Nursing Ethics And Malpractice
...One of the professional
competencies for nursing states that nurses should " integrate knowledge of
ethical and legal aspects of health care and professional values into nursing
practice". It is important to know what types of dilemmas nurses may face
during their careers and how they may have been dealt with in the past. It
is also important for nurses to understand what malpractice is and how they
may protect themselves from a malpractice suit.
LAW VS. ETHICS
It is important
to first understand the difference between law and ethics. Ethics examines
the values and actions of people. Often times there is no one right course
of action when one is faced with an ethical dilemma. On the other hand, laws
are binding rules of conduct. When laws are broken, it is punishable by an
authority figure.
There are four types of situations that pertain to law
vs. ethics. The first would be an action that is both legal and ethical. An
example of this would be a nurse carrying out appropriate doctor's orders as
ordered. A nurse may also be faced with an action that may be ethical but
not legal, such as allowing a cancer patient to smoke marijuana for medicinal
purposes. The opposite may arise where an action may be legal but not ethical.
Finally, an action may be neither legal or ethical. For example, when a nurse
makes a medication error and does not report it.
ETHICAL DUTIES
Nurses
have many ethical duties to their clients. The main ethical duties are: nonmaleficence,
beneficence, fidelity, veracity, and justice.
The duty of nonmaleficence
is the duty to do no harm. The nurse first needs to ask him or herself what
harm is. When a nurse gives an...
View Full Essay