The Importance Of Ethics In Nursing

Introduction

My first introduction to ethics was in nursing school. I first went to licensed vocational nursing program. There I learned to examine my ethic. This was important to understand how I would behave when faced with unpredictable circumstances. I did not think about my person ethics. I of course learned what was right and wrong from my parents, who were very religious and determined how we would behave based on religious principles that were written out in the bible. In nursing school I began to examine my personal ethics. I truly believed everyone should be treated with respect, but I did not understand what I would be faced with in the nursing profession. I learned to accept people as they are when working in the psyche field. I worked in a County Mental hospital and treated individuals that had diagnosis of significant and serious mental disorders. Working with this population I learned that people of all walks of life can be interesting and smart, caring and compassionate. I learned to love the people I took care of no matter what they said and how they acted. I learned that mental illness is a disease and can be treated with medication. Many of the patients I can in contact with would be in various stages of the disease and without their medication their behavior was very unpredictable. On the other hand after taking their medication on a regular basis they could function normally in society. Hold down jobs, have families and function in social settings. I developed a lot of respect for the patients in the facility where I worked. When faced with the question of what is my ethical system I have to say it is treating all people with respect and dignity, giving them a choice in treatment of care and Beneficence. This was when I learned to treat patients with compassion and make sure that we respect their autonomy. In health care professionals want to go everything for the patient but they have the right to choose what treatment they want and don’t want. I’ve had the opportunity to watch an ethics committee in action. In the hospital many times patients do not have a durable power of attorney. This gives a family member or friend the power to speck for an individual if he or she cannot speak for themselves or incapacitated i.e. intubated or in a coma be it drug induced or trauma. Without a DPOA or close family the case in some instances go to the Ethics committee. This is made up of the medical director, the physician caring for the family the Nursing manager or Director of nursing, and other disciplines, so that a complete picture of the patient is represented. These decisions are not made easily and only when a detriment to the patient occurs or if a decision needs to be made regarding continuing care. Usually the committee meets for a minimum of two days, and present the pros and cons of treatment the length of time the patient has been treated and the outcome of those treatment. Observing the ethics committee helped me to better understand the healthcare center. As a nurse I’ve shaped my career around ethics and fair treatment. The nursing model is do no harm. When faced with making a quick decision, I’ve used this model do no harm and when I make a decision that could be critical to the patient I always choose to do no harm. Often that means getting a second opinion, error on the side of caution, checking a double checking the physicians order before giving a critical medication. Utilizing the 5 rights of medication administration. Checking the label on a medication before giving it. Checking the patients name before administering the medication. I feel I use ethics every day when I take care of patients, interact with family members and my co-workers. As nurses we also have an obligation, to take care of each other. If another nurse is struggling I need to step in and assist her. I’ve had the opportunity to work as a Director of nursing in a Long Term Care facility. I oversaw the licensed nurses

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