Ethics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethics - Coursework Example Introduction & Background Nursing is a highly critical profession and involves significant ethical implications. These healthcare issues are very complex and require concrete awareness and analytical skills to overcome them effectively. The vitality comes from the fact that the ultimate customer in this profession is a patient whose survival and life depends on quality of healthcare services. Therefore, slight miscalculation and breach of ethical duties might result in deterioration of health and, in extreme cases, death. Practicing nurses must be well trained and knowledgeable in order to perform their obligations efficiently and need to be constantly supervised and mentored to prevent errors and non-compliance. Issues and proposed solutions There are various ethical issues involved in healthcare industry and nursing practice. Caretaking of patients, coming from diversified backgrounds, requires careful consideration of moral implications. Nurses must be fair and unbiased in their d uties, giving equal service to all patients regardless of their financial status, gender or ethnicity. Limited resources must be allocated with professional judgment to each patient according to genuine needs without any personal prejudice. These patients are often not of sound mind or appropriate age during treatment and therefore nurses must protect their rights in decisions they take. If a patient is capable, nurses must provide them complete autonomy to select options for treatment and must respect their choices. Moreover, to support their decisions, nurses must provide them complete information with integrity. This is a major obstacle since revealing about some adverse diagnosis results can be upsetting for nurses and might trigger hostile reactions. During treatment, it is important that healthcare professionals cover the patient’s body properly and avoid unnecessary talks regarding some physical irregularities to avoid discomfort. Additionally, they must respect privac y of medical information pertaining to patients and keep it confidential unless essential to be disclosed for professional opinions. They should take utmost care that they do not discuss any cases of patients outside clinical premises or during informal chats with friends, family, colleagues and other patients (Fry & Johnstone, 2002). Leadership needed to promote change Professional nurses and healthcare professionals must act as catalysts that trigger change and ensure smooth implementation of transition phase. In order to establish a strong ethical framework, they must promote teamwork and engage others in devising ethical policies. Efforts of all professionals must be collaborated and directed towards achievement of ethical compliance. Teams must be formed consisting of staff from different cultures and multiple disciplines in order to support diversified portfolio of patients. A learning environment must be created and strategic objectives and codes of ethics must be made common ly known. All subordinates must be mentored and provided counseling services in stressful situations and interpersonal conflicts. Clinical atmosphere must be instituted which encourages innovation and flexibility and stifles possibilities of errors and disputes. Regular performance appraisals shall be conducted