Nursing Profession

• Respond to this post with a positive response :
• Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence or research.
• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
• Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
• Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
• Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

Use at least 3 references

Initial Post

Nursing is one of the most trusted professions and is continually ranked the most trusted by the annual Gallup Poll based on their high ethic standards (American Hospital Association, 2018). As nurses, we took an oath to devote ourselves to those committed to our care and to elevate the standards of the nursing profession (Florence Nightingale Pledge, 2010). We are governed by ethics and legalities of the healthcare profession. For instance, as healthcare professionals, we are licensed and must adhere to certain regulations to maintain our license and career (Laureate Education, 2012f). Just like how healthcare facilities must adhere to several regulating boards to maintain operation (Laureate Education). It is up to us to uphold these ethical standards and deliver quality to the communities that are relying on us.

In Lena’s case, she’s reached quite a dilemma in which both ethics and the law are dancing with each other, but their hands never quite meet. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), regulations are set to protect patients’ health information and patient privacy must be protected at all cost (The HiPAA, 2015). From knowing this, Lena would realize that there is no way she could give out a patient’s healthcare information to someone else. Consequently, one of the nursing ethical principles is to do no harm. Knowingly not telling her sister about something that can put her health in jeopardy is a breach of ethics. One example of where both the law and ethics meet is in a situation where a patient threatens someone’s life. Under regular ethical principles, we feel obligated to warn that person, but it is also the law to report it.