Beneficence is a fundamental principle in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of doing good and showing kindness and compassion towards patients. Healthcare providers are trained to prioritize the well-being and best interests of their patients, and to take actions that will have a positive impact on their care. As every patient is unique, healthcare providers must understand the individual's values, beliefs, and goals of care to provide personalized and culturally sensitive care. In the case of Jamilah Shah, her son Bashir is advocating for her care based on his own beliefs and cultural influences, but without Jamilah's advanced…
The issue of professional integrity is mentioned by recognizing that values change and once controversial procedures are now routinely provided because they are significant to the well-being of the patient. Connolly and others agree that For some patients, life cannot be saved, health cannot be promoted and disease cannot be prevented or cured. But relief of pain and suffering is still within the nurse’s power. When patients elect early death and the only professional value that still can be promoted is relief of pain or suffering, AID is compatible with professional integrity (as cited in White…
6. True or false? Beneficence is a principle of ethics that assumes that the healthcare professional is there for the benefit of the patient and will act with kindness.…
While promoting beneficence, nurses should also consider their patients wants and needs, though something may be in the best interest of the patient it may not be what the patient wants. People have different values and perceive things in different ways which is why nurses and all other health care professionals should consider these while planning individualised care plans.…
For example, a Nurse may administer an injection for an uninsured homeless patient. The uninsured homeless patient may need medication to relieve a symptom from an STD disease in order to mitigate an undesirable symptom. The Nurse may cause discomfort. While providing care to the homeless patient, Nonmaleficence must be balanced by beneficence. The Nurses intent is to provide a treatment to the homeless patient which benefits the patient must outweigh the discomfort caused. The Nurses intent must be to help the homeless patient, not…
Some researchers have suggested that other concepts should be added to the nursing metaparadigm. For example, some have cited caring or social justice as core concepts (Fawcett, 1996; Johnstone, 2011). Social justice is a concept that has gained general acceptance as the fifth metaparadigm. For example, promoting justice is included in the Canadian Nurses Association's (CNA) Code of Ethics, where it indicates that nurses should uphold the principles of justice by fostering human rights, guarding equality and fairness and promoting public good (CNA, 2008). Schim, Benkert, Bell, Walker, and Danford (2006) specifically defined social justice as “ensuring distribution of life resources in a way that benefits the marginalized and constrains the self-interest of the privileged” (p. 73). In this paper, I will discuss these five accepted metaparadigms of nursing and illustrate each using examples from my own nursing practice.…
Patients often have a limited knowledge of illness and medicine, yet they desire more control over their healthcare. In many healthcare settings, patient care is inconsistent and "patients' quality of life and right to self-determination tend to be ignored" (Bu & Jezewski, 2006, p. 102). Nurses are in a unique position to "support and thereby advocate the patient's interests in the restoration of their health and well-being" (Marshall, 1994, p. 11). However, this is not always put into practice.…
Addressing Bias Brittney L. Helton Chamberlain College of Nursing NR500: Foundational Concepts and Applications January 2018 Addressing Bias Equality is an important issue to ensure proper care is provided to each individual patient to promote quality outcomes. There have been studies performed that have identified health disparities that are unfair and unnecessary (Hall, Chapman, Lee, Merino, Thomas, Payne, Eng, Day, Coyne-Beasley, 2015). It has been noted that patients treated unfairly result in lower quality of health care. By being biased, studies have shown that nurses do not spend quality time with the patient and do not provide compassionate care (Hall et al. 2015). Not only is it unethical to treat an individual differently and with neglect, it is against all ethical principles learned in nursing practice.…
There are several different degrees in nursing that may be obtained. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) endorses three routes of becoming a registered nurse (RN) including: the 3-year diploma program, the 3-year associate degree in nursing (ADN) program and the 4-year baccalaureate of nursing (BSN) program (American Association of College of Nursing [AACN], 2014, para. 3). Although, there are differences in nursing degrees all three take the same NCLEX-RN exam (AACN, 2014, para. 3). There are, however, some differences in competencies in regards to providers of patient-centered care.…
There are four elements of ethical issues regarding patient care such as, attentiveness, responsibility, competence and responsiveness. Attentiveness involves nurses being able to recognize the needs of the patient and their families. The development of a close relation between nursing staff and patient through receptibility helps the nurses to be receptive to what the patients need. A nurse has the responsibility to care for their patients and be a support system for their patient. A nurse must exhibit competence while caring for their patients. Nurses must be able to provide individual care. They are obligated to provide care of a patient based on their physical needs, psychological, cultural and religious needs of the patients and their families. Nurses have a duty to ensure that the patients’ needs are being met. If the patient is responding to the nurse in a positive to the treatment that is received. The American Nurse Associations’ provision 3 states that a nurse advocates for the patient, promotes and protects the rights, their health and safety for the patient. Nurses are held accountable and responsible for making good decisions to provide the best care for the patient (American Nurse Association, 2015). Facilities that…
The American Nurse’s Association’s Nursing’s Social Policy Statement (2003) defines nursing as the “protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and population” (p. 6). Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary (2012) defines philosophy as “the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group.” It follows then that a philosophy of nursing is the set of beliefs, concepts and attitudes that guides the promotion, protection, and restoration of health and abilities of individuals and groups of individuals. Traditionally, nursing philosophy is described using a meta-paradigm of four concepts – human being or person, environment, health, and nursing. Beliefs and attitudes about these guiding concepts are widely shared, but also deeply influenced by the personal experiences and values of the individual nurse.…
What is the origin of a nursing theory? The first theorist to clearly articulate a role of nurses was Florence Nightingale. Before she developed her nursing theory, the primary role of the nurse was to merely care of the patient as prescribed by the doctor's orders. Nightingale was able to expand the nursing profession making it distinct from the medical profession. Her first theories were developed and published in a book titled Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not in 1859. Through Florence Nightingale's original work, nurses realized that simply treating patients based upon their disease was not a satisfactory way of attending patient care, and, rather, they should be making a holistic assessment…
After reading through all of the theories presented in chapter four, I was most intrigued by Benner and Wrubel's theory. This theory is about caring being the most important aspect of care. According to Potter and Perry, this theory states, "caring creates possibilities for coping, enables possibilities for connecting with and concern for others, and allows for the giving and receiving of help." I agree with this statement, and I believe that this is a theory that I can use to provide care and make a difference.…
Imagine being admitted into the hospital with a serious illness and knowing that you may not get the proper care that you need and desire because the nursing staff is short. That could be very dangerous depending on what’s going on with your health. Nurses have always been a huge part of the medical field because of the diversity of the occupation. Patients rely on the care of nurses while healing/recovering and when that care can’t be given, there is a big problem. The shortage of nurses in the twenty-first century will greatly impact the well being and outcome of patients.…
It has been utilized to describe various health protective activities within the primary, secondary, and tertiary level of health care. This framework serves as the basis for helping individuals engage in primary and secondary illness prevention. For instance, when nurses provide specific instructions to educate individuals that diseases could be prevented, this is part of the primary prevention that is associated with increasing the health-promoting activities of the population. If the nurse, on the other hand, educates an ill patient about how a certain disease should be treated, and the things to be avoided to prevent the disease from getting worse, this is part of the secondary level of prevention that is associated with preventing negative health conditions (Thurmond & Popkess-Vawter,…