assessment, and Recommendation(ISBAR) method. First, some of the legal facts
include whether the hospital is legally bound when the patient gets sicker as a result of his
actions of smearing faeces on himself and also pulling out his IV cannula both activities which
are hazardous for his health. Even if they are supposed to force the patient to get treatment they
have to wait for his consent so that he could get respectful treatment.
Some of the medical facts, in this case, are; first the patient Fred had laparotomy
performed on him the day before as a remedy for acute bowel obstruction. A laparotomy is a
procedure whereby the doctor makes an incision in the patient’s abdominal wall with the aim of
accessing their abdominal cavity when there is an issue in that area. In this case, Fred had an
acute bowel obstruction which is where a patient has a blockage in their bowel which affects
normal bodily functions, and the laparotomy was done as a means of remedying the situation.
Consent.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 3
In nursing, one crucial thing to remember when dealing with different patients in their
care is that the patients are entitled to have informed consent. Consent in nursing means a patient
is of sound mind to permit their healthcare givers to care for them, starting from being admitted
to the hospital until performing procedures such as surgeries(Matt, 2012). Therefore for a patient
to make an informed decision and give valid consent, they should know the risks, benefits, and
any other thing that can result from making a particular decision about the healthcare procedures
they may undergo. Legally all patients are entitled to this; hence, all professions in the health
sector are bound by law to respect this (González‐de Paz, Kostov, Sisó‐Almirall & Zabalegui‐
Yárnoz, 2012). In this case of the patient Fred, it is clear that his ability to make an informed
consent for treatment has been compromised, and it is observed in his actions that show a
deterioration in his mental capacity. Therefore according to the law, he is not able to decide on
his care. Some of the things that can be done are having an evaluation of his mental health and
also asking for consent from his family on the course of treatment (Hsu, 2011).
Legal Issues.
The nursing profession is governed by a code of conduct and principles which informs
nurses on how they are supposed to behave in the workplace. One law that applies here is
beneficence which is a principle that requires nurses and any other in the medical field to always
do the best to ensure that they promote the well being of those in their care. (Parahoo, 2014). The
legal issue, in this case, is shown whereby the patient has a right to consent to receive treatment,
and he refused to get treatment or cleaned since he saw that he was experimenting; hence, they
did not have his consent.Doctors are tasked with the responsibility of respecting patient’s right to
consent or act in accordance with beneficence (johnstone, 2011). Specific legislation that applies
here is the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights, which spells out exactly what quality of