Ethics In Nursing Practice

I think that the findings of the presented study can be relevant to the nursing science. Palos (2014) states that “the science of nursing is a combination of performance, skills, knowledge, and attitudes” (p. 247). The results of the presented study show a possible improvement of the “performance” resulting in the lower readmission rate. In the discussion section of the presented article, the authors state that the previous study concluded that an addition of the NP in the process of transition from the hospital was beneficial, however, the costs associated with it may restrict implementation. I think that including the NP as a care coordinator would improve patients’ outcome. In my hospital, I see the NPs working for physicians who are seeing …show more content…
The provision 3 states that “the nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and the safety of the patient” (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 9). This provision addresses patients’ right to privacy, confidentiality, and protection of participants in research. It stresses the importance of the informed consent and states that the nurse, as an advocate of the patient, should take action when she suspects any unethical practice that puts the patient’s best interest at risk. The retrospective design of the presented study did not require active participation of subjects in the study; the data was collected from the existing medical records. The authors of the article took steps to protect the patients’ privacy and confidentiality. They did not disclose the location where the study took place and ensured that the data was kept on a secure password protected hard drive. The individual informed consents were not obtained, but this is not always necessary with the retrospective design of this study; the IRB approved this research (LoBiondo-Wood, & Haber, 2014). By ensuring patients’ confidentiality, the authors of the article addressed the provision 3 of the ANA Code of ethics for