Health Legislation and Codes of Conduct in Nursing

Discuss about the Health Legislation and Codes of Conduct in Nursing.

Introduction

Health and nursing practice operates under stipulated rules and regulation that are put in place by relevant authorities in state. As a profession it is guided by codes of ethics which should be observed by physicians. Therefore any medical malpractice is to be regulated by the states according to the law. In observing John Stafford case who is a registered nurse, the violation of medical laws and code of conduct is punishable. John as a nurse on duty fails to understand that he is owned by the patient under his care and allows himself to be interrupted by another staff member. Due to the interruption John the fails to perform his duties as per the requirements and provides services to the patient without observing the standard of care. A compensable injury is confirmed when the patient complain to staff. His patient is then assessed and the blood pressure is found to be extremely below the normal (Kerns, 2007).  It is then discovered that John administered the patient three times the required dosing. The scope of this paper therefore looks into the relevant legislation, the standard care to be provided to the patient as well as what should be done in response to malpractice. It also views the merits of operation within the requirements of a profession  

Relevant legislation that directly pertain the Scenario in Question

The relevant legislations in view of the subject are in line with the state and concerned authorities that give freedom to patients to pursue claims on any medical practitioner who violates the law and codes of ethics (Bishop & Scudder, 2001) .This is therefore the first legislation that applies to patients in accordance with the liability practice or malpractice act. This is an act that was agreed upon by several states in facilitation of medical practices to regulate medical malpractices. The act in question states that in case of an injury through negligent, the patient is allowed to take appropriate action. The patient is also required by the liability practice to recover from the damage which in this case is severe low blood pressure (Christiansen & American Health Lawyers Association, 2005). The subject legislation goes forward to ensure that the injuries are compensated, the patient should establish the following; Mr. John Stafford owned him during the medication period and also established a compensable injury which is severe low blood pressure. He also created the violation of the subject as mentioned earlier that caused him the menace. The liability practice is therefore a legislation which is more relevant to the case of Mr. John and his patient as it entails all the malpractices that the patient has undergone during the course of his treatment (Weiler, 1993).It also reveals the appropriate procedure to be followed in order to ensure that the concerned authorities follows the correct procedure for patients injury compensation.

Discussion on the Standards of care expected by the Registered Nurse and how it is determined

The standards of care in nursing are the outlined practices that operate according medical policies. They are developed to define the quality of services that a registered nurse like John Stafford should provide to the patient. The developed standards are very important in nursing because they act as the nursing foundation. The subject is also flexible to changes since it varies in accordance to technological advancement and methods (EHess& American Bar Association, 2007). The subject requires a registered nurse like John to be legible and take mandate for his own nursing actions as well as his professional conduct. A nurse is expected to operate according to the personal level of competence, perform the mandatory duties with all relevant legislations in mind as well as the scope of nursing practice. Furthermore, Registered nurses according to the standard of care are required to undergo self-assessment in order to improve on their performance and achieve their goals.

Apart from the mentioned discussion, the standard of care in nursing demands registered nurses to maintain emotional, physical and psychological stability while taking their duties. They should make decisions and practices that ensure safety of clients by acting appropriately as per the ethics. Taking part in the development of policies which are consistent with the standards of profession and also have vivid knowledge their obligations (Flight, 2011). The subject also guides nurses to maintain a perfect relationship with various relevant authorities and monitoring bodies. The standard of care is important to registered nurses as it shows them the right path to follow in their line of duty. It provides nurses with the procedure and the way by pointing to them their objectives (Kerns, 2007). Through the standard of care, nurses are able to identify that they should maintain consistency in their profession in contrary to what John did. In the case of Mr. Stafford who fails to observe the standard of care, his patient is authorized to take legal action according to legal implications. John Stafford as a registered nurse under performs in relation to the standards. The patient should therefore move to court and implicate him for negligence lawsuit.

The final discussion with respect to the subject is on the formation and development of the context which is done by the medical authorities, administrative, academic and clinical experts. The process of establishment takes place at the national level to accommodate all members of the public. This is also done to ensure that the standard of caring is the same regardless of the location or institution. The formation is done with the consideration of law governing the state, the federal rules and policies and codes of conduct in nursing (Fowler & American Nurses Association, 2008). During the formation other agencies and organizations are consulted. The formation takes place at the national level as indicated above though local areas also have the freedom to establish their own standard of care just as at the national level.

Discussion on the Importance of working within the scope of practice

The scope of practice in nursing is the stipulated framework that an individual nurse should perform. They include the outlined roles of a nurse as per the training, functions and obligations a registered nurse is assigned and their roles in policies and decision making (Halley, 1989). Having a clear knowledge and understanding of individual scope of practice as a nurse is important in several ways.

Importance

The first importance is that the knowledge assists in avoiding medical malpractices and enables a nurse to perform his duties according to the standards of care. In the case of John Stafford, he gives overdose to his patient who had a lot of medical complications, some of which were not within Mr. Stafford’s scope of practice and would have been obligated to another nurse. Operating within ones scope of practice assist them to administer patients with the correct dosing and avoid overdosing unlike in the case of John.

The other vitality of the subject is on its ability to enable nurses make the right decisions while undertaking their duties. They get to learn their responsibilities and identify what to do and the right time to do it (Ferrara, Boscolo-Berto & Viel, 2013). The subject is explained when John allows the fellow nurse who is free to interrupt him as he works. If he had in mind his scope of work he would have not made the mistakes he did. This leads to avoidance of lawsuit on medical practitioners like John Stafford as the number of mistakes would be minimum. John’s patients required a lot of medical attention some of which John as a nurse would have not managed. But since he had no clear understanding of his scope of practice he treats him and gives incorrect dosage

Importance of responding appropriately when a mistake occurs during professional practice

The above heading can be discussed with reference to the medical apology act which was formulated to work best in the favors of the medical providers who by chance operate without the consideration of legislation. Its main importance is that it offers advice to medical practitioners on taking correct procedures in any case of medical malpractice and to also avoid following the patient and their families.

 It is important for an individual nurse to accept the liability and be responsible for the action as demanded by the standard of care of nursing. When an individual accepts the obligation of what he has done the apology act can be of help and one can maintain his work (Polit & Beck, 2008).

Another importance of the subject is that, it allows a nurse to comply with the standard care and stay free from harm or penalty from the injury lawsuit and would be the last to suffer from such penalties. Following the right procedure after medical error also enables an individual nurse not to be punished based on the apology and sympathy expressions during court. Acting appropriately during an error can allow a doctor to correct the error and stimulates them for self-assessment. Generally following the correct procedure in addressing the error during patient treatment enable a nurse like John Stafford to secure the job and asses themselves.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that nursing as a service is governed by codes of ethic and relevant legislation. The performance of a health provider is based on the standard of care which is the baseline line for all medical operations (Madden & McIlwraith, 2013). In case of failure to operate within the standard of care, then this may lead to medical malpractice.  This is evident in the case of John Stafford who fails to administer treatment to his patient and ends up violating the professional codes of ethic. It is therefore important to follow the codes of ethic and standard of care in the line of duty as a nurse.

References

Annas, G. J. (1997). Standard of care: The law of American bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bishop, A. H., & Scudder, J. R. (2001). Nursing ethics: Holistic caring practice. Sudbury, Mass. ; Toronto: Jones and Bartlett.

Christiansen, J. R., & American Health Lawyers Association. (2005). An integrated standard of care for healthcare information security: Risk management, HIPAA, and beyond. Washington, DC: American Health Lawyers Association.

EHess, S. A., & American Bar Association. (2007). Design professional and construction manager law. Chicago, Ill: American Bar Association, Forum on the Constuction Industry. xter, A & Hervey, T. (2012). European Union health law: Treaties and legislation. Apeldoorn: Maklu.

 Flight, M. (2011). Law, liability, and ethics for medical office professionals. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

Fowler, M. D. M., & American Nurses Association. (2008). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses: Interpretation and application. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

Halley, M. M. (1989). Medical malpractice solutions: Systems and proposals for injury compensation. Springfield, Ill., U.S.A: Thomas.

In Ferrara, S. D., In Boscolo-Berto, R., & In Viel, G. (2013). Malpractice and medical liability: European state of the art and guidelines

Kerns, D. (2007). Standard of care: A novel. Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications

Madden, B., & McIlwraith, J. (2013). Australian medical liability. Chatswood, N.S.W: LexisNexis Butterworths.

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2008). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Weiler, P. C. (1993). A measure of malpractice: Medical injury, malpractice litigation, and patient compensation. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Harvard Univ. Press.

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