Essay Essay on Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing – Michelle Case Study – Nursing Assignment Help

Assignment Task:

Title of assignment

An Essay on Ethical and Legal issues in nursing

Instructions to Write the Essay

An essay to be written on Ethical and Legal issues in nursing based on the case study given below.  This assessment has a weighting of 40%.

The legal and ethical concerns that the situation in the scenario raises.

• The possible actions or inactions that could be taken and the implications of those actions.
• You do not need to provide the ‘right’ answers, what you will be assessed on is your ability to determine the implications of different actions or inactions from a legal and ethical perspective.

Firstly, think of the possible courses of action (or inaction) that could be taken and then consider, do any ethical theories support (or not) the actions that you discuss?

Which ethical principles, doctrines or concepts apply to the actions/inactions put forward and if so, how?

• Do any of the ethical principles conflict with each other or with the law?
• Which torts or other legal concerns apply to your suggested actions/inactions?

Consider the Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics and RN Standards of Practice (2016), how do they apply to this situation?

Scenario:

Michelle, FORD a Registered nurse working in a public hospital was attending her patient, James Keren admitted with the complaints of pressure injury unstageable. He is scheduled for debridement of his pressure sores on next day and is fasting from midnight. He has an IV fluid at a rate of 100mls per hour. The patient has past history of spinal cord injury and is paraplegic with a permanent suprapubic catheter. James also has a history of aggression and is on behavioural contract.

Around 2 o clock in the morning, James called out and Michelle went to attend his call bell. James complained of discomfort and the Nurse took his vital signs which shows BP of 156/86mm of Hg, HR 102bpm, Temperature of 37.7, RR 24. The nurse asked the patient about his pain score and he denies pain with aggression. Nurse assumed he is having pain and given PRN analgesia. James insisted that he want to talk to the nurse in charge, which Michelle denies thinking he is aggressive. Michelle did not check the catheter for the urine output and when he again called after 15minutes she informed the in-charge that James is aggressive and do not want to provoke him by visiting frequently. Michelle asked another nurse to attend to call bell as he was aggressive to her and told that he has been given PRN analgesia. The nurse noticed his urinary bag was empty. Nurse checked patient’s fluid balance chart which shows the last entry at 1800hrs. Nurse in charge was informed and the bladder scan was done immediately, and the bladder was full.

Nurse in charge took consent from the patient and the catheter was changed immediately by them as they felt it is blocked. The urine was drained completely, and the vital signs returned to normal limits. In charge also apologized on behalf of Michelle, FORD.