Aha! That's Empirical Knowledge
Aha! That’s Ethical knowledge
Before taking this course I had experienced many “aha” moments but never knew that an actual definition existed for this experience or that this was a concept developed by Dolores Krieger, RN. Clearly, nursing is a profession that requires ethical knowledge to guide our practice as stated in Chinn & Kramer (2008) but it was not until after reading the chapter on ethical knowledge and reflecting back on a day at work, that almost caused me moral distress, that I was able to understand the chapter and my “aha” moment much clearer. In this paper, I will describe how an experience at work required ethical knowledge.
A Day in Labor and Delivery The day started as any other normal work day. I reported to work promptly at 7 am in my clean crisp uniform with my name tag clearly visible. I accepted my assignment from my head nurse and went to receive my report from the night nurse. As I walked into my patient’s room, I noticed that whole team, the attending, the resident, the anesthesiologist and the night nurse were all present. I made my way into the room, greeted everyone with a good morning and introduced myself to my patient. I received report from the nurse and thought to myself, ok this seems like a straight L&D case. The patient, F.D. was a 33 year old female G 5 P4004 at 39 weeks in labor. She came into the hospital at 4 am complaining of contractions and that her water bag had broken. She was admitted at 4:30am at 5 centimeters and now at 7 am she was 8 centimeters. She seemed to be progressing well and laboring all on her own. The team leaves the room and the attending states that rounds will be in 10 minutes. I continue to do my work, assess the patient, evaluate the fetal heart rate, read the H&P and nurse’s notes and write my receiving note. Before going to rounds, I prepare my room for delivery because as a competent nurse I anticipate that F.D. will deliver in about 1-2 hours based on her
Before taking this course I had experienced many “aha” moments but never knew that an actual definition existed for this experience or that this was a concept developed by Dolores Krieger, RN. Clearly, nursing is a profession that requires ethical knowledge to guide our practice as stated in Chinn & Kramer (2008) but it was not until after reading the chapter on ethical knowledge and reflecting back on a day at work, that almost caused me moral distress, that I was able to understand the chapter and my “aha” moment much clearer. In this paper, I will describe how an experience at work required ethical knowledge.
A Day in Labor and Delivery The day started as any other normal work day. I reported to work promptly at 7 am in my clean crisp uniform with my name tag clearly visible. I accepted my assignment from my head nurse and went to receive my report from the night nurse. As I walked into my patient’s room, I noticed that whole team, the attending, the resident, the anesthesiologist and the night nurse were all present. I made my way into the room, greeted everyone with a good morning and introduced myself to my patient. I received report from the nurse and thought to myself, ok this seems like a straight L&D case. The patient, F.D. was a 33 year old female G 5 P4004 at 39 weeks in labor. She came into the hospital at 4 am complaining of contractions and that her water bag had broken. She was admitted at 4:30am at 5 centimeters and now at 7 am she was 8 centimeters. She seemed to be progressing well and laboring all on her own. The team leaves the room and the attending states that rounds will be in 10 minutes. I continue to do my work, assess the patient, evaluate the fetal heart rate, read the H&P and nurse’s notes and write my receiving note. Before going to rounds, I prepare my room for delivery because as a competent nurse I anticipate that F.D. will deliver in about 1-2 hours based on her
References: Chinn, P. L. & Kramer, M.K. (2008). Integrated Theory and Knowledge Development in Nursing. St. Louis, MI: Mosby