Understanding Law, Ethics, Professional Guidelines and their Relationship to Nursing Practice

TITLE: Understanding Law, Ethics, Professional Guidelines and their Relationship to Nursing Practice

Length: 2000 words (+/- 10%) including in text referencing but not your reference list

ESSAY PURPOSE

This essay will give you the opportunity to develop your understanding of how law, ethics and professional guidelines guide nursing practice. It will allow you to reflect on the values and characteristics of professionalism in the healthcare setting. Completing this essay will also further develop your academic and information literacy skills.

ESSAY QUESTION

Select one of the three scenarios. Identify the main issues inherent in the scenario and make appropriate recommendations to address these issues.

It is expected that your essay will address/contain the following information:

Your immediate and subsequent actions as the witnessing nurse (these actions need to be supported by literature)
An overview of the relevant sections of the Australian National Competency Standards that apply and why
The possible legal/ethical implications

Scenario 1 – You witness a nurse perform a procedure on a patient without consent.
As the witnessing nurse what is your immediate action? What must you do following this? Which sections of the Australian National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse apply here and why? What are the possible legal/ethical implications?

Scenario 2 –

One of your facebook friends, who is also a nursing student on placement with you, posts information about one of the patients they are looking after.
As the witnessing nurse what is your immediate action? What must you do following this? Which sections of the Australian National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse apply here and why? What are the possible legal/ethical implications?

Scenario 3 – You witness another student nurse give a patient two paracetamol tablets for pain without their preceptor being present.