Answer 2 for NRS 430 Outline the process for the development of nursing standards of practice for your state
Answer 2 for NRS 430 Outline the process for the development of nursing standards of practice for your state
Ethical issues occur in every health care environment, and they are part of every nurse’s practice (Green,2022). Amongst the eight ethical principles of nursing, I chose the principle of autonomy. This ethical principle plays a significant role in nursing. It simply means patients have the right to self-determination. Autonomy in nursing is about providing sufficient information to allow patients to make their own decisions based on their personal beliefs and values, even if they aren’t the ones the nurse thinks is right (Green,2022). For example, I recently had a patient who was admitted with anemia and critically low blood values which required emergency blood transfusion, however the patient was a Jehovah’s Witness and refused all blood products despite being aware of her blood situation. Due to this patients’ personal beliefs other alternatives had to be considered in order to respect the client wishes.
Another situation where patients’ autonomy plays a huge role in their plan of care is determining the code status. The code status is listed in a patient’s medical chart each time they are admitted to the hospital. It lets the patient’s medical team know what the patient’s wishes in the event of a medical emergency are such as their heart stopping. The code statuses a patient can choose are full code, do not resuscitate, and do not intubate. During my clinical exposure I have noted that patients with chronic diagnoses practice autonomy usually through participating with the doctors to discuss their end-of-life care and wishes. The involvement of primary caregivers in discussing code status with patients with terminal illnesses is crucial. A study by a group of researchers among the terminally ill patients in Taiwan revealed that the disclosure of the patients’ poor prognosis should not be overlooked, and there is a need to emphasize the importance of truth telling the patients’ families and discussing end of life care medical decisions with patients without overriding their wishes. Thus, patients’ preferences toward end-of-life care medical decisions can be respected, thereby enhancing their quality of end-of-life care and life before death (Chang et al.,2022).
References
Green, S. Z. (2022). Advancing professional standards. In Grand Canyon University, Dynamics in Nursing: Art & Science of Professional Practice. (2nd ed.). Grand Canyon University.
Hui Yu Chang, Naomi Takemura, Pui Hing Chau, Chia-Chin Lin, BMC Palliative Care,2022. Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2022), Prevalence and predictors of advance directive among terminally ill patients in Taiwan before enactment of Patient Right to Autonomy Act: a nationwide population-based study.
