Personal Narrative: My Role As A Nurse
I struggled for several days thinking of an experience that would best answer the discussion question. The difficulty lies not so much in coming up with a situation, any situation; but a real-life experience that I could honestly say it was personal and not just a hypothetical story.
As in any human interaction, especially in the workplace, differences in opinion and way of doing things sometimes ruffle working relationship. After several, not so pleasant encounters and brushes with one co-worker (nurse educator), I learned that for peace sake, it is best to keep out of her way and stay in my lane. On one occasion, I overheard a new nurse orientee requesting that her exam date be moved to the following day because of a family emergency. …show more content…
The nurse educator, with very few words, denied the request stating that she would not be available to give the test the following day. From my desk, I saw the disappointment of the new nurse, who glanced at me as she walked out of the office. I was left pondering what I could do for the nurse.
My first instinct was just to let it go, and not do anything. I would not want to risk getting into a sticky situation with the educator labeling my interest and concern as interfering and meddling with her affairs. On the other hand, I always see my role as nurse educator to be a role model and provide positive learning experiences for new nurses. Also, whatever impression the new nurse would have would be a reflection not only of a particular educator but also of the education department and the entire hospital as a whole. I thought of the consequences of my involvement or lack of which to the new nurse and myself. I weighed the pros and cons; it was a toss - in the end my concern for the new nurse got the better of me. I offered, with carefully chosen words, to the educator, that I would be able to proctor the test for her in her absence. I was relieved that the educator readily accepted my offer. The following day, when the new nurse came to take the test, she offered to share that she was about to quit but had a change of heart because of the consideration she was shown during a time of need.
Looking back, using the consequentialist moral theory, I considered two consequences in judging what is the right action to pursue, mine which is harmony in the workplace, one that I would have plenty of opportunities to work on; and on the other hand, the satisfaction of the new nurse with her continual
employment. I also would like to consider my action as selfless when I gave preference to the need of the other over my need – a non-consequentialist moral theory? Please be the judge.
P.S.: I agree with Ted, ethics is hard stuff. For one to survive and thrive ethics, one needs to be ready to ask and keep on asking questions. And at the same time provide answers and analyze each, just as one looks at a prism – each side is the question, and the light dispersed is the answer; there would be no single question and no single, right answer. It would depend on the moral theory that is applied.
As in any human interaction, especially in the workplace, differences in opinion and way of doing things sometimes ruffle working relationship. After several, not so pleasant encounters and brushes with one co-worker (nurse educator), I learned that for peace sake, it is best to keep out of her way and stay in my lane. On one occasion, I overheard a new nurse orientee requesting that her exam date be moved to the following day because of a family emergency. …show more content…
The nurse educator, with very few words, denied the request stating that she would not be available to give the test the following day. From my desk, I saw the disappointment of the new nurse, who glanced at me as she walked out of the office. I was left pondering what I could do for the nurse.
My first instinct was just to let it go, and not do anything. I would not want to risk getting into a sticky situation with the educator labeling my interest and concern as interfering and meddling with her affairs. On the other hand, I always see my role as nurse educator to be a role model and provide positive learning experiences for new nurses. Also, whatever impression the new nurse would have would be a reflection not only of a particular educator but also of the education department and the entire hospital as a whole. I thought of the consequences of my involvement or lack of which to the new nurse and myself. I weighed the pros and cons; it was a toss - in the end my concern for the new nurse got the better of me. I offered, with carefully chosen words, to the educator, that I would be able to proctor the test for her in her absence. I was relieved that the educator readily accepted my offer. The following day, when the new nurse came to take the test, she offered to share that she was about to quit but had a change of heart because of the consideration she was shown during a time of need.
Looking back, using the consequentialist moral theory, I considered two consequences in judging what is the right action to pursue, mine which is harmony in the workplace, one that I would have plenty of opportunities to work on; and on the other hand, the satisfaction of the new nurse with her continual
employment. I also would like to consider my action as selfless when I gave preference to the need of the other over my need – a non-consequentialist moral theory? Please be the judge.
P.S.: I agree with Ted, ethics is hard stuff. For one to survive and thrive ethics, one needs to be ready to ask and keep on asking questions. And at the same time provide answers and analyze each, just as one looks at a prism – each side is the question, and the light dispersed is the answer; there would be no single question and no single, right answer. It would depend on the moral theory that is applied.