Question

What are the ethical and legal responsibilities of the nurse who believes a home care patient needs to be cared for in a hospital or that a home care patient needs to continue to receive care and not be discharged from the service?

Answer 1

Patient is our first priority. Wherever the patient is, either in the hospital or home, we need to provide individualized care for each patient. When the patient needs only follow-up nursing care , we can provide high quality nursing care even at home. But if the client needs hospitalized care , patient should be admitted in hospital to receive observation and high quality treatment. Autonomy is one of the ethical principles need to be followed to respect patient as an individual and respect the rights of the patient. Beneficence is the duty of the nurse to do good to all the patients. There should be a justice in providing equal distribution of care to everyone. Nonmaleficence is the responsibility of the nurse to cause no harm to the patient. Nurse should play a role of advocacy ie acting on behalf of the client and always protects the client rights and help the client to take their own decisions. When the patient needs critical care, the care should not be discontinued. Those patient needs hospitalized care and they need to continue to receive care and not to be discharged from the service.