The Value, Ethics, And Principles Of Nursing Practices In The Canadian Healthcare System: A Report

Case Study 1

Dan, a home health nurse is visiting his client Antonio who has ulcerated sores on his right leg. Dan assess that the sores are not improving and may now be infected. Dan recommends that Antonio make an appointment to see a physician, but Antonio refuses. Dan will be on vacation for two weeks and is concerned about Antonio’s follow-up care since none of the other nurses have seen his sores. Dan takes a photo of the sores and tells Antonio it is to maintain consistency of care. Antonio does not say anything. Afterwards, Dan sends the photo to his colleagues’ personal cell phones.

Question
1.What would you have done in this situation? Why? Tie in relevant nursing values, ethics, legalities, and legislations.

Case Study 2
Tisza has been a nurse for the last 10 years. Over lunch, her friend Donna mentions that her 5-year old son keeps getting a reoccurring rash on his abdomen and back that is itchy and painful. Donna wants to know if Tisza ca recommend any creams or medications that may help to resolve it.

Question
1.What would you do in this situation? Why? Tie in relevant nursing values, ethics, legalities, and legislations.

Case Study 3
Betty, a practical nurse, had a terrible shift at work. She does not mention any patient names, but she does vent about her shift on her Facebook page using some derogatory language. A member of the public sees her posts and reports it to CLPNA.

Question
1.Why was Betty reported to CLPNA? Tie in relevant nursing values, ethics, legalities, and legislations.

Case Study 4

Ms. Shaker has been admitted to the hospital due to a chronic medical condition. A part of her treatment plan is a blood transfusion. Samantha, the nurse assigned to care for Ms. Shaker, has personal values and beliefs that conflict with the administration of blood products.

Question

1.What should Samantha do? What is Samantha legally obligated to do? Tie in relevant nursing values, ethics, legalities, and legislations.

Case 1: Ethics in Nursing

The report brings about the discussion on the value, ethics, and principles of the nursing practices in context to the Canadian Healthcare system. These aspects play an important role in delivering effective and safe care to the individuals. Therefore, these concepts will be assessed through the four case studies given and the report will answer the questions accordingly.

The case represented the issue of ulcerated sores in the right leg of a patient, Antonio, who is less bothered about taking care of the problem.  It is evident from the case, that on the recommendation of his nurse, Dan to Antonio he refused for consulting to a physician. Thus, this act or behaviour of the patient describes the negative attitude towards overlooking his health condition. Nurses face ethical dilemmas in their daily practice, regardless of the country or region of practice.  The Canadian health care system has well established which lists some provisions of the code of practice in context to the health and wellbeing of the patient.

A nurse has the responsibility of the commitment for the patient, and their family members, therefore, a nurse advocate for, and strive to attain protect health and rights of the patient. Thus, in this situation being a nurse I would first recommend him to take care of his skin, as it is important undertaking good skin care in the case of ulcerated sores in legs. Being, in the role of nurse, I would have shown respect to the aspect of autonomy, and decision-making capacity of the patient, as he has the right to accept or refuse the treatment or attending to a physician.  Paramount is the ethical principle of beneficence. Thus, it is also important to provide him benefits, which will include making him aware of the issues and consequences of the ulcerated sores in his legs, by first analysing the importance of good skin care. The ethics or legislations in this case are the consent to medical care and the right to refuse care (Oomens et al., 2015).

The case highlights the issue of identifying the patient’s health at risk or problem, which may occur and cause major issues later on. The case mentions the problem of the issue of rashes on the abdomen, and the back of a 5-year old boy of the nurse’s friend. Thus, it identifies an important role of the nurse, Tisza to recommend some medications or cream to deal with the issue.  Thus, it is essential to recommend effective skincare medications, creams, lotions or any other drug used for the small child. Rashes on the skin refer to the symptoms, which causes the affected area of the skin to be turned red and blotchy and creates the swelling to the part of the skin.  It has been analysed that rashes on the abdomen may be caused because of an allergic reaction to the food eaten, medications or drugs, or may be due to lotions or detergents (Berg, Simonsen & Svensson, 2018).

Case 2: Role of a Nurse in Skin Care

Therefore, in this situation I would help the woman to ensure her son to be protected against other issues related to the rashes on the abdomen and back itching.  Moreover, I would have guided her to take care of the food to be given to the child, and avoiding anything, which may affect his skin or health, and use the skin care products specified for small children. Being a nurse practitioner, it is an essential duty of care to ensure protection and promotion of the health of the child or individual against any health problem.  Ethics in this case, play an important role in nursing care or delivering care services to the child (Urden, Stacy & Lough, 2019). 

The third case study is the demonstration of the work life stress or issues faced by Betty, who is a practical nurse. She has not mentioned about any particular patient or the actual cause of her situation. However, the case of Betty, i.e. a practical nurse reported at CLPNA, referred to as the College of Licensed Practical Nurse Of Alberta.  The institution is the regulatory (or licensed) organisation, which has established to provide help to the users of Alberta.  The main aim or purpose of this organisation is to ensure safety, ethical, and competent healthcare services (Nowrouzi et al., 2016).

The Canadian Nurse Association (CNA) believed in the fact the fatigued nurses will influence the health and wellbeing of the patients along with themselves, which may further lead to bigger problems.  Thus, it is understood that the case of Betty to be reported to CLPNA, was right, CLPNA, is the governing body which enlist some code of ethics wherein one important is ‘Responsibility to oneself’.  The practical nurses are supposed to perform their duties, showing commitment towards their clients, and assuring them best health and wellbeing.  The rationale or reason behind reporting the case of Betty to the CLPNA was that it enforces the standards and practices of nursing which essentially determine the roles and responsibilities of the nurses towards public (Tarnowski et al., 2017).

The case represented the issue of conflict of interests in the nursing profession, which is one major problem in assuring the best and effective treatment to the person or patient.  Mr Shekhar has admitted to the hospital due to the reason of his chronic health condition, which demonstrated about the ‘blood transfusion’ as a major part of his treatment.  The response to this requirement of the patient’s treatment was not suitable as per the opinion of the nurse Samantha assigned to undertake the care of the person/patient (Strauss, 2018).

Thus, in context to the above scenario or situational case, it can be stated that a nurse or a health professional must perform and show accountability in accordance to the requirements of the treatment.  Therefore, Samantha is legally bound to the legal requirements of their profession, which states them to comply with the requirements and procedure the treatment.  As nurses are the first advocates of their patients, thus Samantha must listen and work in guidance to the health professionals and doctors, which is legally right under the profession of medical practice (Regan et al., 2015).

Conclusion

To conclude the above discussion, it has been analysed that the above four case studies represented different scenarios related to the health of individuals. These issues were related to the main aspects of ethics, legalities, and legislations necessary to be complied with nursing profession.

References

Berg, A. K., Simonsen, A. B. & Svensson, J. (2018). Perception and Possible Causes of Skin Problems to Insulin Pump and Glucose Sensor: Results from Paediatric Focus Groups. Diabetes technology & therapeutics,  20(8), 566-570.

Nowrouzi, B., Giddens, E., Gohar, B., Schoenenberger, S., Bautista, M. C. & Casole, J. (2016). The quality of work life of registered nurses in Canada and the United States: a comprehensive literature review. International journal of occupational and environmental health, 22(4), 341-358.

Oomens, C. W., Bader, D. L., Loerakker, S. & Baaijens, F. (2015). Pressure induced deep tissue injury explained. Annals of biomedical engineering, 43(2), 297-305.

Regan, S., Orchard, C., Khalili, H., Brunton, L. & Leslie, K. (2015). Legislating interprofessional collaboration: A policy analysis of health professions regulatory legislation in Ontario, Canada. Journal of inter-professional care, 29(4), 359-364.

Strauss, A. L. (2018). Professions, work and careers. United Kingdom: Routledge.

Tarnowski, G. J., Bateman, T., Stanger, L. & Phillips, L. A. (2017). Update of licensed practical nurse competencies in Alberta. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 8(2), 17-22.

Urden, L. D., Stacy, K. M. & Lough, M. E. (2019). Priorities in critical care nursing. United States: Elsevier Health Sciences.