In my view, the four students acted against the ethical principles and theory of the nursing practice. This is true given that the students violated the principle of beneficence, least harm, as well as the theory of deontology. According to the principle of beneficence, the nursing students are expected "to do good" both for patients and the society in general (Benjamin & Curtis, 2010). It aims at ensuring that people obtain the greatest level of good. Another principle, which is almost similar to that of beneficence, is that of least harm where the student's actions should result to a higher degree of good than evil. The actions of the students certainly violate these principles.
In fact, the image of Johnson County Community College was tainted because of the lawsuit brought by Doyle Byrnes and action of their students. Furthermore, the photograph of the placenta she put on Facebook violated the privacy that is associated with patient care hence leading some members of the public to lose confidence in the nursing fraternity in general due to what they regard as their lack of professionalism. Therefore, all this go to show that Byrne and her friends acted to the detriment of the patient, the institution, and the society in general. The theory of deontology was not observed given that this theory advocates for people's adherence to their duties and obligations. Unfortunately, the students did not adhere to their duty to protect the mother's right to receive private care. I would not participate in placing the placenta on Facebook because it goes against the ethical principle of justice.
According to Bosek and Savage (2010) this principle requires that one should act in a fairly to all the parties involved. In this regard, I would not engage in this vice because it is unjust to the mother, the nursing institution, and all the women in general. Students may encounter ethical issues like the urge to reveal a patient's medical status to unauthorized persons and that of handling certain patients whose condition is beyond their capabilities.
References
Benjamin, M., & Curtis, J. (2010). Ethics in nursing: Cases, principles, and reasoning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bosek, M. S. D. W., & Savage, T. A. (2007). The ethical component of nursing education : integrating ethics into clinical experience. Philadephia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
