Ethics refers to the framework of classifying human actions as either bad or good depending on the benefits or harm associated with them. Human actions are subject to ethical judgment only if they are taken out of free will. The determination of whether an action is good or bad is largely dependent on agreed standards of good and bad actions within a given community (Benjamin & Curtis, 2010). For instance, acquiring wealth could be considered a good thing. When such an action is agreed as good in isolation, it may drive an individual to use dubious means such as stealing as a means of acquiring them. However, the stealing makes the attempted acquisition of wealth a bad action as it violates another good action of respecting the rights of other people to own the property equally. As such, the theoretical framework of evaluating the ethicality of an action is based on agreed standards of bad and good (Holland, 2010). The consequences of an action are good in the event they are beneficial to a person. Conversely, the consequences of an action are considered bad in the event they are harmful to an individual.
Bioethics is a relevant section of ethics relevant to the healthcare practice. It evaluates the ethicality in the application of scientific and biological principles on human beings and the resultant consequences. Healthcare professionals often encounter a moral and ethical dilemma in the course of their work that they are required to maneuver (Martin, 2014). In this study, I will detail the ethical dilemma that I have encountered while discharging my duties. Besides discussing the moral, ethical, and legal implications, I will identify my role in ethical advocacy associated with the ethical dilemma.
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In my nursing scenario, I have encountered an ethical dilemma where I realized about the incompetence of another nurse whom we were working within the same unit. The individual demonstrated incompetency in executing basic nursing procedures, and I realized how she was jeopardizing the patients’ health and wellbeing. As such, I had the ethical obligation of reporting the nurse because I cared about the patients. However, I recognized that the healthcare facility was already understaffed and hence reporting the said nurse would worsen the condition. Moreover, I also felt that reporting the nursing would do her more harm since she would lose her job.
The situation had a serious implication on my moral standing. Since the incompetency of the nurse was likely to cause harm to the patient, I was obliged to report the matter. Each health healthcare practitioner is governed by the moral responsibility of ensuring the safety and well-being of the patient. Therefore, an action that upholds this wellbeing of the patient and supports the healing of that patient is considered moral. However, any action that puts the life and well-being of the patient at risk is considered immoral. Therefore, reporting would have been the moral thing for me from the perspective of the patient. The same action would not hold a moral value when considering it from the perspective of the nurse and a colleague. I owe my colleagues a moral duty to protect them and ensure that they continuously improve in their competency. As such, reporting them would be immoral because it would jeopardize their efforts of improving their competence. The subsequent investigation would ultimately lead to his sacking. This would also reduce the number of nurses as the facility is already suffering from understaffing. Consequently, it would jeopardize service delivery to the patients and equally put the health and well-being of the patients at risk. Therefore, whether I chose to report or not to report both actions would bear moral implications.
Secondly, the situation also presented a legal implication. The law regulates nursing practice. It stipulates that a nurse must demonstrate competency acquire the relevant knowledge and receive certifications before being employed in any place of work. The basic educational requirements of registered nurses, as well as mastery of the nursing core competencies, are equally stipulated under the law. Therefore, nurses are required to be adequately skilled before beginning their practice. As such, anyone who practices without the required education can be liable for a tort under the law. Therefore, the situation presented a legal implication not only the nurse in question but also the management of the hospital that hired her.
In this ethical dilemma, I played a significant role as an ethical advocate within my team. I devised a plan that would help improve the competency of the nurse in question and hence promote the health and well-being of the patients while preserving his job in our health facility. First, I offered to mentor her on the professional roles of a nurse. I showed interest in increasing her knowledge in nursing in a friendly way. Besides, I asked her to work under me as I coached and mentored her in the various nursing procedures that she did not understand well. Secondly, I motivated her to learn continuously and hence improve her skills consistently. Through this period trained her on how to incorporate emerging techniques in nursing such as evidence-based care. Lastly, I encouraged her to always inquire about specific procedures and practices she was not sure about. These actions tremendously improved her capacity in nursing. She started to demonstrate improvement in the mastery of the very procedures in which she had previously demonstrated incompetence. She later became one of the best nurses at the healthcare facility.
I demonstrated servant leadership from my actions of resolving the ethical dilemma. Servant leaders are normally interested in the lives and personal growth of people. He or she invests his time and resources to develop other people and ensure that they consistently grow. Servant leaders contribute to building caring and just societies and organizations. Servant leadership involves putting the needs of the people ahead of one’s own needs (Cianci, Hannah, Roberts & Tsakumis, 2014). Through my actions, I demonstrated servant leadership in different ways. First, I demonstrated interest to develop the other nurse. I offered myself as a mentor and a trainer with the view of ensuring that the other nurse is well equipped with knowledge and skills. Therefore, this action was very instrumental in increasing competency in the nurse and enhancing the wellbeing of the patients.
The leadership style was very instrumental in facilitating the resolution of the ethical dilemma in question. First, it ensured that the nurse could improve his skills and competency. The effect of this was that the health and well-being of the patients were preserved and taken into consideration. Moreover, the nurse was able to work under a competent and experienced nurse. I offered myself to help her and hence improve her competency. Throughout this mentorship program, the rights of the patients to receive quality care was maintained (Marquis & Huston, 2017). Ideally, the nurse was able to work under a skilled and competent nurse and hence delivered quality care. Secondly, the moral duty to protect a colleague at work was equally maintained. Through my action, the nurse was not sacked for incompetence; the nurse was able to increase the skill and competency throughout the period. Therefore, my actions were instrumental in resulting in positive patient care and increased skills for the nurse. The leadership style was effective in resolving the ethical dilemma that I faced.
My servant leadership equally served to solve the problem of the potential shortage of staff. If I had chosen to report her, she would have been sacked. The effect of this was that there would be few nurses during the time which the process of recruitment would be ongoing. Consequently, the patients would not be able to receive quality care during this period. However, my action ensured that the staff is adequate during this period. As such the patients were able to receive adequate care. Moreover, the rest of the nurses were not over workers as they would have been had the nurse been sacked.
Overall, ethics is primarily concerned with the classification of human action as either good or bad. Such classification is based on the consequences of the human action. The actions that enhance the well-being of humanity are considered ethical and moral while those that that cause harm is considered unethical. In the course of my work, I have encountered a moral dilemma in which I worked with an incompetent nurse. The ethical dilemma was whether or not to report to the hospital management. I took action to train and mentor the nurse via my servant leadership style. The strategy helped me to resolve the ethical dilemma and ensuring that I fostered the common good among all the parties involved.
References
Benjamin, M., & Curtis, J. (2010). Ethics in nursing: Cases, principles, and reasoning . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cianci, A. M., Hannah, S. T., Roberts, R. P., & Tsakumis, G. T. (2014). The effects of authentic leadership on followers' ethical decision-making in the face of temptation: An experimental study. The Leadership Quarterly, 25 (3), 581–594.
Holland, S. (2010). Skepticism about the virtue ethics approach to nursing ethics. Nursing Philosophy, 11 (3), 151-158.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (9th Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Martin, M. B. (2014). Transcultural Advocacy and Policy in the Workplace: Implications for Nurses in Professional Development. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 30 (1), 29–33.
