Dakota Board of Nursing, Provider #50-4007; South Carolina Board of Nursing, Provider #50-4007; and West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses, Provider #50-4007. This CE program satisfies Activity director June D. Thompson, DrPH, MSN, RN, FAEN, Lead Nurse Planner Disclosures Resolution of conflict of interest In accordance with the ANCC Standards for Commercial Support for continuing education, Colibri Healthcare, LLC implemented mechanisms prior to the planning and implementation of the continuing education activity, to identify and resolve conflicts of interest for all individuals in a position to control content of the course activity. Disclaimer The information provided in this activity is for continuing education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a healthcare provider relative
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to diagnostic and treatment options of a specific patient’s medical condition.
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INTRODUCTION
course will first describe ethical concepts that influence nursing practice, then examine professional standards, most of which are based on specific ethical concepts. Finally, laws and regulations will be discussed. By the end of the course the nurse will have a better understanding of the three pillars that guide nursing practice.
Nursing practice is guided by three major pillars: ethical concepts, professional standards, and laws/regulation to ensure safe and professional nursing practice. A nurse must know and understand all three of these guiding pillars. A nurse will be held to these guiding pillars and lack of knowledge or understanding will not be an excuse if something happens to a patient. This
BASIC ETHICAL CONCEPTS FOR NURSES
For example, the patient may not want to disagree with the providers or family may be impressing their wishes on the patient. Given all these separate components of autonomy, it is up to the nurse to ensure to the best of their ability that the patient is truly autonomous (Wacko Guido, 2020). Beneficence The ethical concept of beneficence is not just to prevent or to do no harm (which will be discussed in nonmaleficence), but to actually act in a way that provides benefit to the patient (Varkey, 2021). Beneficence can be considered the basis of healthcare (Wacko Guido, 2020). The act of “doing good” can be many different acts. This includes providing care (even if painful and extensive, if the expected outcome will improve quality and potentially quantity of a patient’s life) and not providing “extraordinary care” (such as when a patient wishes to die without advanced life support’ Wacko Guido, 2020). Defining what is “good” is the main stumbling block with this concept (Wacko Guido, 2020). What one patient or nurse would define as beneficence, another patient or nurse may not. Nonmaleficence The term nonmaleficence means to do no harm, which includes not causing pain or suffering, not depriving others of life, and not incapacitating (Varkey, 2021). The meaning also includes not imposing harm to a patient. With most care a detriment (risk)/ benefit analysis is conducted, even if it is only in the mind of the nurse/ healthcare provider (Wacko Guido, 2020). An example of this would be wound care. Wound care can be painful (immediate harm/risk), however, by caring for the wound, the patient will have a better outcome (benefit). Thus, the immediate
Ethics can be defined as the philosophic area of study of values, actions, and choices to determine what is right and wrong. It is a system of value actions and involves reasoning, analysis, questions, and judgments to help differentiate between right and wrong. Beliefs about what constitutes ethical behavior vary widely among healthcare professionals (Wacko Guido, 2020). In nursing there are ethical concepts to understand. While there are several concepts and theories, the main concepts for nurses to understand are: 1) autonomy, 2) beneficence, 3) nonmaleficence, 4) informed consent (which will be discussed later in the course), 5) veracity, and 6) justice. Autonomy The first ethical concept for nurses to know is autonomy. This is in relation to the patient’s decision making over their own body. Although this seems easy enough, underlying autonomy are the additional components of agency, self-determination, independence, and liberty (Wacko Guido, 2020). Agency can be thought of as the ability to take responsibility for one’s actions, which includes the ability to critique one’s actions. This also ties into self-determination, meaning that a person must be able to access the information, understand the information, and then act upon the information. Agency and self-determination can require a high cognitive level of function, which may or may not be present in an ill patient. When a patient is ill, the ability to exert independence may be compromised as the usual supports and familiar environment are not available. Independence is the ability to follow one’s own values. Finally, liberty is the ability to make choices without coercion or manipulation from others. When nurses are caring for patients, liberty can be impacted.
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Book Code: ANCCUS2423
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