INTRODUCTION: The quality of care in Singapore have certainly improved significantly and is widely known to be safe and efficient. The quality of care is essentially derived from the satisfaction and experience of the clients with the hospital and its staff, mainly doctors and nurses (M.K Lim, 2004). As a nurse, it is our duty and obligation to give the best optimal care to our patients. Therefore, it is also our duty to protect our patients from being harmed by sub-optimal care done by our fellow healthcare professionals. Therefore, ethical dilemmas arise when an ethical principle is breached, especially when there is potential harm to patients. CASE STUDY: The May 2011 issue of Nursing Times contained an article written by a Director of …show more content…
The nurses are the main perpetrator in this case, as they are the one handling most of the care of the patients. The current situation right now is that there are incidences of missed follow-ups, incorrect diagnosis and poor management of chronic diseases happening in the hospital. I must evaluate if the nurses are neglecting their duties to provide optimal care to the patients or whether it is unintentional. I must also determine whether the hospital management is also to be blamed for the sub-optimal care being provided to the patients admitted in their …show more content…
According to the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, nurses are expected to provide a safe, effective and ethical care to their patients in accordance with the guidelines of the Standards for Practice for Nurses and Midwives (Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct,1999). Fidelity - There is a breached in the ethical principle of fidelity because, my colleagues were not able to commit in making sure that accurate information and appropriate care was delivered to their patients (The ICN code of ethics for nurses, 2012). They did not demonstrate fairness to provide optimal care and exercise advocacy for their patients, which could have been one of the reasons for the missed follow-ups and poor management of the chronic diseases in the hospital. Justice – The rights of the patients receiving care in the hospital has been compromised due to the sub-optimal care being provided to them. Patients are not able to receive the appropriate care they are meant to be given to them and thus, is breaching the Standards of Practices set up by the Singapore Nursing Board (SNB) for nurses to do their duty to maintain the standard practices of nursing and respect the care, dignity and life of their client (Standards of Practices for Nurses and Wives,