[ANSWER]An Essay on Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing

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Legal Issues in Nursing: The nurse looking after the 86-year-old Nicole faces an ethical dilemma relating to patient autonomy. When the nurse enters the room where she is to administer pain medication, her visibly miserable and hopeless daughter instructs the nurse not to give her any injections. In accordance to the principle of autonomy, only the patient can make that choice. In other words, only Nicole has the right to decide whether to receive pain medication or not, not her daughter or anyone else.
If the nurse obeys the instructions of Nicole’s daughter, the nurse will have violated the rights of the patient. It would be imperative for the nurse to make it clear to Nicole’s daughter that only her mother can decide whether to accept the pain medication or not. Bringing the matter to the attention of the physician would also be important.
Whereas the importance of patient autonomy cannot be overemphasised, it should be noted that there are situations in which this expectation may be legally breached. Such situations mostly revolve around children and mentally incapacitated patients (Australian Law Reform Commission, 2014).
As paediatric and mentally ill patients do not have the capacity to make sound decisions, it may sometimes be necessary to bypass the expectations of informed consent and patient autonomy so as to protect the patient (Panditrao & Panditrao, 2016). In the given case study, none of the circumstances necessary for bypassing of patient autonomy seems present. Nicole is an adult and even…[Buy Full Answer for Just USD 9: 2463 WORDS] ( Legal Issues in Nursing)
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Type: Essay
Word Count: 2463
Grade/Mark: 92 (Distinction)