Ethical, Legal and Professional Duties of Nurses

Ethical, Legal and Professional Duties of NursesIntroductionNurses ar correction to a large number of ethical, effective and nonrecreational duties which atomic number 18 so m whatsoever to be discussed in this essay so that is why save main important ethical and heavy duties will be discussed in this essay. match to the scenario, these main ethical and legal duties will be deference of persevering ofs impropriety and the duty of financial aid which is stipulation to all the patient ofs. These duties ar schoolmaster and legal in mod Zealand and even all over the gentlemans gentleman which when breached potty lead to legal implications. These duties are ethical duties as headspring because ethical considerations arise when these duties are breached, considerations such as when can these duties be contemplated, so there for these duties are ethical duties as well. In this essay, the consentaneous critical discussion will be about the professional, ethical and leg al pops that arise check to the given scenario.According to nursing council of New Zealand, nursing profession is bounded by its own code of ethics. Ethics is delineate as the branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality, that is, concepts such as extolable and evil, chasten and wrong, justice, virtue, etc. In this critical discussion, Autonomy will be the main sentiment, self-direction of patient and sentiment of wellness professional in get outment of the patient. The competencies and codes related to the above scenario consort to guard perspective are that the harbors should actuate ethically defending the standards of practice session and nurses should respect the remedys of the invitees. These codes used in this scenario genuinely mean that a nurse should acknowledge and allows the individuality of a individual, should act in a culturally safe manner, should use knowledge and skills for the eudaimonia of the patients, nurse is responsible for maintain standards in her professional practice and should practice in her own scope of practice.A registered nurse is in reality defined as the psyche who uses nursing knowledge and critical nursing astuteness to assess health needs of a patient so that the outgo health care can be provided and advises people to self bonk their health. In this scenario, the patient states the disoblige malt whiskey as 8/10 after three hours of having morphine and the doctor mobilizes the patient has drop dead unfree on morphine. Being a nurse one should ask the ostensible to wait for other hour so that he can withstand another window glass of morphine and then nurse should assess if the patient is really dependent on morphine or he is actually in pain. As a nurse, she needs to countenance courage, honesty and should maintain the advocacy social occasion. In this scenario, it is very critical to decide that if the patient has nonplus dependent on morphine or is it the doctor who thinks the patient has experience dependent, cosmos a registered nurse one should maintain the liberty of the patient keeping the standards of health care provided to the patient. Autonomy refers to the human capacity for self-rule and independence (Journal of clinical oncology2001). Autonomy has two aspects, one from the nurses view and another one from patients perspective, so n this essay we will discuss autonomy issues from perspectives of nurse and the patient.In this case Mr. S is making constant requests for having 40mgs of morphine which is arranged to him every 4hours PRN. He also states that the morphine is not actually relieving his pain and after three hours of having morphine he asks for another dose. Doctors think that the patient has become dependent on morphine so the doctors prescribe him for a placebo of normal saline instead. There is a case study which is business sectoring about issues in autonomy of patients which is mainly focused on nurses detectio n of patients autonomy and category of regaining autonomy in patients. The autonomy of patients is normally affected by circumstances such as family, health care provider, community etc. It is believed that the autonomy issue can only be resolved by a team effort, which can include processes of health education, self management etc (Proot et al 2002).The main prime of concern in this scenario is that the patient is given a placebo instead of the morphine, so that the patient would not ask for morphine again and again. The justification for giving placebos is that in the judgement of the giver, the act is beneficial to the patient (Rumbold. G, 1999). This point has both positive and negative impacts on the patient and on the health practitioners and the nurses. This is also accord to health Practitioners competency Assurance Act 2003 that the patient should be safe.The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 provides a framework for the regulation of health practitione rs in order to protect the public where there is a risk of deadening from the practice of the profession (Ministry of health 2010). The positive point is that if the patient has become dependent on the morphine, which is not good according to the patients health, which is why prescribing a placebo would be a better alternative for patients health. This is the good point of this scenario according to the nurses perspective as the nurse would always work for the better health of the patient which can only become positive results for them instead of them being dependent on any medication. There is another positive point according to the nurse perspective which could be a main concern that the patient is demanding morphine repeatedly to make him feel satisfied and alleviate from pain, moreover according to the nurses assessment, the patient feels satisfied and relieved mentally but that is not true, actually the patient has become mentally stuck that morphine s the only medication wh ich can heal his pain. So, giving him placebo is a better option.There are rough negative points as well. According to the New Zealand legislation, this action of nurses comes against The Human Rights Act 1993, which states that every individual has a right to know the truth. In this scenario, the patient is unknown of the fact that he has been administered for a saline instead of morphine.According to a nurse, the biggest ethical, legal and the professional issue here is autonomy of the patient. Autonomy is a very powerful aspect of ethical framework of almost all over the world. Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical philosophy (Autonomy 2010, July). In these contexts, it refers to the capacity of a patient to make an testifyed decision. In moral and political philosophy, autonomy is often used as the basis for determining moral right for ones actions (Autonomy 2010, July). Autonomy means to respect rights of others to determine a course of action. So i n this scenario, according to the right of autonomy based on standards of ethics, nurses should respect the patients decision and should respect of what they want. Health professionals vex no right to disown patients decision. Nurses should respect patients decisions and their autonomy to develop a trustworthy and professional relationship. According to this scenario, the patients autonomy should be respected as the patient states the pain score of 8/10 after three hours of having morphine. Mr. S has a right to decide if the morphine is relieving his pain or not and the health professionals are meant to respect his decision as patient is the person who is suffering from a very severe pain. Nurses should provide proper education to the patient and should inform about the consequences of having morphine repeatedly so that the patient can chose the outdo possible intervention for him.The patient also has the right to have the certified consent about any medication which is prescrib ed to him. If he is given an unknown medication without his consent, it comes against legal issues and can cause legal implications. In Mr. S case, if placebo of saline instead of morphine is administered to the patient without his consent, then he has the right of action to say that the medication was given to him without the consent and it can make legal implications. So, before prescribing or administering any medication to the patient, doctors or nurses should have full consent of the patient. Therefore apprised consent is an ethical, legal and a professional duty of nurses and even every health professional. have is very effective in abiding ethical and legal duties. Sometimes, according to a nurse, it can be effective for a patient not being informed about the medication, to get positive outcomes for patients health. It is effective according to the nurse, but it is actually enabling patients decision and his condition. In some cases if a patient is unable to express what he wants, only then a nurse can decide what is best for the patient but a person like Mr. S, who can state his condition must be informed of the placebo of saline.The nurse has a duty to prevent the patient from anything worsened happening to the patient but if the patient is not mentally ill, he/ she should have full right to take any decision for them. If the patient says that morphine is not relieving his pain it means that it is not really workings for him. It is not good to say that the patient has become dependent on morphine. For example, if nurse administer Mr. S a placebo of saline instead of morphine, his pain can go worst which is not good for the patient and it is not the best practice of a nurse.The New Zealand legislation says that a person has a right to be informed and a right to have freedom. It is under Human Right Act of 1993 which when applied ensures that a person has a right to decide what they want without any interference of any other person. In this act there is a point of having informed medical intervention and a person has right to chose if they want the treatment or not.Ethical issues and changes in society are responsible for nurse-client relationship. The role of the nurse is to maintain clients autonomy, maintain and improve health and promote a professional relationship of trust. The key ethical principles of respect for persons, autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and veracity should be inclusive in the models of the provider-patient relationship (Margret. M, 1998, para. 1 ). There are some contracts in nurse-client relationship which are boundaries, confidentiality and therapeutic nurse behaviours. Therapeutic nurse behaviours are self awareness, being genuine, respectful, culturally safe, responsible and ethical practice. These are the things which are expected from a nurse by a client and the society. All these contracts are applicable internationally. Nurses being culturally safe with clients have become the nur sing practice more powerful. This concept of cultural rubber was first introduced from New Zealand and is now used all over the world. ethnical safety is to keep own last in mind and respecting others culture and practicing in the same manner.ConclusionIn this essay, we looked at the case of Mr. S who is in severe pain and is in need of another dose of morphine. He states pain score of 8/10 and doctors think that the patient is dependent on morphine which he would never realise that is meliorate his pain or not. Mr. S condition successfully states the ethical, legal and professional issues that surrounds nurses and patients autonomy as patients need of morphine would be conveyed by the nurse to the doctor. Here patients condition has been critically discussed and the main influence is on patients autonomy and informed consent of the patient. Nurses roles and the code of ethics have also been discussed in the essay.