As a profession, nursing is accountable to society. This accountability is spelled out in the American Hospital Association’s Patient Care Partnership, which reflects social beliefs about health and health care. In addition to Read More »
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Culturally Mediated Characteristics
Nurses should be aware that patients act and behave in a variety of ways, in part because of the influence of culture on behaviors and attitudes. However, although certain attributes and attitudes are frequently associated with particular cultural groups, as described in the following pages, it is important to remember that not all people from the same cultural Read More »
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Dilemmas that center on death and dying are prevalent in medical surgical nursing practice and frequently initiate moral discussion. The dilemmas are compounded by the fact that the idea of curing is paramount in health care. With advanced technology, it may be difficult to accept the fact that nothing more can be done, or that technology may prolong life but at the expense of comfort and quality of life. Focusing on the caring as well as the curing role may assist nurses in dealing with these difficult moral situations. Read More »
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Ethical Nursing Care
In the complex modern world, we are surrounded by ethical issues in all facets of our lives. Consequently, there has been a heightened interest in the field of ethics, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how these issues influence us. Specifically, in health care the focus on ethics has Read More »
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In today’s health care arena, the nurse is faced with increasingly complex issues and situations resulting from advanced technology, greater acuity of patients in hospital and community settings,
an aging population, and complex disease processes, as well as ethical and cultural factors. Traditionally, nurses have used a problem-solving approach in planning and providing nursing care. Today the decision-making part of problem solving has become increasingly complex and requires critical thinking. Read More »
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