ETHICS AND LEGAL ISSUES

Ethics and Legal Issues in UK Nursing and Healthcare System



Ethics and Legal Issues in UK Nursing and Healthcare System

Introduction

In this paper, we will have a discussion on the ethical and legal issues present in the nursing and healthcare system of the United Kingdom. There are a lot of ethical and legal problems which may arise in healthcare of country. United Kingdom, though, is a well developed country; but it also encounters a numbers of ethical and legal issues in the department of healthcare, especially in nursing.

The main issues that arise in the healthcare of a country are the leakage of personal and medical history of a patient through records. Other thing that happens in a healthcare is that doctors do not give importance to the informed consent while treating a patient. They do not tell all of the side effects of the treatment to the patient and his or her family. However, this is really important as the patient has the right to know everything related to his/her treatment procedure and the after effects of the treatment on their lives and health. Later on, we will also discuss a case which had some ethical and legal issues in a hospital of the country.

Ethics in nursing profession is important since nurses have to deal with patients in their treatment phases, and the patients want someone who can look after them. Therefore, the attitude and behaviour of nurses should be ethical with patients.

Discussion

As far as ethics is concerned, we would like to explain that ethics is the science of morality and the doctrine of the norms of people's behaviour in society. Nursing ethics is brought to every nurse and is a personal consciousness of professional duty and moral responsibility. The main categories include the ethical concept of duty and dignity that are designed in a variety of theories and doctrines (Fleetwood, 2004, 99).

Ethics in nursing includes various aspects of communication of nurses to patients and their relatives, it is also an ethical behaviour between a doctor and nurse relationship. It also involves the direct contact with the patient and the first survey planning of further treatment with the doctor. A nurse should be fully literate in everything. He or she should professionally and tactfully communicate with patients. Incorrect actions of doctors or nurses towards the patient, can lead to phobias and the fear of the disease. In some cases, the patient has to hide his or her true condition from the doctor and the nurses. Medical confidentiality applies not only to doctors but also to the medical staff, and all those who have contact with patients (Pera, 2005, 3).

Confidentiality is one of the most important and significant issue which arise as an ethical issue in the healthcare. The confidentiality of the patient's medical and personal history is an important thing to consider by the doctor. The controversial kind of details of a patient should be kept in privacy or should be shared with the consent ...