Code of Conduct in Nursing Practice: Legal and Ethical Considerations

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the code of conduct in nursing practice, emphasizing the ethical and legal standards that govern the profession. It begins with an introduction to the Standards of Professional Nursing Practice, highlighting their dynamic nature and importance. The report traces the evolution of nursing from a less recognized healthcare specialty to a profession with legal protections against malpractice, particularly after the landmark judgment of 1975. It explores the concept of malpractice, detailing the areas where it commonly occurs, such as failure to adhere to standards of care and inadequate patient monitoring, and the four components necessary to establish it. Furthermore, the report addresses advanced nursing practice, including the roles of Nurse Practitioners and Certified RN Anesthetists, and the legal standards that apply to them. It offers recommendations for minimizing malpractice risks, such as staying updated on healthcare facility policies, performing thorough patient assessments, and effective communication. The report also covers accessory legal considerations, including privacy and healthcare quality improvement acts, and concludes by emphasizing the importance of seeking guidance from supervisors or legal departments to ensure compliance with standards of care. The report is a useful resource for understanding the complexities of nursing practice and avoiding legal issues.

CODE OF CONDUCT IN NURSING
PRACTICE
-PRESENTED BY:

INTRODUCTION:
The Standards of Professional Nursing
Practice form the ethical code of conduct of
the nursing profession.
The standard of practice are dynamic and are
subject to change depending upon clinical
circumstances.

BACKGROUND:
According to Burkhardt and Nathaniel (2013), nursing a decade ago was not treated as a
healthcare speciality.
Progress notes were not treated as authentic health records.
Nursing practice has evolved through the years with advancement in technology and higher
education.

MALPRACTICE:
The year 1975, marks the year of the landmark judgement when Nurses were recognised as professionals who
were worthy to be protected under the protection law (Zahedi et al. 2013)
Negligence claims against nursing professionals since the year 1975 were treated as malpractice (Burkhardt and
Nathaniel 2013)
Nurses were recognized as specialized care professionals who rendered treatment on the basis of nursing practice.
Also, the physician’s opinion with regard to nurses were ruled out because it was affirmed that the nursing
professionals are a separate body of care professionals who have their special set of education, skills and training.

ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE:
Advanced nursing practitioners include Nurse
practitioners or certified RN anaesthetist and
the standard of care for ANP is regulated at
the national legislation level.
ANPs must also mandatorily be certified by a
national association and acquire a licencing
through the board of nursing.
The legal standard for an APN would be
equivalent to that of another APN with a
tenured scope of practice and dealing in a
similar speciality field.

AREAS OF MALPRACTICE:
The practice of negligence, breach of duty that causes harm to a patient and misconduct is
treated as nursing malpractice.
Studies reveal that the most common cases of nursing malpractice includes failure on the end
of the nurses to follow the standards of care or access and monitor the patients.
In the words of Lillemoen and Pedersen (2013), documentation, effective communication,
proper use of equipment and patient advocacy are also identified as areas where care
professionals fail to comply with standards of practice.

COMPONENTS OF MALPRACTICE:
In order to identify a deed as malpractice, it is
essential for the third party to prove that all
the four components that make up
malpractice has been violated. The
components include breach of duty, (resulting
in) patient injury, and a relationship between
the breach of duty and the injury (Zahedi et al.
2013).

OVERCOMING RISKS RELATED TO
MALPRACTICE:
Arnold and Boggs (2015) suggested that complying with the following recommendations could ensure an
effective care delivery.
Be aware of the policies and procedures of the healthcare facility
Be updated with the recent advancements in within the speciality and field of practice
Perform patient assessment in accordance to the order of the physician or nursing judgement
Be spontaneous in reporting abnormalities noted in pathological data, follow up data or vital assessments
Perform follow up assessments effectively
Effectively communicate with patients, their family members and allied healthcare professionals
Document factually
Spontaneously report cases that predict deviation from care

ACCESSORY LEGAL
CONSIDERATION:
Privacy Act (1974)
Health Insurance Portability and Affordability Act
(1986)
Health Care Quality Improvement Act (1986)
Patient Self-Determination Act (1990)
Social Networking
Child Abuse
Elderly Abuse
Compliance with federal guidelines
Professional Practice and Licensure

CONCLUSION:
It can be mentioned that the legal definition for the standard of care refers to the comparison of
the situation with an efficient nurse considering that she was placed in a similar circumstance. It
should be further noted that the standards of practice and associated policies are subject to
change. In order to avoid legal action, care professionals can seek assistance from their
supervisors or the legal department within a healthcare setting in order to justify their stance.

REFERENCES:
Arnold, E.C. and Boggs, K.U., 2015. Interpersonal relationships: Professional communication skills
for nurses. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Burkhardt, M.A. and Nathaniel, A., 2013. Ethics and issues in contemporary nursing. Nelson
Education.p.90
Lillemoen, L. and Pedersen, R., 2013. Ethical challenges and how to develop ethics support in
primary health care. Nursing ethics, 20(1), pp.96-108.
Zahedi, F., Sanjari, M., Aala, M., Peymani, M., Aramesh, K., Parsapour, A., Maddah, S.B.,
Cheraghi, M.A., Mirzabeigi, G.H., Larijani, B. and Dastgerdi, M.V., 2013. The code of ethics for
nurses. Iranian journal of public health, 42(Supple1), p.1.

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