Student Nurse: Principles Involved from the ANA Code of Ethics

Ethical Dilemma
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Ethical dilemma The ethical dilemma involved a clinical case: 7-year-old girl hospitalized for asthmatic crisis. On this clinical day, she was left on her own. She was a very sweet girl, sad because her Mom was not by her side. The hospital’s staff nurses and patient care assistants were all busy to be entertaining her all day long. She later came to know a student nurse volunteer to hang out with her after doing the nursing assessment, taking her vital signs, and cleaning up her room with her collaboration, we decided to go to the playground. She was very happy to have a student nurse as friend. She had had also the privilege to have her breathing treatment at the playground. The student nurse made a deal with the young girl that if she agreed to go back into her room when it will be time for her next vital signs assessment and to use only her bathroom when she had to go that we could play if she wanted to. She did respect the deal and played until it was time for her vital signs assessment. Before checking her vitals, this student nurse recommended to rest in her bed for at least ten minutes during which time her mom and sister arrived. The student nurse asked the mom about the young girl asthma crisis, how this happened the frequency of asthma attacks, what the mom knew about her daughter illness, the treatment regime as this is a chronic disease, and what she did to avoid the daughter being hospitalized so often such as recognize and avoid the triggers inducing the crisis. The mom was very receptive of the questions and happened to be educated on the treatment regimen her daughter takes. Principle(s) from the ANA Code of Ethics             The principles to be considered in the ethical dilemma are beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence and fidelity beneficence is ‘doing good’ and is related to acting ethically to prevent harm while contributing to the health and welfare of the clients/patients, and helping others requires that practitioners are competent (ANA, n.d.). Autonomy relates the right to decide and direct the course of their lives as they have the freedom of action and choice. It is related to human dignity where the client competence, privacy, individual difference and the ability to make decisions are considered.  Nonmaleficence refers to doing no harm as practitioners exercise due care and is complimentary to beneficence (ANA, n.d.).  Fidelity not only involves faithfulness, keeping promises or agreements, but also the issue of loyalty and applies to voluntary interpersonal relationships (ANA, n.d.). ANA Code of Ethics and Dilemma  The principle of beneficence was relevant in the case the nurses sought to improve health outcomes by involving the child’s mother who was more informed about the asthma triggers and interventions to improve health outcomes. In deciding to talk to the child about when to undertake vital signs assessment, this was necessary to undertake the next ...