Nursing - Rural Health Facility - Assessment Answer

Nursing Assignment

Assignment Task

Introduction

People in their respective places of work have the responsibility of acting in an ethical and responsible manner. There are several instances when employees are faced with ethical dilemmas requiring them to make wise decisions. When faced with these situations, one has to think critically and do what is best for them and other people who are close to them. In the nursing profession, one is faced with these dilemmas quite often as well. According to Gorkey Guven & Sert (2012, p. 109) there are many times when dilemmas face people in the nursing profession.For example, the case scenarios provide a typical example that may occur in the nursing profession between colleagues at work. This article will attempt to discuss these scenarios and provide the most reasonable decision that could have been made by the affected parties. While one is expected to behave in an ethical manner, the decisions they make should be geared towards upholding the values of the society and the profession they practice. Their acts will act as examples of other people who are willing to follow their example.

Case Study 1

The other student within the placement class is asking another student to cover for them when they are unable to complete some of their tasks. The injuries they are facing are as a result of their actions. He spends most of his night playing sports. From the activity, they succumb to some injuries on various parts of their bodies. This causes them to experience some difficulties in moving around the hospital and executing their duties. Their character puts the patients within the hospital at great risk because they do not receive the high-quality care and attention they deserve. However, they choose to continue working at the institution instead of quitting and doing their placement studies at a later time. They choose not to quit because they cannot afford to do it at a later time (Laberge et al. 2008). Instead, they need to finish it at the current time. Since another student has noticed the incident, he asks him not to report him or her to the relevant authorities. This act alone is not ethical in itself because he would rather put the lives of other people at risk for his selfish gain.

Performing such acts in the medical practice is unethical. As a nurse, the priority is to save the lives of others by treating them, not putting them at risk. What the other student is asking for his partner, amounts to selfishness. His main goal and objective is to finish his placement at the hospital and eventually continue with his studies (Madsen 2012). He is willing to do this at the expense of the patients he is supposed to be looking after. However, asking another person to cover for them is forcing them to commit the same offense as well. This will indicate that more people will be involved in the same activity. When more people join in, the care of the patients in the hospital will be compromised. The students are only doing part of the course fulfillment requirements by engaging in the placement program at the hospital. The placement program is designed to help the aspiring nurse students to become better experienced in the medical field. Lee et al (2013, p. 106) states thatexercise gives people the necessary skills required to conduct their practice in the medical field.

The other student claims that they cannot afford to do the placement again later if they were to quit at this point because of the pains they are going through. This could be due to various reasons such as financial constraints among others. However, it is the responsibility of the specific nurse practitioners to ensure that they engage in good professional practices.

Case Study 2

A flatmate has been converting into an erratic behavior over the recent few days. He was arrested by the police for possession of illegal drugs and an attempt to sell them for financial gain. This is illegal behavior and he is expected to present themselves in court after a few months. Because the flatmate is one of the closest people they know, they decided to contact them and ask them to pick them up from the police station. People only disclose this kind of information to other people that they consider to be close to them. Because of the sensitive nature of this information, the flatmate asks his friend not to disclose this information to another person (Juthani-Mehta & Quagliarello 2010). Disclosing this information may cause him to lose his job. Also, he promises to straighten his life after this experience. However, this should be pinned to the fact that they are trying to do something that is geared towards making the change in their lives. Engaging in drugs has caused the flatmate to become unable to meet his financial obligations.

For example, he is no longer able to pay rent and buy some of his basic need items in the house. This is because he uses most of his money to buy the drugs. These are clear indications of a person who has become an addict or a substance abuser. McNamee & Schramme (2011, p. 87) suggests that drug addiction should be treated as a disease. It is clear that he needs some medical attention to help him recover from the practice. Due to lack of finances, he has resulted in selling some of his personal items in a bid to raise some cash to help him buy the drugs that he needs so badly. In many working environments, this is prohibited and is not acceptable. For this reason, employers often dismiss employees who engage in such behaviors (Kenny, Sherwin & Baylis 2010). For this reason, he is afraid if the information is disclosed because it will lead to him losing his job. This will bring yet another financial burden on him, which he will not be able to handle. However, he will have to attend some therapy to help him with the withdrawal process. For this reason, he will need to have a salary to cover some of the expenses he may incur.

For this reason, he asks the flatmate not to disclose any of this information. However, the flatmate is concerned with the fact that he might be putting his career at risk for failing to give out this information (Viehbeck et al. 2011). This presents a dilemma, which the flatmate will have to think through at a critical level. The medical profession calls for its members to engage in ethical behaviors and practices.

Case Study 3

As the person in charge of giving students placement opportunities in the hospital I work in, I am responsible for their well-being. I am also obligated to ensure that they adhere to the rules and regulations that have been set by the health institution. As the person in charge, I am also responsible for ensuring that the students behave in an ethical manner while carrying out their duties within the hospital premises. Communication between different departments is mainly done through the telephone and emails. This has limited the amount of movement experienced within the hospital premises. For this reason, I was not able to detect the practices that the students have been engaging in lately. However, I received a tip-off from one of the community members about the behavior of the students. This raised some concerns that prompted a confrontation with the students in a bid to determine the actual cause of this behavior (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). The students then gave their reason for this behavior. They explained that they had lost a very close friend to them. Because they are far from any of their relatives, they opted to drink as a means of dealing with the challenging situation they were going through.

They believed that the alcohol helped in making them sleep during the night by giving them the much-needed silence. However, this practice is causing them to become unable to perform their duties diligently while undergoing the placement session in the hospital. The students then asked me not to disclose this information to anyone because it would jeopardize their placement sessions at the hospital. They require this session to complete their studies at their respective schools. If they are reported, they will lose this opportunity. This will cause them to fail in their studies. For this reason, they will be forced to repeat their placement studies later in the lives. This will be an additional expense for them, which means that they may not be able to afford it at that time. This will derail their quest to become professionals in the field of medicine (Hewlett & Winn 2014). The action will compromise the ethical nature of the people in the medical profession. Based on the information received from one of the community members, I had begun noticing some changes in the behaviors that the students were portraying. They seemed to be uncoordinated for the most part of the day during their placement sessions.

As a senior registered nurse, it is my duty to report such instances to the relevant authorities for appropriate action to be taken (Sojourner et al. 2010). The students will be putting the patients at risk because the students will not be in a position to perform optimally during the placement sessions. The students are required to gain adequate skills to use in the medical career when they become experts in the medical profession.

Reflection

Case Study 1

As a student, I pride myself in doing the right thing and executing my duties diligently within the medical profession. I noticed that the other student begun slowing down in movement. It was an indication that they were feeling some pain. As their partner, it is my responsibility to ensure that they execute their services diligently. In my opinion, I think that the medical practice requires one to engage in various physical activities. Brunger & Bull (2011, p. 100) suggests that physical fitness is crucial to ensuring that people live healthy lives. These require one to be physically fit. Therefore, one should not be in a position where they have some limited movements. I will advise my partner to seek medical attention to help him in dealing with the pain problems that he is going through. It is crucial for the students to be physically fit because it will enable them to execute their duties efficiently. However, I do not think that covering for them would be a good idea. This will put the lives of the patients at risk because they would not receive the specialized medical attention they deserve. Also, the situation will continue to harm them as they will not gain useful skills from the placement exercise. The right thing to do would report the issue to the relevant authorities because it is the ethical behavior to engage in. They prefer to complete the placement session as soon as possible because they will not afford it later in their lives.

Case Study 2

My fellow flatmate has begun engaging in an erratic behavior over the recent few days. He called me to pick him up from prison because he was charged with possession of illegal drugs and the intention to sell them for financial gain. This has derailed his activities in the workplace at the hospital. For this reason, he has begun having trouble in making rent payments and meeting all his financial obligations. I thought that this is putting the lives of the patients at risk because they are being taken care of by a person who is addicted to drugs. This behavior can impair the judgment of my flatmate causing him to incur some injuries that he has done to himself (Electronic Freedom of Information Amendment Acts of 1996). He is putting his life and that of his patients in danger by engaging in such activities. I would advise my flatmate to seek medical attention and join a support group that will help him in stopping this behavior. He has asked me not speak of this issue to another person because he stands the risk of losing his job. Losing the one stable income at such a time can be devastating for him because he needs the finances to meet his financial obligations. However, hiding this information would amount to unethical behavior. Also, it would be against the law to withhold such information because it is putting the lives of other innocent people at risk.

Case Study 3

As a senior registered nurse, I am in charge of all the students doing their placement sessions in the hospital. Because of the limited manner in which communication is done in the hospital, physical contact is often not realized. For this reason, I was unable to notice some of the changes that some of the students are going through (Privacy Act of 1974). I welcome the tip of that was given to me by one of the community members. On learning that some of the students are drinking heavily during the night times, I decided to confront them and gain more information about the incident. The reason I received is that they were mourning the loss of a close friend. I sought to give them some advice to make them quit their excessive drinking habits. I had concerns about the well-being of the patients who have to be treated by students who are intoxicated with alcohol. According to Anker et al (2011, p. 109) alcohol abuse can lead to disasters in the workplace if it's not taken into control. This substance should not be consumed aimlessly and it certainly should not be used during the working hours. However, they asked me not to report them to the authorities who will have them dismissed from the hospital. Dismissal will affect their learning career, as they will not be in a position to finish their studies. I thought confronting them would be a good idea because I will manage to convince them to change their ways. However, it is unethical for me to allow them to continue working on the patients while in that state. As much as they will have affected their studies, they need to learn that what they are doing is a mistake and cannot be allowed to continue.

Conclusion

Ethical behavior is paramount in any profession. It is unethical to ask a medical practitioner to cover up some bad habits that have been taking place within the hospital environment. Professionals who are faced with this dilemma, are supposed to think critically about their options and ensure that they have all the necessary information to make the right decision. People should not only think about themselves. Rather, they should consider the impact their actions will have on others. During alcohol during working hours will hinder one’s productivity at the workplace. For this reason, the students under placement are prone to making several mistakes because they will not be in their right sense of mind. However, such actions will be putting the lives of the patients there are treating at risk. For this reason, a person must rise up and report these incidences to the relevant offices. Such an action will go a long way in saving the lives of the people the students are treating. Professionals should pride themselves in making the right decision every time they are required.