Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing

Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing

NUR/391

October 6, 2014

Patricia Shaw

Ethical and Legal issues in Nursing

There are many considerations when exploring ethical and legal decisions in the profession of nursing. Some of the deliberation pertains to issues such as, how the nursing code of ethics, personal and societal values, fundamental and legal aspects of ethical decisions and to whom our responsibility falls. Two case studies were taken into consideration in answering each of these questions.

How the American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics would influence the final decision in each case study.

The number two point in the Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics states "The nurse's primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community" (Koernig- Blasis, & Hayes, 2011). In the Critical Thinking Exercise, the nurse who has been called as a witness has an obligation to advocate for the patients, and in addition the first commitment is to the patient, not the nurse co-worker or the healthcare institution. The third point of the Code of Ethics states that a nurse strives for protection of our patient’s rights, health and safety (Koernig -Blasis, & Hayes, 2011). In this instance the nurse in question in obligated as a witness against not only the nurse who is the accused, but also the institution for their apparent lack of disciplinary action regarding the neglectful care provided. Ethics would dictate that the obligation should be to the patient who was placed in harm’s way due to this disregard.

In the case and example of 79 year old Marianne who was afflicted by a hemorrhagic stroke, the ethical consideration is in regard to a conflicted family of a patient who did not make her living will known, thus causing divergence and need for ethical council. Our ANA Code of Ethics tells us in the third point that, “the nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient" (Koernig -Blasis, & Hayes, 2011)." Considering this ethical value, the ethics committee must consider the benefit vs. the “cost” of the surgery being preformed, would this surgery enhance the patient’s quality of life? In weighing this moral decision, it is the duty of the hospitals ethics committee who should be ANA Code of Ethics driven to educate this family on the medical advantage/disadvantage of aggressive treatment, provide the education necessary to make an educated decision and guide them if the situation calls for