Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper
Introduction
The nursing profession has a set of rules that regulate nurses’ conduct and practices in their working environment. The nursing staff must adhere to the set regulations and work per the rules and scope of practice. Deviation from the scope of practices and going against the set legal and ethical practices can cause the withdrawal of the practicing license making the nurse unable to practice as a nurse in life. Nursing regulation is determined by the State and territory of practice. Nurses should be aware of the different regulations which regulate their practice in the State of practice. The nursing regulations dictate the terms under which a nurse should practice, aiming to protect the community from harmful nursing practices. The laws ensure that only qualified nurses who have the necessary skills and competencies can practice nursing. The paper will discuss the ethical and legal practices in nursing as identified in the case scenario involving the student nurse Marty. Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper
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Discussion
One of the issues identified in the case study is incompetence. Incompetence refers to the lack of ability, knowledge, and qualification to perform a task. The student nurse does not have the qualifications to perform nursing procedures. However, the student goes ahead to administer intravenous drugs with the help of a registered nurse. Despite having the supervision of a registered nurse, it is against the law and standards of care for a nurse to undertake a nursing procedure without the required qualifications, knowledge, and skills. Without the necessary competency, skills, and knowledge, nurses are at risk of unfair practices. The laws require that nurses ensure that they have the required knowledge and skills to practice before doing any nursing procedure (Black, 2019)Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper.
Incompetence is a legal issue in nursing practice that has severe consequences for the patients. For example, the patient can suffer from medication errors, administering the drug to the wrong patient, and poor infection prevention. If the student nurses lack the competency required for a certain nursing procedure, they should not directly participate in it by doing the procedure. Instead, they should observe to learn how the procedure is performed until they learn about it to further their understanding (Maharjan et al., 2019)Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper.
Another issue is malpractice. Malpractice is termed as performing a professional procedure outside one’s scope of practice. These practices increase the risk of causing harm to the patient. The nursing regulations are formulated and implemented in the nursing profession to regulate their nursing practices and limit the extent of the practice. The scope of practice controls the practices of nurses such that there are specific roles and responsibilities required of them and some which they should not practice whatsoever. Going against one’s scope of practice as a nurse has consequences; according to the State’s nursing regulations is considered malpractice.
From the case study, the student nurse participates in nursing practices, that is, administering medications through the intravenous route, a skill which had not been covered in clinical units of study. This is referred to as malpractice. The student practiced outside their scope of practice during the first clinical placement. Malpractice has consequences for the student nurse, such as removal from the placement and conflict with the unit assessor. The patients are at risk of harm and poor services due to malpractice. Malpractice is a legal issue, and the law approves for loss of practicing licensure, suspension, or facing a disciplinary committee in case of malpractice. Therefore, student nurses should practice according to the scope of practice of a person in that position, and qualified nurses should not allow a nurse to practice beyond their scope (Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, n.d.)Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper.
Another healthcare issue identified is the potential for harm. The potential for harm can result from malpractice and incompetence. Nursing regulations aim at protecting the patients from harm as a result of nursing practices. Nurses are responsible for promoting patients’ safety in their practice to avoid the consequences of nursing laws and policies. The nursing laws and policies must be upheld during patients’ care. In the case study, the nurse student is involved in performing a nursing procedure without the required knowledge and skills. Also, the student performs the nursing procedure for the first time performing such a procedure without learning from the clinical studies, even with a registered nurse’s guidance. The patient is at high of harm since it’s the first time for the student to perform such a procedure on a patient (Haddad & Geiger, 2018)Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper.
The potential for harm is both a legal and ethical issue. In legal aspects, nursing regulations require nurses to promote patients’ safety in their practice. Every nursing procedure must have the priority of promoting the patient’s safety. In this scenario, the patient’s safety is diminished because the student nurse is given a chance to undertake the procedure rendering the patient at risk of harm. The patient has the right to sue the student nurse and the registered nurse for harming the patient in providing care (Kadivar et al., 2017). The potential for harm can be an ethical issue because one of the nursing ethical principles is non-maleficence which requires nurses not to harm the patient. The patient has to be protected from nursing practices that increase the risk of harm. However, the student nurse is performing a first-time procedure on a patient without the required knowledge and skills, which can cause harm to the patient (Haddad & Geiger, 2018)Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper.
Conclusion
Nursing practice is a critical profession that requires regulation from the set laws and policies since it deals with human life. The nursing practices can predispose patients to harm if the nursing practitioner lacks the necessary qualifications to practice as a nurse. The nursing regulations dictate the terms under which a nurse should practice, aiming to protect the community from harmful nursing practices. The laws ensure that only qualified nurses with the necessary skills have the right to practice in the nursing profession. Legal and ethical issues affect the nursing practice, but only the legal issues are punishable by law. One of the legal issues discussed is incompetence, where the student nurse lacks the necessary knowledge and skills to perform a nursing procedure. However, the student undertakes the procedure, that is, administration of intravenous medication yet does not have the required competence. The act predisposes the patient to the risk of harm, both legal and ethical, because the legal aspect of patient safety is not promoted, and non-maleficence is not practiced. Malpractice is evident in the case study since the student engages in a nursing procedure not included in their scope of practice Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper.
References
Black, B. (2019). Professional nursing E-Book: Concepts & challenges. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Haddad, L. M., & Geiger, R. A. (2018). Nursing ethical considerations. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526054/
Kadivar, M., Manookian, A., Asghari, F., Niknafs, N., Okazi, A., & Zarvani, A. (2017). Ethical and legal aspects of patient’s safety: a clinical case report. Journal Of Medical Ethics And History Of Medicine, 10, 15. PMCID: PMC6150915
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Maharjan, S., Thapa, M., & Maharjan, B. (2019). Awareness of Nurses on Legal and Ethical Aspects of Nursing in Selected Hospitals of Lalitpur. International Journal of Health Systems and Implementation Research, 3(2), 25-32.
Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services. (n.d.). Negligence and malpractice. https://health.mo.gov/living/lpha/phnursing/negligence.php#:~:text=Negligence%20is%3A,a%20particular%20set%20of%20circumstances. Ethical And Legal Issues In Nursing Essay Paper
