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a. What are the ethical considerations and implications of using CNAs and LPNs to address nursing shortages, and how do these relate to patient safety, quality of care, and the healthcare workforce?
In the healthcare system, the use of CNAs and LPNs provides plenty of help to the hospital. In times of shortages registered nurses are not able to get to all the patients for which the LPN can provide care for the lower acuity patients while simultaneously asking the registered nurse if there is any need for additional healthcare. At my hospital, the way that it works is that the LPN is not allowed to start any IV medication but instead, they have to refer to the primary registered nurse who is overlooking their care to give the medication to the patient. Additionally, the CNAs are highly pivotal when it comes to healthcare in the hospital. Most of the time the registered nurse is not able to get to the patient because they may be busy with other patients or they may be doing something more important and not able to get to the patient at that exact moment that being said, the CNA can provide the immediate care needed at that time and if additional healthcare is needed, they would find the registered nurse right away. For example, “The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to promote health and safety, preserve wholeness of character and integrity, maintain competence, and continue personal and professional growth” (Geiger, 2023). That’s a good application that I can come up with implementing more help can have his concern for nonmaleficence and beneficence for the patient. We like our patients to feel as if they are in completely safe hands, and for that, we have to set specific guidelines for LPNs so that they can treat the patient properly and safely.
b. In this episode, what ethical principles or values are at stake for hospital administrators, the nurse educator, the nursing team, and the patients?
The ethical principles that are involved for a healthcare team that is providing care for the patient would be more so prevalent for the patient’s benefits and safety. We see that this could potentially be harmful to the patient by implementing lower-trained individuals for care that they may not be ready to handle. This is not necessarily their fault, but that being said they weren’t trained or taught to develop that critical care thinking that needs to be implemented to help a patient positively this can lead to detrimental effects, decrease patient, safety, and potentially open the doors to plenty of lawsuits.
c. Imagine you are a nurse educator or part of the hospital administration team. How would you approach the integration of CNAs and LPNs into your nursing staff to combat the nursing shortage? What ethical principles would guide your decision-making process?
If I was on the hospital administration team, I would approach the integration of CNAs and LPNs properly and accordingly. For example, LPNs should only be allowed to work in the lower acuity setting and should not be allowed to work in the hire ICU kind of settings. That being said, the only reason why is that they have a lower amount of education when it comes to their education as bedside, registered nurses. Being a registered nurse allows individuals to have more experience in nursing, considerably to LPNs. Not to say that they are inexperienced, but they do not have the overall book knowledge that is needed to provide care in the acute setting. Additionally, the implementation of CNAs is something I would heavily refer to because they provide plenty of care to the patient when the registered nurse is not able to provide specific care. But being part of the hospital ministration team, I would implement a proper training system for all individuals who are seeking jobs in the hospital so that way patient safety and care are being properly taken care of.
Reference
Haddad LM, Geiger RA. Nursing Ethical Considerations. [Updated 2023 Aug 14]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526054
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