Community and Public Health Nursing Order Instructions: Assignment: Boundaries
Community & Public Health Nursing
Boundaries
Write a 2-3 page (not including title and reference) paper in 6th edition APA format. Find and review your state nurse practice act and define your scope of practice. What are your boundaries? What does the acting state specifically in regards to ethical and cultural considerations? What are the state’s rights to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens; how does this correlate with the nursing practice act of your state and your nursing role?
Please use state of Maryland practice act.
Community and Public Health Nursing Sample Answer
Nursing Practice Act: State of Maryland
The American states have boards that develop acts that regulate various practices. State boards usually regulate the nursing practice. The boards help state governments to monitor nursing practice and ensure that care that the clinician’s offer meets quality standards. The boards also work through interpreting and implementing the acts that they develop (American Nurses Association (ANA), 2012, Pg. 1). Other responsibilities of the boards include licensing nurses, approving and accrediting educational programs, and stating the expected standards of nursing practice (ANA, 2012, Pg. 1). The boards also resolve conflicts that emerge within nursing care.
In Maryland, the nursing board regulates the nursing practice (Maryland Board of Nursing, 2012). The state’s nursing regulation Act explains the scope of practice in terms of the person, practice, place, reason as well as a method. The act further describes the nursing practice in different specialties. Among the fields that the Act addresses are pediatric practice, anesthesia, critical care, midwifery, oncology, and psychiatric nursing. The Act states that nurses have the responsibility to maintain the well-being of the communities they serve. It requires nurses to take the liability for the health matters that arise within the society. Also, the Act requires nurses to offer services that conform to high quality at all times.
The Regulatory Act also requires that nurses work within certain boundaries. Their professionals have powers, and they should exercise their mandate in a responsible manner. For instance, the Act requires nurses not to pry too much into the personal lives of their patients at the expense of the patients’ privacy. Also, the clinicians require maintaining a confidential approach to sensitive issues that their clients share with them. Again, the Act requires nursing practitioners to focus on establishing a therapeutic relationship with their customers other than getting too personal. In situations where the practitioners find it unavoidable to cross the boundaries, they should first seek the consent of their patients. Before nurses can cross the boundaries, they should also ensure that their actions would not hurt the patients.
The Act also states ethical requirements for nursing professionals. The policy requires that nurses not only offer quality care but also match their services to ethical and culturally acceptable conduct. The Act requires nurses to act responsibly and make reasonable decisions. The judgments that nurses make should be satisfactory from an ethical perspective. Nurses should maintain their conduct at a high profile since their practices are likely to influence patient outcomes.
The state has the power to defend its citizens from inappropriate handling when receiving nursing care. The institution needs ensuring that citizens receive care that meets quality standards. Again, the state has the freedom to question and criticize acts that could be suspicious. For instance, it is the role of the state to ensure that nurses and other clinicians do not overcharge their services. The state should ensure that nurses offer care that is accessible and economically sustainable. In cases where nurse practitioners violate the rights of the citizens, the state could exert punitive measures. The states could, for instance, revoke the licensure of practitioners whose actions are intolerable.
The state’s right of protecting its citizens concurs with the values of the nursing practice. The profession is among the most respectable, and it has the objective of promoting the well-being of members of the community. Nursing practice is more of service to the community than just a business venture, and practitioners need promoting their societies in terms of safety through fair, reasonable, and respectable treatment.
Community and Public Health Nursing Reference
American Nurses Association. (2012). Frequently asked questions roles of state boards of nursing: licensure, regulation, and complaint investigation. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/mainmenucategories/tools/state-boards-of-nursing-faq.pdf
Maryland Board of Nursing. (2012). Nurse Practice Act. Maryland.gov. Retrieved from http://mbon.maryland.gov/Pages/nurse-practice-act.aspx
