Importance of Bioethics and Laws in Healthcare

Running head: REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT PART TWO
REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT PART TWO
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT PART TWO
Introduction:
Nursing professionals have the duty in providing their clients with high quality and safe
care that aligns with the preferences of the patients and makes them satisfied. Nurses are
however confronted with different ethical challenges in their professional practice and therefore,
it is expected of them to be familiar with different ethical codes of conduct as well as the
different essentials of ethical decisions making. The International council of nurses for the nurses
first adopted the first international code of ethics for the nursing professionals in the year 1953.
The nursing midwifery board of Ireland had developed the Codes of ethics for nurses in Ireland
outlining the commitment of the nursing profession in respecting, promoting as well as
protecting and upholding the fundamental rights of the people who are both the recipients and
even the providers of nursing and healthcare (Vryonides et al., 2015). This assignment will
discuss the concept and importance of bioethics and laws in healthcare in details. It will also
reflect on important events where I faced ethical dilemma and how critical reasoning skills
helped me overcome dilemma with application of correct principle and ethics.
Bioethical principles:
Studies have defined bioethics as “the field that remains concerned with basic human
values like that of the rights to life and health as well as the rightness or wrongness of certain
developments in healthcare institutions, medicine, life technology, health professionals and
responsibility of the society for life and health of the members” (Holloway & Galvin, 2016)..
Nurses need to develop an environment of mutual trust and respect between the patients and
professionals. Studies opine that as patients entrust their dignity to that of the nurses, nurses also
need to guard their privacy and thereby listen to their concern (Butts et al., 2019). The important

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REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT PART TWO
principles of ethics that every nurses need to be knowledgeable of are the autonomy and dignity,
justice, beneficence and non-maleficence as well as privacy and confidentiality (Preshaw et al.,
2016). The Codes of ethics act as guides mainly as the non-negotiable standards of ethics that
nurses need to follow. It also acts a reminder of the commitment of the nurses towards the
society. These codes help nurses in continuing their services with their learning and evidence-
based practices.
First case scenario:
During the time of placement, I got the opportunity of caring for an old man named
Jeremy Smith who was 85 years old. He was found to be non-compliant with the nursing
healthcare professionals. His wife stated that he was treated unprofessionally by the nurses of
another healthcare center. He had felt humiliated and insulted the last time he suffered from chest
pain. This had made him dislike healthcare professionals and he was also not ready to be
admitted to out hospital as well. I understood the situation and understood that the previous
organization’s healthcare professionals had not maintained the bioethical principles of autonomy
and dignity and this had affected the patient satisfaction.
Studies are of the opinion that autonomy as well as patient self-determination is upheld
when the nurses are seen to accept the clients as unique individuals who has the innate right for
having their own opinions, values, beliefs and perspectives (Ellis, 2017). Nurses need to
encourage patients for making their own decisions without any coercion as well as judgments
from the nursing professionals. Every patient has the rights in rejecting as well as accepting
any form of treatments. Dignity is found to be fundamental to the well-being of the patients as an
important aspect of ethical nursing care. Nurses need to maintain the four aspects of dignity to