Caring and Ethics in Your Practice

NURS 3020 Health Assessment

Week 2 Discussion

Caring and Ethics in Your Practice

Some things in nursing never change. Caring has been the basic work of nurses from the genesis of nursing.

Caring and nursing are inextricably intertwined. For example, caring is defined as, “feeling and exhibiting concern and empathy for others; showing or having compassion” (The Free Dictionary by Farlex, 2015, para. 2). Nurse is defined by Merriam-Webster (2018) as, “a person who cares for the sick or infirm” (para. 3). As these definitions demonstrate, caring is a feeling that also requires an action.

The theory of the ethics of care has evolved over time between obligation-based ethics and responsibility-based ethics. The former asks, “What obligation, if any, do I have to this person?” In the latter, responsibility-based ethics, the relationship with others is a given. The only question is how to best meet the responsibility for effective care.

According to the Code of Ethics for Nurses, “Optimal nursing care enables the patient to live with as much physical, emotional, social, and religious or spiritual well-being as possible” (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 2).

Caring is an essential part of patient care. There are four phases of caring. They are attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness. Caring requires the nurse to put aside personal biases and prejudices to effectuate the four phases of caring. The four phases of caring suggest that good care demands more than just good intention; good care. It is a practice of combining activities, attitudes, and knowledge of the situation.

To Prepare

Review the Week 2 Discussion Rubric provided in the Course Information area.

Review Chapters 7–10 and 12–16 in the course text.

Review, this week’s Resources.

Review this week’s Writing Resources and Program Success Tools.

Consider types of caring techniques and strategies that can be used during a health assessment.

Think about a time when you had the opportunity to encourage a patient to comply with a health promotion activity, and whether you did so successfully or not.

By Day 3

Post a substantive 2-paragraph response (at least 350 words) to one of the options below. Develop and post cohesive paragraphs, and use evidence to support your ideas.

Cohesive paragraphs

Evidence

What caring techniques/strategy can you use during the health assessment of a patient to encourage the patient’s adherence to a treatment plan?

Describe an instance in your practice when you successfully encouraged a patient to comply with a health promotion activity. If you have not successfully encouraged a patient to comply with a health promotion activity, how might you have done so based on what you know now?

By Day 7

Read two or more of your colleagues’ postings for the Discussion question.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues in one of the following ways:

Expand upon the proposed technique(s).

Suggest an alternative technique to encourage adherence to a treatment plan.

Ask a clarifying question about a colleague’s proposed technique or strategy, or about the instance when your colleague successfully encouraged a patient to comply with a health promotion activity.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Provide a Discussion entry on three different days of the week. See the Discussion Rubric for more information.

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