Analyzing Legal and Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing: A Case Study

This presentation analyzes a nursing ethics case study involving a patient named Peter, focusing on the failures of nurses to adhere to ethical and legal standards. It explores the nursing codes of practice, conduct, and ethics, highlighting their importance in ensuring patient safety and professional conduct. The presentation then examines the Australian Charter of Health Care Rights, demonstrating how the nurses' actions violated patient rights to respect, dignity, and safe care. Furthermore, it defines the duty of care, explaining how the nurses' negligence, including ignoring a low oxygen saturation reading and sleeping on duty, breached this duty. The concept of a "reasonable standard of care" is also defined, emphasizing that the nurses' actions fell short of this standard, leading to medical negligence and, ultimately, Peter's death. The presentation references relevant sources, including the provided references and additional research, to support its analysis of the case and its implications for nursing practice.

Running Head: LEGAL & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
Legal & Ethical decision
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LEGAL & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
Nursing codes of practice/conduct/ethics
Nursing codes of practice, conduct, and ethics are guidelines used by nurses when
dealing with patients in day to day practice this helps them to know their responsibilities when
offering care to the patients in a respective, ethic, safe and effective way this enables them to
regulate, monitor and enforce their professional conduct of practice. This nursing ethics is
required in the health care profession and must continuously grapple. It also provides a guideline
for managing ethics difficulties that arise at the society level, clinical level, or organization
(Butts & Rich, 2017). Nurses know that quality cares to patients rely on more important than just
knowing nursing technics. Such practices are commitment, conscience, competence, compassion,
and confidence, and they are essential in this profession.
Nursing ethics enjoyed its status and it as developed, legitimized, and it has been
recognized as a unique field of inquiry. Nursing professions should portray concern, high level of
respect, equity and dignity in each person, commitment is also essential to the patient, show their
code of conduct by promoting and respecting the rights and safety of patients, making best
decisions in promoting health and optimum care to patients, improvement of their ethical
environment, foster their integrity and social justice in their profession, and they must care on
their health safety and the integrity (Commons & Baldwin, 2017). Understanding moral and
ethical issues and be able to resolve them leads to the development of career growth (Cameron,
2020). By applying the code of ethics in the workplace benefits not only the nurses and patients
but also benefits other employee cohesiveness and productivity.

LEGAL & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
The nurses in this case study did not practice their code of practice, ethics, and
conduct professionally in the case of Peter; they test the oxygen concentration realize that it was
low. Yet, they did not mention the reading in the handover to alert other nurses in the night shift.
Australian Charter of Health Care Rights
The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights contains the rights of patients for the
Australian healthcare system Victoria (Victoria. Department of Health and Human Services,
2017). These rights are useful in making sure that anyone should receive health care, which is
quality and safe (Atkins et al., 2017). People who receive health care and those providing health
care should play their parts importantly in attaining health care rights. This Charter enables
patients, families, and service providers to understand and share health care rights to people, and
this enhances them to work as a team in achieving a high-quality healthcare system. For this
reason, they can make the best results.
In regards to this case study Peter was not treated with respect, dignity, safely and with
concern. The nurse ignored his oxygen saturation of 64% by not notifying the anesthetist of this
low reading. Nurse also failed to for work as per Charter by sleeping hence leaving the patients
in trouble he did not give care an attention has it is required. Enrolled write medical records
without actually assessing each patient who is also wrong as per Charter.
Duty of Care
According to the duty of care principles which states that one must be obligate to avoid
acts and omissions, which brings harm to others (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia,

LEGAL & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
2019). In Peter`s case, nurses did not stick to the duty of care by ignoring his low oxygen level
and also by sleeping instead of assessing other patients.
The concept of “reasonable standard of care”
The concept of “standard of care”, refers to the scale on attentiveness and caution that a
responsible person would exercise in the circumstances the nurses, in this case, did not apply it
as they were irresponsible in dealing with Peter’s situation, as they neglected Peter’s low oxygen
saturation. Every person has right to access health care, get secure and excellent health care, to
be respected, to be considered and treated with high dignity, get informed on treatment service,
alternatives and to know the cost of treatment in a clear way, they should be included in decision
making concerning his / her health care. All this should be done regardless of their culture and
ways of their lifestyles.
Medical negligence
Medical negligence happens whenever a health professional fails to offer an adequate
standard of care, causing more injuries or damage to the patient. Medical negligence may result
to new injury, illness, or worsening the medical condition of a patient (Commons & Baldwin, 2017).
The level medical negligence in Peter’s case is noticeable, it not only worsen the existing
condition of Peter but eventually causes Peter’s death. Peter's case was referred to because it
happened suddenly in an unusual manner.
Coroner.
Peter's case was referred to as coroner because it happened suddenly in an unusual
manner. Peter`s death was caused by medical negligence from nurses, which could have been
prevented if the concern was given to the patient. The nurses did not handover out the complete

LEGAL & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
patient`s records to incoming nurses on the shift. I think the nurses are responsible for Peter`s
death because they did not give him standard care.
Reference
Atkins, K., De Lacey, S., Ripperger, R., & Britton, B. (2017). Ethics & law
for Australian nurses (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2019). Nursing ethics. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Cameron, S. (2020). Development of a code of professional conduct for
nurses in Australia. Collegian, 2(3), 29-31.
Commons, L., & Baldwin, S. (2017). Ethical policy guidelines development
for general hospital nurses. International journal of nursing studies, 34(1), 1-8.

LEGAL & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2019). Code of conduct for
nurses. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-
Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards.aspx
Victoria. Department of Health and Human Services. (2017). The Australian
Charter of health care rights in Victoria. Available from
https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/Api/downloadmedia/%7BDE714241-FC53-440F-
83CA-4C53D44D0FA1%7D