Question

Linking the exemplar of ethical dilemmas with the concept of legal issues.

You are working as a registered nurse on a medical-surgical floor after graduation. You love your job and your co-workers. You have grown close with your colleagues, and regularly attend get togethers outside of work. As you have particularly became close with nurse X, who has been your mentor on the unit.

One day while at work, you walk into the break room and see nurse X attempting to take syringes out of a sharps container. When you ask what they are doing, nurse X replies “I have had some terrible back pain, I don’t want to see my doctor because I just don’t have the time. Please keep this between you and me. I know that I can trust you”.

#1. What do you do with what you have just witnessed? What ethical situations are presented before you?

#2. If you choose to report your colleague; what will be the cost to you in doing so?

Answer 1

1 As a health care professional the nurse should not take the used syringes ,it can cause many health problems.l can't allow the nurse to take the syringes because health care providers should never reuse a needle or syringe either from one patient to another or to withdraw medicine from a vial .Both needle and syringe must be discarded once they have been used .It is not safe to change the needle and reuse the syringe,this practice can transmitte disease. As a nurse educator we should teach every about the reuse of syringes and it's adverse effect,but the nurse doing a wrong thing .

In that situation I just explained the adverse effect to her and also educate her about it.Health care providers should always adhere to safe injection practice understand precaution to prevent disease transmission from needle, syringes or multidose vials .There are many legal issues to face if they are not flowing the safe methods.

2 First of all l just educate her about the harmful effects of reused syringes,if she is not able to hear what I said,then iam going to inform a colleague.With my colleague I help her to understand the harmful effects,she is not able to obey ,after that we definitely inform to the ward in charge or the nursing administrator.Reusing a syringe is against our ethical principles,there are many legal issues

Reusing a syringe leads to the risk of contacting hepatitis C, hepatitis B ,HIV and many other blood borne pathogens.Incidentally ,both the health care providers as well as the Patient are at risk of contacting the infection and hence issues is very serious.So any person's , may be is a patient or a health care providers do not use reusable syringes.