ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Ethical Leadership

Ethical Leadership

A. State's regulations and nursing standards on practice that applies to your role in this case study.

The nurse in interstate practice may not seem self-evident but how nurses can injure patients with whom they have no physical contact. Consider the interstate nurse, however, who does not return a phone call to a patient who is considered a malingerer. In refusing to return the call, perhaps the patient suffers needless physical or emotional trauma. Therefore, a way that harm can occur to patients is through communication failures. These failures can be intentional as just described or as a result of electronic or human error. Failing to convey accurate information, giving wrong messages, and breaking down of equipment, can cause harm to patients. This harm could be life-threatening such as in cases of strokes and heart attacks.

Some of these communication problems may certainly occur whether a patient is at a neighborhood clinic or 500 miles away, but distance and high reliance on electronic medium make close examination of communication and ethical issues vital. Examples of questions that need further investigation include: Should nurse call lines operate 24 hours a day instead of fewer hours? What back-up mechanisms exist for equipment failure? What phone work can and cannot be delegated? What quality assurance mechanisms are in place?

B. Identify a nursing code of ethics that applies to this case study.

The nurse should apply in the case, which is most recently revised in 2006, and is a guide for action based on social values and needs.The Code has served as the standard for nurses worldwide since it was first adopted in 1953. The Code is regularly reviewed and revised in response to the realities of nursing and health care in a changing society. The Code makes it clear that inherent in nursing is respect for human rights, including the right to life, to dignity and to be treated with respect. The ICN Code of Ethics guides nurses in everyday choices and it supports their refusal to participate in activities that conflict with caring and healing.

1. Explain how this code would impact your professional decision in this situation.

The nurse's should be professional and responsibe to people requiring nursing care. In providing care, the nurse promotes an environment in which the human rights, values, customs and spiritual beliefs of the individual, family and community are respected. The nurse ensures that the individual receives sufficient information on which to base consent for care and related treatment. The nurse holds in confidence personal information and uses judgement in sharing this information. The nurse shares with society the responsibility for initiating and supporting action to meet the health and social needs of the public, in particular those of vulnerable populations. The nurse also shares responsibility to sustain and protect the natural environment from depletion, pollution, degradation and destruction.

The nurse's should judge regarding individual competence when accepting and delegating responsibility. The nurse at all times maintains standards of personal conduct which reflect well on the profession and enhance ...