NUR3020: Critically Apply Relevant Legal And Ethical Principles To Future Health Care: Nursing, SU, Australia

Course Objectives assessed:

1. Critically apply relevant legal and ethical principles to future health care practice situations at the level of a beginning Registered Nurse.

2. Interpret, analyze and apply the nursing scope of practice in health-related scenarios.

3. Engage in the critical discussion which explores the relationship between professional identity, role conflict, and role boundaries.

4. Interpret, analyze and explain professional formation through linking theoretical concepts of caring to clinical practice environments and lifelong learning.

5. Apply exemplary communication in digital technologies and therapeutic relationships.

Case Study

You are working on a busy vascular surgical ward where you have completed 4 months of a six-month rotation during your graduate program as a Registered Nurse. Your Nurse Unit Manager approaches you and asks you to engage in a key quality activity in the ward. The Nurse Unit Manager is keen to increase awareness of the importance of professional accountability and the delegation of work between staff in the ward. The ward currently employs students as Assistants in Nursing (AINs), Enrolled Nurses (ENs) and Registered Nurses (RNs) in the skill mix. Each morning shift 3 RNs, 2 ENs and 3 Student AINs are rostered.

The Nurse Unit Manager explains that critical decisions in aspects of care appear to be delayed or missed and she is worried that this is affecting patient care outcomes. She hands you several articles that she has found and asks you to review and analyze each and present the collective key findings back to her, and then your peers at the next staff meeting. She explains she feels you are up to the task and aware that your most recent graduation from University places you in a good position to complete the critical analysis.

Specifically, your Nurse Unit Manager seeks a:

– Critical evaluation of the role of the Registered Nurse relating to accountability and delegation as identified in the articles.

– Summary of the key areas arising for the graduate RN, for experienced RNs, ENs, AINs and for patient outcomes.

– Synopsis of key findings that could be considered by the team to improve their delegation and accountability in the clinical area.