Exam (elaborations) D129_Task_3_Position_paper_revision 2021

Ethical Challenges and Legal Implications Nurses are faced with many ethical challenges every day. Along with those ethical challenges there are legal implications that encompass these challenges. The two ethical challenges, as well as the legal implications of these challenges, I chose to discuss are end of life care and incompetent staff. End of life care is an ethical challenge nurses in my organization have to deal with from time to time. Autonomy of the patient at the end of life is a very important part of the patients care. Allowing the patient to make their own choice of what is best for them in their care is their right (Denisco & Barker, 2016). Being an advocate for the patient right to choose is the nurse’s ethical duty. Regardless of the patient’s ability to function or how close they are to dying the nurse is required to respect the rights and dignity of all patients or all people in general. A patient’s unique values, preferences, and needs are key components to guide patient centered care through the nursing process. For nurses ethically this can be hard to deal with sometimes due to patient’s families not wanting to honor the patient’s choice to not be resuscitated. With an Advanced Directive, a legally recognized document, on file for the patient this prevents family from overriding the patient’s choice and protects the staff from legal ramifications for honoring the patient’s choice (American Nurses Association, 2015). Incompetent Staff is another ethical challenge a nurse in my organization will have to work with. Nurses are dealt with the ethical dilemma of figuring out whether to inform management about the unsafe practices of the nurse or not saying anything at all. This can be a difficult decision if the nurses are friends. Close bonds are made among nurses due to the stressful situations they are placed in on a daily basis. They are a team and rely on each other. POSITION PAPER 3 According to the code of Ethics, it is the nurse’s ethical duty to report the staff member to the appropriate manager as well as notifying the staff member seen doing the questionable care (American Nurses Association, 2015). This also becomes an ethical issue of Nonmaleficence. The nurse is sworn to not cause harm whether they are the one committing the harm or witnessing the potential harm and not reporting it. It is negligence for the nurse to not report the incompetent staff. Negligence is a criminal offence if the patient is harmed or died due to the incompetent care provided. There could be legal action against the nurse that didn’t report the incompetent care seen if the patient is harmed or died (Cherry & Jacob, 2019). Role of the MS Nurse Ethical Decision-Making Model Serving on the ethic committee as a nurse in a leadership role, I would collaborate with my colleagues on the application of a published ethical decision-making model to the ethical problem of incompetent staff. In this leadership role it is important to have an understanding of ethics by being able to model ethical behavior, mentor peers, and implementing policies centered around ethical patient care being provided (Peter, 2018). In the ETHICS model there are 6 steps. First, I would identify and evaluate the nurse having the ethical issue. Evaluate whether to inform management about the unsafe practices of the nurse or not saying anything at all. Then I would come up with a course of action (Ling & Hauck, 2016). Second, I would think ahead of what possible outcomes there would be for the possible course of action. Possible courses of action would be to confront the nurse providing the unsafe care or notifying management. The outcomes to that would be that no harm comes to the patient and other staff involved in the patient’s care wouldn’t be held liable for being negligent. The