Ethical Comportment
Overview
Nurses at all practice levels can be faced with challenging decisions. In any role or setting, nurses may encounter ethical dilemmas in practice. As you transition from a BSN to an MSN professional nurse, it will be important to understand how to evaluate actions as they relate to scope of practice and ethics. Evaluating outcomes of your actions will help you examine ethics in the context of everyday practice, scope of practice, and decision making. As a nurse leader you will need to lead and mentor others in effective decision making. This will guide ethical comportment in practice and enhance your abilities as a role model and future leader in the profession.
Scenario
Imagine that you have accepted a leadership position in a professional organization of your choosing. Select an organization that will match well with your anticipated future MSN role and setting (Case Management Director). Examples you could consider are your local American Nurses Association (ANA) chapter, Sigma, American Organization for Nurse Executives (AONE), National League for Nursing (NLN), National Institutes of Health (NIH), a specialty nursing organization, or another relevant organization.
At your professional organization, a committee decided to create a blog on their website to share information with members and visitors. The committee identified ethics as the first topic of discussion. The blog post will be directed to an audience of members who are MSN prepared. You have been tasked with posting the first blog. The committee requests you include ethical comportment, the role of ethics in scope of practice, and the influence on decision making.
Prompt
Before you begin, identify a professional organization to provide the context of your blog post. Consider the members of the professional organization as the audience for your post.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Ethical Comportment: Discuss ethical comportment in relation to a professional organization. Remember the audience of your blog post and begin by defining ethical comportment for the reader of your blog. Then explain an example of ethical behavior in the context of nursing practice to support your discussion.
- Ethics and Scope of Practice: Evaluate the relationship between ethics and MSN professional nursing scope of practice. Include the nurse practice act in your evaluation. Be sure to address the following questions in your work:
- Ethical Decision Making: Discuss a strategy for effective ethical decision making. You should recommend at least one ethical decision-making strategy relevant to MSN professional nurses. Also, include a prompt statement to encourage members to post a response to your blog.
Guidelines for Submission
Submit your completed blog post as a 1- to 2-page Word document. Use 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
