Nursing Practice and the Ethics of Care Kelli O’Dea Chamberlain College of Nursing Nursing 103 Spring, 2017 Nursing Practice and the Ethics of Care The ability of a nurse to combine the principles of caring and ethics, is perhaps the best medicine. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou (n.d.) This article helps nurses to understand the importance of caring and ethics in patient care. Caring is defined briefly, Jean Watsons theory of caring is explained. In addition, Joan Toronto’s four phases of caring are exemplified in a patient case scenario. Definition of …show more content…
She stresses that this type of union is remembered by the patient, as well as the nurse. Actual caring involves choices, conversations, and understanding. It defines the moment when a nurse, and a patient come together and form a relationship. Watson believes this factor of nursing enables a patient to gain control, knowledge, and make future lifestyle changes. Theory of ethics The Theory of ethics in care is described by Edwards (2009). His explanation describes the evolution of ethical and care based treatment, in three versions. First, Gilligan (1982) focuses on the context of the situation in regards to patient care vs. Impartial reflection. Impartial reflection is the moral based judgement used in patient care, which does not include closeness or caring in the relationship. Gilligan was the first to point out that we treat strangers differently than an induvial we are personally connected to. Second, Toronto (1993) acknowledged, “that if we focus on caring relationships and the relationship between power and caring practices, such as bringing up children, and caring for the sick, a radically different set of social arrangements will ensue.” (Edwards, 2009, p.233). Lastly, Gastmans (2006) explored the best way to care for a patient, at a
Studies have shown that many factors have been contributing to influence patient’s care in an ethical manner. What factors could affects one decision for their medical care? Does it also included the nurse’s individual views or should consider their moral obligations? But what is ethics really is? Based on the book Nursing Ethics by Butts & Rich, “Ethics is a systematic approach to understand, analyze, and distinguish matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and deplorable as they relate to the well-being”. Ethics should follow the current AMA guidelines.
Codes of ethics contain a coherent set of normative principles underlying a nurse’s purpose and associated values (Vanlaere and Gastmans, 2007). Two perspectives of ethics are the ethics of justice and the ethics of care (Botes, 2000). The ethics of justice constitutes an ethical perspective in terms of which ethical decisions are made on the basis of universal principles and rules, and in an impartial and verifiable manner with a view to ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of all people (Botes, 2000). The ethics of care, on the other hand, constitutes an ethical approach in terms of which involvement, harmonious relations and the needs of others play an important part in ethical decision making in each ethical situation (Botes, 2000).
Human caring is what sets nursing apart from other professions. As Watson (1998) stated, “care and love are the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of cosmic forces: they comprise the primal universal psychic energy. Caring is the essence of nursing and the most central and unifying focus for nursing practice” (p. 32-33). It is important to establish a good nurse-patient relationship in order to create a healing environment that would meet patient’s needs on all levels including physical, mental/emotional and spiritual, promote recovery, maintain health, and create positive outcomes. Jean Watson emphasized the importance of human
The topic of ethics is prevalent in health care and addresses a broad range of topics in nursing. In almost every interaction with a patient there could be a situation that may bring up the question of ethics. Fortunately, there is the realization that placing the nurse in the care of a patient, may put the medical personnel in an environment where the ethics are questioned. There are whole departments dedicated to advising nurses in these situations. There are also ethic committees to help guide you when you find yourself in a situation that may question your practice or circumstances.
In order to provide holistic, person-centred care, having an understanding of ethics is essential (Kozier et al, 2008). Ethics is concerned
“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.” Nursing is more than just doing assessments and giving medications; it is going beyond that to know what is right or wrong, what can and cannot be done, and what is considered harming the patients rather than doing them good. In nursing, there is a fine line between what is considered to be negligence and beneficence. According to Marquis (2017), “Ethics is the systemic study of what a person’s conduct and actions should be with regard to self, others human beings, and the environment (pg. 83), on the other hand, it does not necessarily mean that their
Effective nursing, in order to properly serve patients as well as the greater community, must necessarily be based on a strong, unshakeable foundation of ethical practice, which can be expressed through various theoretical nursing models. This paper will examine the theoretical basis for author’s own ethical nursing practice, and relate the theoretical discussion to the specific Phenomenon of Interest that was previously identified in earlier papers.
Bringing these two concepts together is like having an umbrella during a rain storm; individually they are helpful and necessary but together they are the perfect combination. Caring is that feeling deep down that drives nurses to strive for and promote the notion of human flourishing. To help patients achieve the best possible health that they can. It is important to utilize nursing skills of honesty, taking risks, critically thinking, compassion, creativity, and caring (MacCulloch, 2011). To care is to feel and understand what your patient is going through influencing action to help the patient achieve their best possible self, and then allow both the patient and one’s self to grow in every aspect of life; to flourish inside the body and as a member of the community.
Following the appropriate ethics is of extreme importance in the nursing profession. “Ethics are of universal concern and crucial in all professional healthcare” (Gustafsson & Stenberg, 2017, p.420). The leading goal in nursing is to achieve patient-centered care. According to Arnold and Boggs (2016), “Patient centered care focuses on fully partnering with the client to provide care that incorporates his or her values and preferences to give safe, caring, compassionate and effective care” (p.25). In order to provide a well-grounded, caring environment, nurses need to be able to balance their personal differences with the ethical care standards they are obligated to provide patients (Gustafsson & Stenberg, 2017). Nurses spend the most time with patients; therefore, they eventually will develop a “sense of rightness” (Gustfasson & Stenberg, 2017, p.420).
The following memo was developed through deep reflection on the necessary decisions which lead to determine what possible areas of knowledge would be of importance to be analyzed, and the diverse methods and instruments that supported the understanding of the phenomena observed in the areas to be further discussed. In this vein, as a group, we decided to select articles that discuss the Ethics of Care Theory as a paradigm for nursing education. The reasons of our choice were, first due to a general knowledge about Ethics of Care Theory and its relationship with education; and second, the field of nursing provided a neutral arena for our discussions. None of us is related to nursing or any health-related educational
Ethics is an essential aspect of health care practice and those working in the nursing profession are often subject to frequent ethical dilemmas. It is essential for all nurses to be aware of the importance of ethics in health care and to practice within the ethico-legal parameters that govern the profession. However, while this is relatively easy in theory, ethics is not a black and white subject and often one’s culture, upbringing, attitudes and beliefs can influence what one views as ethical and this can therefore influence practice. This report will discuss the importance of ethics in nursing practice. The definition of ethics will firstly be presented followed
The art of human caring is one of the most essential parts of the nursing profession. Caring is not something that you learn to do, but something that is within you. In nursing, it is important to know what kind of nurse you want to be as well as the care you intend to provide to your patients. The patient is the center of nursing, and it is your responsibility to make sure they are receiving the best care that they can receive. One of the most important things is to be able to set aside personal beliefs and morals in order to provide patient centered care. The way that you approach and care for a patient is either going to make or break the effect of the care you will be implementing to the patient.
Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing (6th ed.) St. Louis, MO Mosby/Elsevier Kaeueah Delta (c2017) Theory of Human Caring: Watson’s Theory of Human Caring Retrieved from www.Kaeueahdelta.org/nursing/theory-of-human-caring/default.aspx Lachman, V.D. (2012) Ethics, Law, and Policy: Applying the Ethics of Care to Your Nursing Practice Retrieved from www.nursingworld.org/Main/MenuCategories/EthicsStandards/ Resources/Applying-the-Ethics-of-Care-To-Your-Nursing-Practice.pdf Nursing Theories (2012) Jean Watson’s Philosophy of Nursing Retrieved from www.currentnursing.com/nursing/theory/Watson.html Ozan, Y.D., Okumus, H., & Lash, A.A. (2015) Implementation of Watson’s Theory of Human
Ethics and Morals play an important role in the nursing profession; nurses are confronted with choices to make every day, and some of them more challenging than others. Ethics are affirmations between what it can be right or erroneous. For our society ethics is presented as a complex system of principles and beliefs. This system serves as an approach with the purpose of ensuring the protection of each individual within the society. On the other hand, morals are basic standards between what is right or wrong; each individual learns to identify these standards during the early stages of human development (Catalano, 2009). A person with morals is usually somebody who recognizes how to respond to the needs of another individual by giving care and keeping a level of responsibility while giving this care (Catalano, 2009).
Firstly we will look at ethics in nursing regarding dignity and respect, treating a person as an individual when in hospital can be an important part of any patients healing process, and to make sure these patients