NR 500 Week 3 Discussion – Knowing Self
The two core values that influence my nursing practice & interaction with others are caring, which includes promoting health, healing, & hope in response to the human condition. Next is integrity, which includes respecting the dignity & moral wholeness of every person without conditions or limitations. According to the National League of Nursing, caring is a fundamental part of the nursing profession & integrity is evident when organizational principles of open communication, ethical decision-making, & humility are encouraged, expected & demonstrated consistently.
Moreover, human dignity & equality are my two core professional nursing values in my nursing practice. Clarifying values & beliefs strengthens your ability to make ethical decisions & promote ethical & moral actions ( Kaya et al., 2016). As a Neuro ICU nurse, I often come across many challenges. Each day, my cases & patients are different; my core professional values stay the same. A recent challenging experience I would like to discuss is the case of a 26-year-old Hispanic male who attempted suicide. He was anoxic for long enough that he was declared brain-dead. The parents did not fully understand what “brain death” meant. Regardless of efforts to explain to the family, the language barrier did not make it through & the family was still in denial.
NR 500 Week 3 Discussion – Knowing Self
The patient was s/p tracheostomy, on a ventilator & several vasopressors. He had an EG tube placed & an indwelling catheter placed. His pupils were dilated & non-reactive. He was edematous throughout his body. After several weeks in the ICU, h was sent to an acute care facility. Due to neglect, he developed pressure ulcers & infected tracheotomy tube. Within two months, he was sent back to the ICU. Currently, he is on week 3 in the ICU. The family was in denial & had made several attempts to feed the patient by mouth & tried giving juice through the PEG tube. During week 3, Nevada state changed its law about brain death guidelines & therefore; it is no longer required to get a family’s consent to withdraw organ-sustaining treatment if the patient is declared brain dead by the neurologist, which this patient was told brain dead by not only one but two neurologists.
Once the hospital was aware of the law, they decided to remove the patient from organ-sustaining treatment while the family was not in the patient’s room & the patient’s nurse was helping another provider with a procedure & was not aware of this. Once the family came to visit the patient, he had already passed away & I will never forget that evening as the family mourned & couldn’t be with their son during his passing even though I did not get to care for this patient. I was disappointed at the ignorance & the harsh way the situation was handled. I believe this situation violates many core values of nursing, including human dignity, altruism, equality, justice, & honesty. This experience impacted my nursing career in many ways. I have adapted to building a trustworthy relationship with my patient, standing up to the doctors &saying no when I know that things aren’t happening in a patient’s best interest (which, in this case, it was, but the family should have gotten a chance to say goodbye). I have also learned to connect more with patients’ families because when patients are in the hospital, they are not the same at home. The best way to know your patients is through their families so you can understand their baseline. I have also learned to be transparent & lastly, to keep my values in line & provide the best care to the patients & their families.
References
Kaya, H., Işik, B., Şenyuva, E., & Kaya, N. (2016). Personal & professional values held by baccalaureate nursing students. Nursing Ethics, 23(1), 1–16. doi:10.1177/0969733015624488
National League for Nursing. (2010). Outcomes & competencies for graduates of practical/vocational, diploma, associate degree, baccalaureate, master’s, practice doctorate, & research doctorate programs in nursing. New York, NY: National League for Nursing.
Nevada Statute. (2017, October 1). Retrieved March 11, 2018, from http://www.braindeath.org/law/nevada.htm
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Question 
NR 500 Week 3 Discussion – Knowing Self
Reflect on the concepts addressed in this week’s lesson plan & required reading. Recall a challenging experience in either your personal or professional life. In the initial response, start with an introduction that briefly describes four core values that influence your nursing practice & interaction with others. Provide a concise description of the challenging experience. What core values were challenged in this experience? What lessons were learned from this experience? How did the experience inform future professional behaviors, decisions, & actions? Describe how lessons learned from the challenging experience were applied in your professional practice. Use at least one outside scholarly reference to support your position.