Ethical Analysis Paper
This paper will summarize the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 22:8, from the Bible in relation to the nursing practice. The scripture says that if you dug a pit and another person fell in that pit, you have the criminal responsibility. The story state that if a man walking on the roof of a house should make a slip or a false step, and stumble and reel, and so be falling, and fall from thence; which might have been prevented, even his falling from thence or to the ground, if such a battlement had been made. In short, the verse is about the causation of injury of an individual in work to be specific; it is within the principle of negligence. Negligence is a significant issue in the field of nursing. As a Christian, you have to make sure that the treatment given to patients is of decent quality that does not further harm patients. Medical issues are not just relevant to Christian health practitioners who have made important decisions in the community are increasingly antagonistic to the gospel of Christ.
Daily in healthcare across the world, nurses are faced with quite several challenges, and one of the significant challenges is practitioners’ incompetency and negligence. Those challenges have impact on patient care, nursing staff and patients’ families. Negligence issues have faced nursing professionals as one of the ethical problems in integrating healthcare circles. Health care competency is to possess high moral values and keeping the standards of healthcare, as illustrated in the health policy. But, this act has not been observed by all nurses in the healthcare sectors. Most cases of medical negligence that hospitals do nurses do face daily are consent, surgical mistakes, incorrect treatment, and misdiagnosis that may lead to the death of patients.
Some of the ethical dilemmas connected to competency are disclosing the medical conditions of the patient to the third party. In some situations, the patient’s families request that the medical condition or diagnosis be confidential. The nurse must protect the patient’s right and be faithful to their colleagues, and as the Bible dictates, the nurse’s value of telling the truth must be considered. Another dilemma is the incompetency of the nurses. There has been a rise in the number of medical negligence cases in the healthcare sector, and culprits have faced criminal justice.
All nurses must care for their patient wellbeing by conducting safe health practice. Nurses must observe some of the practices such; ensure that machines used in hospitals are safe to use in treating patients, caution their other colleagues on impending risks, and prevent health hazards that may affect the patient; setting emergency plans, ensure that protective equipment and clothing are provided, and, finally, healthy supervision conducted. Good working ethics must be followed to ensure the hospital’s environment is safe and healthy. Healthcare directors and managers must serve as role models on championing safety programs in the hospital. They should ask for workers’ suggestions for improving workplace safety and implement the proposals in a timely fashion. Therefore, including incentives for workers could often reverse this trend and increases compliance.
The nurses need to enlighten their right to safe and healthy working environments to reduce the chances of negligence. Some of the reported cases of accidents on workplaces are due to workers failing to take safety seriously. Both nurses and their employers have a sharing responsibility to regulate the safety and healthy work environment, which reduces the cases of negligence when giving care to patients in hospitals.
Christian ethical decision making
In an investigation of negligence as a principle in medical ethics requires that the nurses understand the laws that guide the health practice. So as a Christian, the facts about the issue should be gathered, defined, identifying the affected stakeholders, identifying consequences, identifying obligations, and think creatively on the potential actions. Not all medical injuries are caused by the result of nurse negligence, so different challenges face decision-making on such medical issues. All medical practitioners strive to run safe medical practice but are prone to errors as human beings. A nurse has an obligation and accountability within their capability to deliver excellent services to patients. Nurses are bound to adhere to code of conduct; “nurses must make patients care and safety their main concern, and ensure that patients’ needs are recognized, assessed and responded to” and as illustrated in the Deuteronomy 22:8 majorly is concerned in the issue of negligence practice and that there is a consequence. So it is on the framework of nurses to promote the best interest of their patients and ensure that medical ethics are followed.
Under the negligence principles, the causation of injury is one of the most difficult to prove. In proving that nurse caused damage to the patient, it is not enough to demonstrate that his/ her conduct caused the injuries to occur. It is on the patient harmed that must provide proof that the medical standards were below the expected one. Thus as a Christian, the facts about the issue of medical negligence must be gathered, defined, identifying the affected parties, identifying consequences, identifying obligations, and think creatively on the potential actions. If the case of nurse negligence is identified and follows the correct decision-making procedures, whether the gross negligence was made. Most of the time, these cases are represented to the court for the alleged negligence act by the patients, and legal decisions are made. For instance, if substandard care is given to a woman during childbirth (prenatal care), the patient can represent the case to the court. The law must consider all aspects of the situation and give the necessary verdict based on the case investigation and how the patient gives to prove the negligence. Patient injured should demonstrate that the general practitioner or doctor acted negligently in providing care and that such negligence caused an injury. To do so, the patient must prove the four legal components: damage caused by the breach, breach obligation, a professional responsibility owed to the patient, and resulting injuries.
As Christians, it is worthy of reflecting on the point based on being true to ourselves to make ethical decisions. Infact, the decision should be tested against God’s authority and wisdom.
Whoever applies himself to medicine should seriously weigh the following considerations: First that he will one day have to render an account to the Supreme Judge of the lives of sick people entrusted to his care. Next, by whatever skill or knowledge he may, by the divine favor become possessed of, should be devoted above all things to the glory of God and the welfare of the human race. Thirdly he must remember that it is no mean or ignoble creature that he deals with. We may ascertain the worth of the human race since, for its sake, God’s only begotten Son became man and thereby ennobled the nature that he took upon him. Finally, the physician should bear in mind that he is not exempt from the familiar lot but is subject to the same laws of mortality and disease as his fellows. He will care for the sick with more diligence and tenderness if he remembers that he is their fellow sufferer.
Conclusion
The nurse is always bound to a code of conduct to adhere to, as both are illustrated in the biblical and laws created by policymakers to guide the nursing practice. It is unethical biblically as it can be seen in the quoted scripture mentioned earlier (Deuteronomy 22:8) to harm someone in the line of duty. There exist laws that give guidelines on how to handle cases of negligence. So a nurse should understand their principles of responsibilities, their obligation, and patients’ rights. Approvals for nursing exercise would always be to improve and follow through with a good nursing care strategy and remain up to date on the organization’s guidelines and processes. It is significant to recognize scope for practice and ethics within the healthcare, and always identify and know their boundaries and always ask for clarification when not fully understanding a task.