Instructions
It is anticipated that the initial discussion response should be in the range of 250-300 words. Response posts must demonstrate topic knowledge and scholarly engagement with peers. This is not the only criteria utilized for evaluation; substantive content is imperative. All questions on the topic must be addressed. Please proofread your response carefully for grammar and spelling. Do not upload any attachments. All responses need to be supported by a minimum of one scholarly resource. Journals and websites must be cited appropriately. Citation and reference must adhere to APA format.
Classroom Participation
Students are expected to initially address the discussion question by Wednesday of each week. Participation in the discussion forums is expected with a minimum total of three (3) substantive postings (this includes your initial posting and posting to two peers) on three (3) different days per week. Substantive means that you add something new to the discussion, you aren’t just agreeing. This is also a time to ask questions or offer information surrounding the topic addressed by your peers. Personal experience is appropriate for a substantive discussion and should be correlated to the literature.
All discussion boards will be evaluated utilizing rubric criterion inclusive of content, analysis, collaboration, writing, and APA. If you fail to post an initial discussion you will not receive these points, you may, however, post to your peers for partial credit following the guidelines above. Due to the nature of this type of assignment and the need for timely responses for initial posts and posting to peers, the Make-Up Coursework Policy (effective July 2017) does not apply to Discussion Board Participation.
Discussion Prompt [due Wednesday]
You are working as a nurse on a cancer floor in a large urban hospital. You come into work and learn that you will be working with several new patients during your shift change briefing meeting. One of those patients, Jane, has been admitted to the hospital due to issues related to a cancer diagnosis. She was given medication to address a cancerous tumor along with Propofol to sedate her for the procedure.
During the shift change meeting, you learn that Jane had lost touch with reality after her procedure and the prior shift nurses made sure everyone knew that Jane was a real pain to deal with because she was non-cooperative and was acting irrationally. She was pulling out her IVs and trying to leave the hospital. Unfortunately, she was a bit like Houdini and could even slip out of the restraints. She also shouted at people that were not in her room and “folded her laundry” in mid-air. Jane also insisted that she was in tremendous pain.
One of the confounding issues is that Jane has a family member who recently showed up to direct Jane’s care, but she does not want any medical treatment for Jane because the family member is convinced that it is the medication that is creating the situation of Jane losing touch with reality. As you interact with Jane and her loved one, you begin to suspect that there was more to this situation than was being reported by the previous nursing shift. You then go to Jane’s complete medical history and find that there is a diagnosis of schizophrenia when Jane was admitted to the hospital for mental health issues almost 20 years prior.
You ask Jane and her loved one about the ways that Jane is handling her schizophrenia, and they explain that she doesn’t take any medication for it, but manages it using LSD and holistic treatments. Jane insists that she has not had any mental health episodes for almost 20 years because of the holistic treatments. Jane and her loved one are insisting that she not be given more medication because it just makes her mental state more confused and her behavior worse. She is obviously in pain, and you want to be able to help alleviate some of her suffering, while you work to stabilize her mental state.
You realize that the prior nursing shift had just ignored Jane because she was just too difficult to deal with on a very busy floor. Given that Jane has not received any medication for the last 12 hours, you find that there are some problems with her quality of care due to her challenging behavior.
Describe and explain the ethical issues that you iden
tified in Jane’s situation. Provide evidence from the scenario and from your course materials this week as support of your claims.
List and explain at least three ethical issues related to the care that Jane has received.
What steps would you take to correct the issue of Jane’s medications?
What steps would you take to address the quality of care provided?