Question

Read the following document to answer the question: (use the document to support your idea as a reference since I'm using the answer to complete my paper, please)

How working both 8 hour and 12 hour nursing shift impact the accountability at work if you are working as a nurse?

The challenge of accountability

A host of specific ethical issues exists within the practice of nursing itself. Professional nursing is a complex profession that is unlike most others. The accountability factor in the practice of nursing is such that a keen sense of responsibility and personal integrity are necessary qualities for every practicing nurse. It is the nurse’s ethical obligation to uphold the highest standards of practice and care, to assume full personal and professional responsibility for every action, and to commit to maintaining quality in the skill and knowledge base of the profession. Failure to meet such obligations places the patient-nurse relationship at risk.

Failure to be accountable for one’s own actions damages the health care team, causing rifts, blame, and potentially shifting work/responsibilities and patient care between shifts. In other words, lack of accountability can negatively affect quality patient care and team building. In health professions in which the safety and health of society are at stake, the obligation of professionals to police the practice of their colleagues is important.

There are public and legal official policing bodies, such as the state board of nursing, for matters of public record and formal conviction. However, there are countless situations in which the official policing body will never be involved, and the obligation to denounce a harmful action or potentially threatening situation falls to a fellow member of the profession. Sometimes known as whistle-blowing, the obligation to denounce is based on the fact that to remain silent is to consent to the action or threatening situation. Whether denouncing a chemical impairment, negligence, abusiveness, incompetence, or cruelty, the obligation is a moral one based at least in part on the principle of beneficence.

Every person bearing the title of nurse must aspire to maintain himself or herself as a professional of integrity who is willing to blow the whistle on those whose actions are irresponsible and harmful. If this is not the case, the wrong will continue, and the harm to others will escalate. In the end, the profession as a whole will suffer, and the well-being of society will be diminished.

Answer 1

Ans. The working shift of nurses is highly significant in maintaining the personal integrity and responsibilities undertaken by nurses. In addition to the job satisfaction, safety issues such as investigating the relationship between working hours and patient safety (Medication error) or staff injury by observing the staff at flexible times is an identified gap that must be filled. However it is important to not that long hours of work leading to fatigue and sleepiness may lead to medication error and also affect the quality of patient care. Job performances, lack of physical well being and job dissatisfaction have also been associated with long hours of work shifts. It must be an obligatory responsibility of each and every nurse to face the challenge of accountability and to blow whistle to whatsoever situation that stand in the way to harm their patient. Moreover implementing long shifts leads to decreased opportunity to discuss care or participate in educational activities which may jeopardize the quality and safety of care for patientspatients.