CASE STUDY

Case study: Implication of Midwifery Council Professional Code of Conduct



Case Study: Implications of NMC Code

Introduction

“Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon”. These are the words of Dag Hammarskjold (State Senate of the USA) truly expressing the importance of the role of a nurse. Nurses play their integral role in facilitating a patient effectively and efficiently. The codes of conduct devised by the midwifery council are considered to be a milestone in terms of its implication and to improve the nursing and health care services (Nursing and Midwifery Council 2008, 14). In this paper, two codes are implied in the following paragraphs in the context of the case study. These two codes are code of Effective team working and Consent.

Effective team working

Healthcare staff must work cooperatively within teams and respect the skills, expertise and contributions of the colleagues

Although, the context and background of the case is not given but from the given information one can easily sense the lack of coordination among the team members. Staff failed to provide information to Tracy and, care has been provided to Tracy in an emergency. Teams, that are unable, to coordinate well, they provide prove of this inability usually in times of emergency (Murphy 2009, 87). If they had good coordination then all the members of the team must have information regarding the fitting of IUD and its side effects and one of the members must have pursued to inform Tracey about it.

You must be willing to share your skills and experience for the benefit of your colleagues and the patient in a holistic care approach

If we suppose that any member of the team who was dealing with the Tracy's case does not have knowledge about the side effects of fitting an IUD then it is not possible that in the whole setting of healthcare that no healthcare practitioners have knowledge of side effects of fitting an IUD. Those who have that knowledge they must have made an attempt to inform to the team dealing with Tracy's case because coordination and sharing of information is important for the smooth functioning of a healthcare setting (Mazur 2010, 69). The staff that fitted the IUD failed in the compliance of this code. They did not inform Tracy about the side effects of development of hysterectomy. If they had any confusion regarding providing care to the patient through IUD and its side effects they must have consulted other senior practitioners or they could have asked about alternative ways to provide care to Tracy without fitting IUD. In such situations healthcare practitioners and nursing staff take advantage of referral system (Mappes 2009, 51).

The most basic principle of healthcare is the presence of the element of the close relationship between all levels. Referral system is one of the aspects of maintaining a close relationship and maintaining coordination. Whenever any team thinks and realizes that they cannot handle or deal with a certain case in ...