Contemporary nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary nursing - Essay Example (Hermann, 2004) It is due to this reason that Australian nursing is confronting to challenges like lack of public reliance on hospitals, nurses', negligence towards patients etc. Other challenges include lack of community contact, some ethical issues which later escort towards loss of interest and defaming the profession. (Mant, 2002) Job dissatisfaction is also one of the reasons which escort experienced nurses to leave this field. (Goodwin, 2002) Under such circumstances where nurses are open to hear critics either in professionalism or ethical values, could one think that political apathy alone is to be held responsible for creating this situation In my opinion, the situation is all about what nurses understand and perceives the ethical and moral code of conduct. Therefore, it is not to blame the political apathy of professional values but the morals which a nurse has to follow throughout her nursing career. By nursing ethics, it is meant the morals and duties of nursing which she must succumb to in professional patient care. Often nurses see 'morality' as involving more a personal or private set of values, in contrast with 'ethics', which is seen as involving a more formalised, public and universal set of values. The incorrect use of fundamental ethical terms and concepts has led to a certain degree of confusion in nursing ethics discourse. Therefore the responsibility of this confusion does not lie with political apathy, but with a nurse who understands and perceives in her own manner. In this situation where 'political involvement' and 'ethics' has, been misunderstood in today's nursing profession, one must think behind the hidden facts responsible for creating the chaos. Blaming the laws, nursing code of conduct or nursing schools is not the solution to the problem. Lack of sharing and understanding a common nursing ethical language has become the ground root for taking a correct or incorrect course of action on which the reputation of nursing is built. Here by correct or incorrect I mean the course of action that is morally correct for the patient. For example if two nurses are unable to share a common perception about nursing practice, they cannot meaningfully debate about moral permissibility due to conflicting views and these views could later result into the differences clearly seen while handling a patient. Therefore, the onus comes on the shoulders of those nurses who are dedicated to enter in this profession to research about the conflicting views. The Moral Problems of today's Nurse Nursing practise revolves around basic care and common sense and today's nursing care is the moral care of the patient without these two features. (Traynor, 1999, p. 69) Moral care involves dedication and emotional bonding and respect for the patient. Though the nurses who are new to the profession are dedicated enough to handle the patient and understand morality, but that dedication is devoid of basic 'care' and 'common sense'. However older ones that stick to this profession for years explicitly identify their work and values as 'traditional' but still they never realise what is ahead of them that requires true morality what it takes to become today's nurse who is willing to accept