Legal and Ethical Requirements in Nursing and Midwifery Practice

Introduction to Ethical Principles and Effective Care

The essay aims to reflect the importance of ethical decision in the path of patient safety and care. Nursing profession involves critical decision making for the well being of the patient. Ethical values construct an important part of the professional behaviour in nurses. In critical environment nurses must follow best care practices including moral, social, and emotional. Ethical values in nurses are important to fill void in patient care (Ebrahimi et al.,2015). However, ethical values create the path for critical thinking, enhanced communication, and acts as trouble resolver. The changing environment of the health care system along with the advanced technologies obliges decisions based on ethical dimensions for the effective care and patient output. The ethical values chiefly depend on the education, social, and economical dimensions of the individual nurses (Poorchangizi et al., 2019).

Every healthcare worker works within a moral and ethical framework. It is guided by an ethical structure, Health Practitioner Regulation National Law that focuses on patient improvement by adapting quality care measures (NMBA,2020) . They abide to a fundamental duty which aims to reduce patients suffering. The nursing and midwifery association pre-set a code of ethical values in patient favor which intend to respect dignity and remain accountable throughout the treatment process (NMBA,2020). After stepping in the medical profession obeying the principles and ethics has been made compulsory for nursing practioner. Although, these bio-ethics do not consider beneficence for obligation of compulsion by healthcare workers to provide care during emergency state. However, the argument favors the nurses to consider their personal thoughts while providing care to patient even with existing patient negligence. The nurses take necessary actions based on their critical thinking by considering the associated risk and, timely up-regulate their skills for patient well being. The standards guide to oversee and evaluate patient outcome to deliver effective safety and care. So, the essay argument cannot set a strict scope for nursing practioner, considering their ethical and moral principles. The nurse takes interim decision and based on vulnerability of patient. The ICN code of ethics for nurses guides for ethical decisions to provide equal care without compromising patient health (Stievano & Tschudin,2019).

 The idea of beneficence ethic is observed to entail the idea of doing well considering patient benefit. The argument tries to evaluate the right of nursing staff to decide for patient safety (Kemparaj et al., 2020). The emergency wards with patient overload can jeopardize nursing professional and medical systems. Doctors have to focus on patient care by avoiding harm and promoting care. The ethics of beneficence focus to provide no harm to the patient by taking potential decisions for patient safety. These choices are made by nurses instead of the strict ethical principle of effective care to patients. The current scenario fall under the Hippocratic four ethical principles of doing no harm to other people (Kemparaj et al., 2020). The ethical law of beneficence within the jurisdiction framework ought to provide care and is considered the prime decision of the healthcare workers for patient welfare without giving them choice. The medical workers unite the practice of nursing and medicine as well within a law, societal beliefs, and ethical and cultural framework. The nurses should take every possible ethical decision for the betterment of the patient and should differentiate right and wrong for patient care and safety.

Medical services are directly concerned with the act of mind and exist in every medical practioner including doctors and nurses as well. The core duty of caring involves to think critically and to provide emergency care to the patients. Moreover, knowledge and education in skilled nurses aims to develop a sense of security by knowing the use of appropriate aid during emergency. Nurses work with sub-sections of nursing and include competence, anticipation, mobile nursing practice, and exploration. Nurses impart safe practices and deal emotionally with family members to avoid any misinterpretation of therauptic communication which is otherwise unseen in majority and should be processed in a positive manner. (Fatemeh &Roghieh,2020). In this current scenario, nurse seeks quality and evident advice from senior registered nurses as core duty of professional practice for patient safety without considering his own wish. The patient care negligence is not favored by the nurse creating an evident practical decision. Proper and sound discussion is evident for patient care. Nurses in emergency wards need more mental and physical strength to capture strict ethical decisions. The caring process is patient centered and supports for conveying critical decisions. Care as core duty is shaped by the NMBA guidelines, and provided equally to every patient (So,2019). Acknowledge every patient need is always promotional in nursing to distribute quality care.

The ethic of deontology aims to deliver right care practices by avoiding any damage owing to malpractice, negligence and to follow ethical professional standards regulating their profession. The ethics are regulated by a set of ethical, moral, and social practical dimensions, generated through their professional journey (Mandal1 et al.,2016). They battle for the rights of the patients without considering their cultural variation. Nurses have a strong commitment to their profession which creates a sense of ethical and fundamental rights not to create any space for negligence and malpractice. Negligence can be defined as an unintentional harm and can be created in cases where patient loss the mental control to behave and act (Mandal1 et al.,2016). The unintentional breaching of resulting in harm can either be physical or emotional however, can be considered neutral in terms of patient future safety. The breaching of deontological ethic can be explained as doing well to patient even if does not sound morally right.

Battery is another term for unintentional physical harm like giving injections to the patients without their consent or patient refuse the same. In the current scenario, patient was injected morphine without his will for his betterment. To protect the charge of battery, the healthcare services sign a clear bond regarding decisions for general care and treatment (Mandal1 et al.,2016). The legal consent will include the complete explanation of care procedures. In emergence state, it becomes difficult for nursing staff to explain the reason even for giving forced injection as, excessive force is never promotional. In emergency situations, nurses fail to predict patient behavior. The ethical deontological beliefs aim to deliver care in case the patient is in vulnerable situation. A tort or injury caused due to unintentional failure act for patient safety is negligible when concerned with patient safety (Silva et al.,2019). The decisions come under consequentialist approach to determine the patient outcome. The decisions are based on estimated benefit or harm while the net patient outcome is always positive based on evidence based approaches. This can be compared with another moral ethic called Utilitarianism. Nurses are expected to remain loyal without being forced by their dogma of personal benefits (Silva et al.,2019).

Conclusion on Ethical Principles and Effective Care

Ethical values and moral principles form an essential part of nursing practice. Education shapes and remoulds ethical values with the changing and technically advanced healthcare environment. Nursing education systems fill void in ethical skills and values to improve patient safely and welfare. Beneficence and justice are the major ethical code of principles in health care systems. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has been established and provide guidelines for ethical nursing practices in medical systems. Thus, ethical decision making qualities will always work for the welfare of patient and society as well. The moral ethical decisions for vulnerable patients are focussed towards patient safety and care. The decisions come under consequentialist approach for improved the patient outcome. It is based on estimated benefit or harm while the calculated patient outcome is always positive based on evidence based approaches.

References for Ethical Principles and Effective Care

Ebrahimi,H, Nikravesh,M., Oskouie,F., &Ahmadi,F.(2015). Ethical behavior of nurses in decision-making in Iran. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 20(1),147-155

 Poorchangizi,B., Borhani,F., Abbaszadeh,A., Mirzaee,M., &Farokhzadian,J.(2019). Professional values of nurses and nursing students: A comparative study. Springer Link, 438(12), 1-4

NMBA.(2020). Regulating Australia's nurses and midwives. Retrieved from https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/.

Kemparaj., Kadalur,V., &Umashankar. (2018). Understanding the principles of ethics in health care: a systematic analysis of qualitative information. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 5(3),82-825.

So, H.M. (2019). The World of Critical Care Nursing. Nursing and Midwifery Board, 13(2), 102-106.

Stievano, A., & Tschudin, V. (2019). The ICN code of ethics for nurses: a time for revision. International Nursing Review, 66(2), 154–156.

Fatemeh,H., &Roghieh, N.(2020). .The perception of nursing students of providing patients with fundamental nursing care: "Both good and bad". Journal of Nursing & Midwifery Sciences, 7(3),180-185

Mandal1, J., Ponnambath, D.K., & Parija1, S.C. (2016). Utilitarian and deontological ethics in medicine. Tropical parasitology. 6(1),5-7

Silva, T. N. da, Freire, M. E. M., Vasconcelos, M. F. de, Silva Junior, S. V. da, Silva, W. J. de C., Araújo, P. da S., & Eloy, A. V. A. (2018). Deontological aspects of the nursing profession: understanding the code of ethics. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 71(1), 3–10.

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