An RN is assigned to care for a client with a history of a traumatic brain injur

Question

An RN is assigned to care for a client with a history of a traumatic brain injury, who was readmitted to the hospital from a long-term care setting with pneumonia. The RN notes this hospital admission is the fourth one this year. The RN self-reflects: “This client keeps coming back to the unit because he is unable to cough and clear his airway. There are frequently skin breakdown issues, and he seems frailer to me. The client is immobile and non-verbal; he can only look in the direction I position him and listen to music or the television. Nobody visits. There is no quality of life in this situation. I am struggling with this assignment; I feel like I should do the minimum in this room and allocate my time this shift to help the other client who has a greater chance at quality of life.”

Initial Discussion Post:

Address the following:

Describe two (2) ethical principles the RN must consider when caring for the client in this scenario.

Refer to the 2015 American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics to guide the actions of the RN in this situation. Provide a rationale that goes beyond your personal opinion.

Explanation / Answer

The nature of nursing means that nursing ethics tends to examine the ethics of caring rather than curing. It includes more towards the nurses obligations to respect the human rights and dignity of the patient and this is reflected in a number of professionals codes for nurses. Nurses should focus on care,nurturing,respecting patients moral values.

In this case the RN is continuously disrespecting the patient by keep on saying that there is no quality of life in this case,and more interested in finishing her assignment rather than taking care of patient. The ethics to be followed are nurses primary commitment is to the patient whether an individual,family,group etc. Nurse owes the duties to all the patients equally including the responsibilities to promote health and to provide optimal care.

The field of ethics addresses how we ought to treat each other,how we ought to act,what we ought to do and why.

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