Nursing is regarded as a calling due to the sacrifices that anyone intending to succeeding in the career must be willing to sacrifice himself/herself for the benefits of the others. Professional nursing career is dependent on the ability to always rescue life as the primary intention of working in the first place. These elements are difficult due to the daily challenges the nurses and other health professionals are faced with bearing their oath always to save lives and the decisions that may be against actions or treatments needed to ensure they do not violate their oaths. The aim of this paper is to analyze the different challenges that affect nursing professionals in the intention to administer quality health of the patients (Cox, Hill, & Lack, 2013). The paper intends to use the case study of a 42-year-old female patient with multiple sclerosis brought in the emergency department for fever, decreased appetite for five days and change in mental status. The case study illustrates different challenges of nursing professionalism, teamwork, ethical issues, and legal issues when the surrogate with a power of attorney changes the patients to Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order.
Nursing Professionalism
Professionalism is different from one’s career as it does not only depend on the education and skills one has to acquire, but it also includes acting in accordance of the individual’s career which in the case of nurses, it entails sacrifice and behaving in ways that are beneficial to the patient. The sacrifices should be in developed to ensure they benefit critical decision making on the treatment of the patients; the nurses should also be ethical and approachable as they are the representatives of the patients (Cox, Hill, & Lack, 2013). According to the case study, the nurse was able to discuss the client’s wounds with the family and was able to note that although the wounds were there for about a week, they were still undressed thus making it clear that they were open to pathogens. The fact that the family who claimed to have been taking care of the patient did not know the medication the patient was taking and their failure to consult a doctor to treat the wounds, the nurse was concerned for the patient. The interest shown by the nurse illustrates nursing professionalism at its best. Due to the interest, the physician assistant (PA) discussed with the family on the condition of client and the need to place the patient on mechanical ventilation.
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Health Ethics
The case study shows that the family was negligent in their care for the failed to consult medication of the wounds, and they could not even recall the medication of the client. Such issues call for the nurse to notify the social welfare since it is the ethical thing to do. Health ethics is based on making all the decisions in the intention of bettering the health of the patient. The change of DNR is complicated since the nurse knows that the mechanical ventilation will benefit the patient, but they should also act and respect the legality of a power of attorney ("Ethical Issues of Resuscitation // ACEP", 2016). The essence that the person with a power of attorney was the same family that was negligent in the caring of the client makes the issue complex and calls for the need for teamwork and collaboration to determine the ethical stance the PA to undertake.
Teamwork and Collaboration
The problem of cooperation and collaboration has dominated researches on health and nursing with major claims on the lack of teamwork and collaboration. Effective teamwork and collaboration are dependent on effective communication which in the case study is missing (Ward, 2013). The PA fails to discuss the reasons she/he claims that the negligence may not be intentional when the nurse is on the way to submit the claims of negligence to the social services but does not explain. The break off communication makes it difficult for the nurse to perform her tasks.
Health Law
The case study portrays that a power of attorney is of high significance in determining the medication the patient receives as the patient was not saved using the mechanical ventilation. The moral nature of such an issue is complex since saving a life has higher ethical benefit than the client wishes, but health laws make it difficult for the health professionals to act against the client's wishes (Ober & Cambron, 2015). The issue of negligence would have been described further to determine whether the brother-in-law worked per the patient’s wishes but the nurse performed her/his obligations and in accordance with the health laws.
References
Cox, C., Hill, M., & Lack, V. (2013). Advanced practice in healthcare (1st ed.). London: Routledge.
Ethical Issues of Resuscitation // ACEP . (2016). Acep.org . Retrieved 14 March 2017, from, https://www.acep.org/Clinical---Practice-Management/Ethical-Issues-of-Resuscitation/
Ober, V. & Cambron, C. (2015). Legal Implications and Ethical Considerations of “Do Not Resuscitate” - Self-Insurance Programs . Self-Insurance Programs . Retrieved 14 March, 2017, from, http://flbog.sip.ufl.edu/risk-rx-article/legal-implications-and-ethical-considerations-of-do-not-resuscitate/
Ward, J. (2013). The Importance of Teamwork in Nursing . Nursetogether.com . Retrieved 14 March, 2017, from, http://www.nursetogether.com/the-importance-of-teamwork-in-nursing
