DNP 8000 Discussion: Ethics

By Day 3

By Day 6

Submission and Grading Information

Week 5 Discussion Question

Ethics and ethical challenges as it pertains to nursing and in particular the role of DNP/PhD prepared nurse is evident regardless of the field of practice. Ethics is a social construct that should hold every human being to the standard of doing the right thing but within the field of nursing arena we are held to an even higher standard. Regardless of the focus whether it pertains to nursing informatics, managed care, academia, or clinical based practice we are bound by our nurse practice act and the guidelines that govern over the scope and the legality of our nursing license. If there are people there will always be ethical issues, they just may look different to those affected. The media excerpt Ethical issues relevant to the DNP reinforced this real concept. (Laureate Education, 2011a). The challenges and the quandary about ethics will at one time or another perplex us all if it has not already. The video helps to demonstrate how regardless of the one’s nursing expertise, the challenges are real. Dr. Joan Stanley helped the viewer to see how ethical conundrums could be in health disparities of our patients, limited resources and inequal access to treatment. (Laureate Education, 2011a, 1:23). Nursing informatics continues to entice more nursing to join its ranks. Of course, this field is not without ethical challenges as well. Dr. Susan Stefan discussed the ethical challenges seen in this field. The rapid pace and quick turnaround times on clinical decisions based on medical criteria can lead to job burnout and/or an unequal work life balance (Laureate Education, 2011a 3:56).

In previous posts I have explained that I currently am hold a position that may not be seen as a traditional role as an advanced practice nurse. It is true I do not practice hands on nursing but that does not mean that I am not exposed to ethical challenges daily. As a manager over a case management department within a managed care organization (MCO) I am required to lead weekly interdisciplinary rounds with other disciplines within the market. One of the goals of these meeting is to assess and evaluate the members care or lack thereof. One of my organizations pillars within their leadership model is that every employee regardless of pay or title must be a good steward of the company’s funds. The organization must answer to their stockholders and state entities, so during rounds discussions can revolve around appropriate levels of care, implementation of cost-effective measures, adequate use of resources and benefits and on occasion the denial of diagnostic testing and ancillary services. It is not correct to say that all for profits organizations do not care about their members and only about the profits for this would be a falsehood, it is just a different environment and my bleeding heart, public health, save the world mind set has difficulty processing that a member may not be able to get services because their primary care provider (PCP) did not follow the steps from A-Z to get an authorization approved or because a diagnosis code does not meet a clinical guidelines. I have worked within this environment for many years and knew what I was getting into when I chose this work and I have on many occasions tried to sway the masses. Do not get me wrong, this industry is important in the microcosm of nursing, but ethical issues and challenges occur all the same.

Within the industry and especially during this time when my organization has undergone a divestiture, maintaining an equal work life balance has not been an easy task to accomplish and the fear of burn out has been very real, not only for my staff but myself as well. Unrealistic expectations and time frames can turn a normal 40-hour work week into a 50-hour work week. Being a salaried employee is said to help to compensate for this but many to include most of my team will not flex their time for fear of getting further behind and missing those time frames. Job burnout is a real concern for many managers including myself feel a responsibility to make sure that my team does not succumb to burn out, that they take flex time, pto and breaks but I also must ensure the job gets completed. Adhering to ethics and ethical challenges and issues are a real issue that all of us face regardless of the environment in which you practice.

Tish

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011a). Ethical issues relevant to the DNP [Video file]. Retrieved from 

Milton, C. (2010). Nursing ethics and power in position. Nursing Science Quarterly, 23(1),18-21.