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Differences between a Regulatory Agency and a Professional Nursing Organization
The main distinction between a regulatory entity like the Board of Nursing (BON) and a Professional Nursing Organization (PNO) is that the first one regulates, develops legislation, deals with licensures and monitors professional nurses at all levels, while the second represents the rights of nurses. The central aim of BON is to safeguard the rights of the patients (NCSBN, 2016). A PNO has a goal to advocate for nurses and it usually consists of a group of nurses that unite aiming at educating, sharing, and fostering the elaboration of the nursing profession as well as the patients they take care of. The most vivid example of PNO is the American Nurses Association (ANA). The government protects the public through the Board of Nursing (BON) by creating the laws, such as the Nurse Practice Act that regulates the nurses’ functioning at all levels of nursing (NCSBN, 2016). The ANA aims at promotion and optimization of the nursing profession, fostering the health care, and advocating for the improving the wellbeing of families and communities (ANA, 2015). It is possible to claim that the organizations have different functions in terms of representing the rights of stakeholders, while BON protects the patients, ANA advocates for nurses.
ANA Code of Ethics
Two Provisions from the ANA Code of Ethics
One of the essential provisions of the ANA Code of Ethics is the second one that requires the nurses to express their primary commitment to the individual patient, a family, or the entire community (ANA, 2015). This provision guides the nurses in the complicated situations and eliminates the possible conflict of interest that might occur in healthcare. Provision four strengthens the nurses’ commitment to patients and claims that the nurse has the “authority, accountability, and responsibility for nursing practice” (ANA, 2015). This provision fosters the autonomy of nurses and the ability to make crucial decisions regarding patients’ health.
Evaluation of Provisions in Part B
Second provision of Code of Ethics requires the nurses to express her primary commitment to the patient. In my practice, the second provision guides my daily work and assists in resolving difficult questions. Once, I have encountered with the situation when the physician did not provide the full information to the client regarding his treatment options, which I considered inappropriate. As the patient and her parents were struggling with the decision regarding the treatment due to high costs of the procedure, I asked the physician to describe the treatment option with appropriate details. At the same time, I managed to provide additional information about the treatment option as well, even though I had a personal confrontation with the physician afterwards. The provision four promotes the autonomy of a nurse and her ability to make independent decisions and be accountable for her actions. This provision enabled me to become more independent in terms of decision making. For instance, during one case, I had to resolve an emergent issue without the physician. The patient was in a critical state due to congestive heart failure, thus, I had to apply immediate actions to save a patient’s life. I know that it makes me accountable if I failed to accomplish this task, thus, my independent actions had to be well-thought and effective.
Four Professional Traits
One of the most important traits is empathy, which is crucial for nurses in their obligation to maintain the primary commitment to the patient. The second important professional trait is effective communication, as the nurses collaborate with the other providers on the daily basis and take care of patients during the entire day. Problem-solving skill is another trait essential for nurses, who are obligated to provide the best healthcare to the patients, omit the conflicts, as well as to resolve complex and emergent situations. Finally, the fourth important trait is respect, which refers to the attitude to colleagues, patients, community, nursing organizations and regulations, as well as the entire community.
Explanation of Professional Traits
These four professional traits can be brought to the interdisciplinary team by fostering the professional and sensitive treatment of patients through understanding their problems and sufferings and excluding the egotism from the patients’ treatment. Effective communication can be brought by a promotion of interpersonal qualities of the nursing professionals and through the empathy to the patients and healthcare professionals. Problem-solving skills may be brought to the team by increasing the intellectual and practical knowledge of nurses by providing them the training options imitating the real-life situations, which will improve their reaction and problem-solving techniques. Respect, as a quality, can be advocated by promoting the mutually benefiting interests in the profession of healthcare, articulating clearly the aims of the nurses and other providers.
Nursing Theory
Transcultural Nursing developed by Madeleine Leininger is one of the most influencing frameworks in my practice. The main aim of this theory is corresponding to cultural values and practices (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). It states that there is no curing without caring and in such multicultural community as the U.S., a transcultural framework is a must for the healthcare providers. According to its provisions, the help provided to patients will not be successful without the understanding of values, beliefs, and lifestyle of different cultures.
Explanation of the Nursing Theory
Transcultural Nursing relates to my professional practice, as I work in the highly culturally diverse environment where patients do not always have a clear understanding of the clinical practices used by the facility. Also, due to the specific beliefs, a lot of patients have a different perception of healthcare practices, which affects the quality of treatment and the options available to the physicians and nurses. Transcultural Nursing enables me to conduct an investigation of a specific culture and optimize my treatment of the patients accordingly.
Historical Nursing Figure
Mary Breckinridge has become an inspiration for me, as she managed to seek the resolution for a difficult problem when she encountered with it herself. Suffering from the loss of her children, Breckinridge managed to establish the neonatal and childhood medical care framework (Goan, 2008). She is famous for creating the first family care centers and elaborate a novice approach to the rural healthcare (Goan, 2008). Also, Breckinridge developed the Frontier Nursing Service and disseminated its affiliations throughout the U.S. Her accomplishments in the neonatal care decreased the child mortality dramatically and improved the healthcare provided to children, pregnant women, and female patients in general (Goan, 2008). The most inspirational issue in Breckinridge’s story is her commitment to patients and the aspiration to improve the healthcare treatment, which she accomplished through the ultimate sense of purpose and sacrifice of her lifestyle. In the modern environment, this approach may be enacted by identifying the problem in healthcare, like, for example, the approach to the cultural minorities, and establishing an effective method of resolving this issue by commitment and sacrifice.
Real-World Situation
Beneficence
The principle of beneficence requires the healthcare providers to serve the best interests of patients and promote their wellbeing. This principle was protected by me during several occasions when the patients were perplexed about the treatment option. For instance, in one of the cases, a patient, who was only 9 years old had to undergo a painful procedure of lumbar puncture. He had low pain threshold and his parents thought that it will be too much for their child. Yet, the procedure was mandatory for his diagnosis. I advocated for the procedure and persuaded the parents to confirm the procedure, which helped the physician to produce an accurate diagnosis. In this case, while the procedure was particularly painful, it benefited the patient’s health, which is supported by the principle of beneficence.
Nonmaleficence
The principle of nonmaleficence demands the medical personnel do not harm the patients. While it is considered to be the primary concept of the healthcare, it has to be perceived from several angles, for example, to use the harming treatment in order to cure the patient. One of such controversial cases was experienced by me. During one of the situations in the hospital, a physician prescribed the drugs with severe side effects, which could harm patient’s health. The patient suffered from second stage soft tissue sarcoma that required chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The patient’s body did not react positively to the treatment and while the physician aimed at increasing the intensity of those treatments, I recommended him and the patient to use additional alternatives, like targeted therapy. My main goal was to eliminate the risk of unnecessary suffering and damage to the health of the patient. In this case, my actions were guided by the principle of nonmaleficence that has a goal to optimize the treatment of the patients.
Respect for autonomy
The patients have the right to make their own decision and the ability to determine their destiny, which is the primary concern of the principle of respect for autonomy. There are complex cases that demand the healthcare providers to take into account this principle despite their point of view. Once, a patient in her late 20s revealed that she was terminally ill, as she had a terminal heart disease. She had a husband and a child. While she had limited options for recovery, she wanted her state to remain a secret. The patient considered that she will bring unnecessary sufferings to her family members and decided to enjoy her life as much as she could. While I had another opinion regarding the disclosure, I had to preserve this information, as it was not me who makes such a decision. It serves as a vivid example of preserving the autonomy of a patient despite your personal beliefs.
Justice
The core notion of the principle of justice is the ability of the healthcare personnel to distribute the treatment equally and provide healthcare to everyone who needs it. Unfortunately, I have noticed that some of my colleagues spend less time on ethnical minority patients, especially when they are not very good in English. I have confronted a physician who neglected one Cuban patient for several hours, while he had a medical emergency. The patient suffered from severe heart pain, while the physician considered that he was either drunk or on drugs due to the prejudice against this ethnic group. Finally, when the patient was admitted by the doctor, he was transferred to the surgery due to the complications with his health. I considered this treatment unjust that is why I have reported to the higher management about the unjust malpractice and prejudice against the minorities.
References
ANA (2015). Annual Report: Ethical Practice, Quality Care. ANA. Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA/Annual-Report-2015.pdf
ANA (2015). The New ‘Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements’ (2015): Practical Clinical Application, Part I and Part II. ANA. Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics-2015-Part-1-2.pdf
Goan, M. B. (2008). Mary Breckinridge: The Frontier Nursing Service & Rural Health in Appalachia. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Maier-Lorentz, M. M. (2008). Transcultural Nursing: Its Importance in Nursing Practice. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 15(1), 37-47.
NCSBN. (2016). National Council of State Boards of Nursing: About NCSBN. Retrieved from: https://www.ncsbn.org/about.htm
