Legal and Professional Issues in Nursing- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Write about theLegal and Professional Issues in Nursing for Justice. Answer: Nursing is a fulfilling career; however, it also faces various challenges. Even though, there is no clear answer to the frequently ethical issues faced by nurses, there are set of standards that control ethical decision making. These legal mechanisms are applied to ensure that there is high standard of ethics. Therefore, this paper examines ethical legal issues in nursing practice. Major Ethics and their Application Some of the most common ethical principles that nurses use include respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, justice and beneficence. These standards are the guidance to nurses in making ethical decisions. The rules define the ethical principles for nurses across all levels, settings and roles, provide directions, and sets expectations (Oppenheimer, LaVan Martin 2015, p.522). One of the ethical issues that may arise is patient freedom verses nurse control. Nurses know their work, but there are some situations where patients make their own decision and refuse to follow the advice given to them by the nurse. Even though nurses are not bound to sign a Hippocratic Oath, they are bound by the promise to devote themselves to ensure that patients are able to access care and to live up to the principles of profession. In this case, the beneficence principle which is a rule to do good based on the issue at hand applies (Staunton and Chiarella 2013, p.35). Besides, nurses have this duty to care for their patients, and so, autonomy is also applicable. Non-maleficence, on the other hand, is the act of doing no harm on the choice taken (Staunton and Chiarella 2013, p.35). In the reproduction rights, for example, there is an argument between pro-life and pro-choice, which is based on an individuals cultural beliefs and values. A pro-life is a situation whereby a patient feels that it is her right to abort. On the other hand, if the nurse is a pro-choice, can she respect her patients rights of choosing to continue with pregnancy even if it is threatening her life? Of course, not! The nurse will opt to carry out an abortion provided there is no harm done to the patient. Additionally, the other ethical dilemma is the honesty versus information. In many cases, families fail to disclose the truth by trying to protect the patient from emotional problem. However, nurses believe that patients have rights to know what is happening in their body even if telling them will cause harm. Deciding on which information to be shared could be a difficu lt part of the nurses responsibilities. In this case, justice principle is used to help nurses in this dilemma. Besides the core responsibilities of preventing illness, promoting health, and reducing suffering, nurses are required to have respect for human rights. These rights may include cultural rights, right to dignity, right to life and choice, and to accord respect to patients. Legal Issues Nursing practice of legal application is based on license, federal laws, scope of practice, state, and patients expectations that they practice at high level of education (Monaliza, Kalia Ghai 2014, p.20). When nurses perform below expected principles of competence and care, they might face litigation as provided by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. Common litigations include negligence, malpractice, and failing to practice a reasonable level of care. Litigation together with the professional license review could result in lose of nurses license. Conclusion In sum, nurses have both legal and ethical obligation to care. Generally, nurses are bound to seeing the patients for evaluation of health needs and to determine the level of care needed. Nurses face many challenges, however, they have a greater opportunity to contribute in positive ways to improve the health of the vulnerable people and to have a larger impact on the greater public health. Reference List Monaliza, Kalia, R, Ghai, S. 2014, 'Registered Nurses' Experiences Of Ethical And Human Rights Issues In Nursing Practice: Frequency And Handling', Baba Farid University Nursing Journal, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 15-22. Oppenheimer, M, LaVan, H, Martin, W. 2015, 'A Framework for Understanding Ethical and Efficiency Issues in Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Litigation', Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 132, no. 3, pp. 505-524. Staunton, P. and Chiarella, M. 2013, Law for nurses and midwives. 7th ed. Australia: Churchill Livingstone Australia, pp.25-36.