Professional Documents
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Ethical Decision Making
Ethical Decision Making
Ashley Odenbach
December 8, 2019
BENCHMARK ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 2
times when a nurse identifies incompetence among other members of the health care team that
could potentially cause a threat to patient safety. For the purpose of this assignment my thesis is:
An ethical dilemma regarding incomplete among coworkers was chosen, a justification of the
students stance was made, a description of the ethical decisions model was presented, and a
The definition of incompetence is defined by these three things: it must relate to the
nurses professional care of a client, the nurse must display a lack of knowledge, skill or
judgement, and any of the ways they show incompetence must prove that the nurse is not fit to
continue to practice, or that their practice should be restricted. It can be hard because the nurse
may know that one of her co-workers is incompetent, but they may hesitate because of
challenges such as inadequate staffing (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2018). Nursing is the most
trusted profession. Nurses have the duty to protect other patients from harm. The student believes
incompetence is just ignored a patient could be harmed. The moral responsibility of this error
would not only fall on the one who did it, but also on the nurse who knew the person was
Standard application, providing safe client care, and ethical decision-making skills
The ethical decision model that should be used in this situation has seven steps. First you
identify the ethical problem, then collect information, state the options and alternatives for
analysis, apply ethical principles to the options, make the decision, implement the decision, and
lastly evaluate the results to prevent a similar occurrence (Park, 2011). This model can be a
helpful tool to ensure the situation is handled adequately. This situation is especially stressful
because the person who is incompetent in their care may be a friend of the nurse. Nurses need to
recognize that they might encounter adversity when addressing unethical behavior. Standing up
for what is ethical is risky and can create anxiety. Nurses must weight the benefits with the risks.
The patient could potentially be harmed in exchange for sparing the nurse embarrassment.
Morally, a nurse should not be able to accept that her lack of speaking up could cause a patient
Using the ethical decision-making model, a solution can be reached in the situation where
a nurse identifies a fellow peer who is posing harm to patients due to incompetence. A nurse in
this situation needs to take a leadership role to address the issue. After the ethical problem has
been identified, information needs to be collected about the extent of the issue. The options the
nurse can take need to be identified and the pros and cons of each analyzed. In this situation the
options are: report the colleague, or ignore the problem. If the colleague is reported they could
potentially be fired, this can cause tension and it could worsen problems such as short staffing. If
ethical principles are applied to the problem, the nurse will realize that it is her duty to protect
patients from harm, and she has the obligation to report what she sees. Once she makes the
decision to report the incompetence there are a few things that can be done. It will be determined
BENCHMARK ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 2
if the complaint made proves that the nurse violated laws that have been in place. An
investigation may take place, and there is a possibility of corrective actions that vary depending
on the severity of the issue. The nurse who was practicing incompetently may be required to
receive more education or a treatment for an illness, or they could have their nurse license taken
from them (NCSBN, 2018). In this situation a leadership style of democratic should be utilized.
The nurse will recognize that she cannot handle a situation such as this on her own and seek help
and guidance from the charge nurse to report the incompetence and get the other nurse the help
Conclusion
In conclusion, nurses are often faced with ethical dilemmas. In this circumstance the
nurse identified an incompetent co-worker, Using a dictatorship leading style the nurse was able
to use an ethical decision making model to evaluate the situation and take action to do what is
morally right. The nurse has the duty to protect the patient always. In this case the nurse must
make the hard decision of potentially losing a friend or further shortening the staff for the good
of the patient.
BENCHMARK ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 2
References
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2018). Mandatory Reporting [PDF file]. Retrieved from
http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/ih/42006_fsmandreporting.pdf
Huber, D. L. (2018). Leadership and nursing care management. (6th edition) St. Louis, MO.
NCSBN. (2018). A health care consumers guide your state board of nursing works for you [PDF
file]. Retrieved from https://www.ncsbn.org/A_Health_Care_Consumers_Guide.pdf
Park, E.J. (2012). An integrated ethical decision-making model for nurses. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22156941.
Schmidt, K., Schmidt, K., Walsh, C., Kauchick, J., Gremmels, K., Doug. (2015). Nurses must
summon moral courage to confront unethical behavior. Retrieved from
https://www.nurse.com/blog/2015/10/19/nurses-must-summon-moral-courage-to-
confront-unethical-behavior/.