Graduate Registered Nurse Practice Readiness

Question: Discuss about the Graduate Registered Nurse Practice Readiness. Answer: Introduction: The nurse failed to consider critically the consequences that would arise from the provision of partial, dishonest and inaccurate data in connection with the release of antibiotics to the patient. The nurse practiced beyond the professional boundaries, giving medication without any observation and clinical examination. As per the nursing code of professional conduct, a nurse should provide impartial, honesty and information that is accurate. In the case scenario, the nurse gave out antibiotics to the patient solely dependent on word of mouth. Furthermore, she made false entries in the patients medical record. Such a behavior would result in drug abuse which might lead to a serious medical condition. As a nurse, she/he should refrain from misinformation or misrepresentation regarding the health products, because her role is to ensure safety for the patients and if possible should advise the patient on the advantages and disadvantages of certain drugs. The nurse acted outside the Scope of Practice as per the reflection of the Enrolled Code of Ethics. In reference to the case scenario the nurse failed to observe the value statements of the code of ethics while in practice. If she could have worked as per the core values of nursing, she would have not hurriedly reached a decision of attending to the patient regardless of the circumstances. The core values make it clear that a nurse should at all times make informed decisions. In the case scenario, the enrolled nurse rushed to reach a conclusion and prescribed drugs for the patient shortly after hearing about the patients condition and other prevailing circumstances. Such an act also contradicts with the core value statement for quality and safety nursing care. In the scenario, the nurse did not consider the side effects of the drugs she/he prescribed to the patient nor did not mind about the safety and level of care she/he accorded the patient. Furthermore, the nurse entered false in formation in the patients medical records; this is against the value statement which maintains that a nurse should put into consideration of the ethical management and handling of healthcare records. The nurse failed to apply the contemporary professional standards of nursing practice through two ways; failure to offer reflective and analytical practice care, and lack of professionalism and collaborative practice(El Haddad Moxham, 2013). The reflective and analytical practice way requires that a nurse provides care informed by evidence under the safety and the quality assurance guidelines. In the scenario, the nurse did not use any justifying evidence to prescribe antibiotics to the patient. Professionalism and collaborative practice require a nurse to uphold and respect the patients rights. In the scenario, a patient has a right to quality and safe nursing care, but on the contrary, the enrolled nurse offers poor services to the patient. The nurse breached the subsequent conduct statements as per the Code of Professional Conduct(Nursing Council, 2008).Nurses should provide impartial, honest and information that is accurate regarding nursing and health care products. The enrolled nurse breaches the conduct statement by making false entries in the patients medical record. The enrolled nurse acted in a dishonest manner with the aim of justifying the patient. Besides, the conduct statement that requires nurses to practice nursing reflectively and ethically got breached too. The nurse acted contrary to the conduct statement by prescribing drugs to the patient without any thoughtful and analytical examination or substantial evidence to help her reach a decision that the drug prescribed was right for the patient. Finally, the enrolled nurse the conduct statement which requires practicing in a manner that is safe and competent. The nurse fails to honor the conduct statement and acts incompetently by just making inquiries an d verbal consultations to offer medication to the patient. Such a practice renders the nursing care to be unsafe. The value statement 5 which directs a nurse to make informed decisions. The nurse breached value statement 5 by the act of deciding to prescribe medication to the patient regardless of the circumstantial situation at the emergency department. The nurse would not have opted to provide antibiotics without direction from her/his supervisor or doing a thoughtful and analytical examination on the patient. The enrolled nurse also breached the value statement 1. The statement value upholds that nurses should assess providing quality nursing care to all people. In the scenario, the enrolled nurse fails to observe and work under strict guidelines of the value statement. The nurse chose to offer substandard care to the patient; this emerged through the kind of entries she/he made in the patients health records. Implying that most likely, the nurse might not have had enough knowledge on the drugs prescribed to the patient. Furthermore, the enrolled breached value statement 7, which states that a nurse should value ethical management of information. The nurse violated this statement making false entries in the health records of the patient, and by doing so, it means that she/he does not practice professionalism and integrity. The relevant Act which nurses must adhere to is the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act of 2009. The nurse should work towards maintenance and building on patients trust and confidence in her/his profession. She/ he should do this as a professional review so as to earn to lost trust due to her/his unethical and unlawful actions in the case scenario. Also, the nurse should undertake a professional review in the manner in which she/he should handle health information from patients to control her/his previous acts of recording false. He/she should manage patients data with confidentiality and honest not falsifying the information. Finally, the nurse should do a professional review on her/his competency and how capable she/he is to offer safe and quality nursing care. It is important for the nurse to undertake such professional review and development because it would build trust amongst the patients on the medical services offered by the nurse and also enable the nurse to competently and diligently provide safe and quality nursing care. Workplace issues are amongst the professional issues that reflect the seriousness of this situation. When the patient arrives at the emergency department, he/she gets the all the physicians engaged and grows impatient. That prompted the nurse to take action without making an informed decision but with a dire desperation to assist the patient and try to cover the image of the health center. Also, legal and ethical issues reflect how serious the situation is by showing how the enrolled nurse conducted her/his practice without observing the professional code of conduct and ethics. The nurse further failed to uphold professional standards in the provision of safe and quality nursing care. The reflective practice helps to impact on the emotional development, mentorship, and development of practice for a nursing student. Through reflective practice, I as a nursing student will be in the position of controlling emotions such as fighting fear and my feelings. Reflective practice shall also play a significant role mentoring me for the nursing career. Finally, the practice shall expose me to the real practical work as a nurse. Through this critical thinking case scenario, I would always take my time and do the necessary within the scope of the professional code of conduct. The situation has taught me various things. To start with, as a nursing student I should take everything seriously and handle any situation with a high level of integrity, honesty, and accuracy. I should do this so as to maintain and build on the communitys trust in the services we offer as nurses, show how competent and skilled we are and the much care we have towards our patients. Above all, determination shows how passionate we are regarding our career. Finally, I have learned that some situations require fast and deep critical thinking before making a decision. As a nurse. I have learned that making of informed decisions based on evidence and working within the scope of Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct would facilitate the smooth provision of health care services. References Nursing, A. and Council, M., 2008.Code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council. El Haddad, M., Moxham, L. and Broadbent, M., 2013. Graduate registered nurse practice readiness in the Australian context: an issue worthy of discussion.Collegian,20(4), pp.233-238.