NURS561PROMPT2REPLY

REPLY1 (THIS IS THE PROFESSOR)

I don’t have to agree with my patients, I just have to take good care of them. I run into patients whose values conflict with mine on a regular basis. That’s life, and that’s nursing. The wonderful thing about that is, I let it roll off my back. As a previous ED nurse, seeing patients who are intoxicated and their poor choices that have caused an accident and taken someone’s life is terrible. 

Several years ago, I took care of a nine-month pregnant mother who was hit on her way home from church by a drunk driver. The choice the driver made was a poor one. The pregnant mother arrived to the ED dead, along with her unborn twins; her thirteen-year-old daughter had a head injury and had to be air-lifted to another hospital. The drunk driver was in another ED room and wanted to know if he could have something to eat because he was hungry. Ethically, I treated my patient responsibly and discussed the consequences of drinking and driving and provided patient education material regarding drinking to him as the police officer took him off to jail for the crime.

Although I did not want to be kind, I am bound to be kind to all patients regardless of their choices.

REPLY2

Nurses attempt to promote good healthy behaviors to enhance a patient's well-being. Every person grows up with their own morals, values and beliefs, as nurses we use those principles to guide our practice. In the healthcare setting nurses can be faced with ethical issues and as professionals we advocate in the best interest and needs of our patients. Nurses have a responsibility to provide safe competent care and by using the nurses code of ethics this helps promote justice in healthcare (Edelman, et al., 2014). One example of an ethical issue is observing a patient not understand information, and not preventing negative consequences that can come from misunderstood information. A strategy to use is ensuring health information is understood by using simple, and clear information. Using the teach back method helps to identify any misunderstood information, and getting to know our patients values helps nurses advocate and provide safe care for each unique patient.