Introduction
Judie, who has served as the nurse manager for the past ten years, has been experiencing irritation and dissatisfaction due to certain administration issues at her working place. In spite of the initial priority for the patient’s needs, Judie has to ignore some of them for organizational matters, which tends to make her feel stressed. Hence, Julia, who has two children and satisfying remuneration, is supposed to make a decision whether to leave the job or to stay, since she does not like either the situation or the fact that it affects her family.
Nursing Values and Conflicts due to the Values
Since Judie has worked for the hospital for ten years, it is possible to speak about loyalty to the organization and fidelity to her patients. A patient is defined as a person who needs and gets nursing care. In accordance with the system of relations between a nurse and a patient, they both happen to have an equal role. The major ethnic principle in nursing is acknowledged to be respected for the dignity and the rights of a patient. The value is supposed to see a personality that deserves respect, attention, and sympathy. The nurse should strive for being an independent, competent specialist who has personal characteristics necessary for this job (Grace, 2013). Judie proves to have these features since she has been highly regarded by the hospital administration.
Caregiving is also significant value in nursing ethics. Forms of caregiving depend on the nurse, the patient, and the situation which requires caregiving (Kacey, 2014). In Judie’s case, it might be violated since more attention is paid to the organizational needs than to the needs of patients. One other principle is beneficence, which comprises kindness, unselfishness, generosity as well as understanding, sympathy, and complicity (Kacey, 2014). This principle is likely to be left unattended due to the same reason of the administration issues. Besides, a nurse is expected to be healthy. In order to be able to fulfill professional duties, nurses are supposed to maintain their physical and moral health (Kacey, 2014). However, the stress which Judie is exposed to at work is unlikely to have a positive impact on her health. All the above-mentioned values reflect the personal values of the author of this paper.
As for any possible conflicts that might arise from the values, there are two of them. The first one is the conflict between ethics and administration issues. This conflict might result in either a violation of the nursing principles or in redundancy. The other conflict is the one between the workplace problems and personal issues since the matters at work have started affecting Judie’s family life.
The decision under Consideration: Leaving the Job or Staying
In the present-day world, people happen to spend much time at work. Besides, any work mainly requires much power and effort. Therefore, the job is expected to be not only a place to earn a living but also to give positive emotions, satisfaction, and joy from fulfillment. Besides, a job is supposed not to cause any trouble to the family relations or personal affairs. Therefore, in the described situation the best decision to make is to try to influence the situation at the workplace and discuss any possible outcome with the management. If the matter proves possible of improvement, it is reasonable to stay and try to affect the issue in a favorable way. However, if the management is unwilling to take any steps back to the times when Judie enjoyed her job, there is no other choice but to leave the position in spite of having been loyal to the organization for the past ten years. In this case, Judie will be honest with her patients and her family.
In accordance with the ethics, nurses are obliged to respect their patients and their right for self-determination, tell the truth, do the good, cause no harm, be able to make decisions on their own, be devoted to their profession, and be responsible. The aims for nurses to achieve are professionalism, effectiveness, dignity, health, and harmony. Nurses are expected to possess knowledge, wisdom, sympathy, patience, responsibility, kindness, and capability for cooperation. No misdeeds on nurses’ parts are subject to explanation and justification by any conditions, even if they are economic troubles or family issues (McCarthy & Gastmans, 2015). These are, therefore, the beliefs, ideals, and goals which are supposed to guide the choice in making the decision whether to stay or to leave the job. If the decision is to stay, it is necessary to come back to the balance of the needs of patients, and of the organization, with the first ones being uppermost. Otherwise, the value of fidelity is betrayed. Besides, for health and harmony are involved, it might be reasonable to try to calm down in order to reduce the stress and a negative impact on the family. If the decision is to leave, it might be considered as abandoning. However, it is better than the violation of the main principles of nursing which are being violated since more attention is paid to the organizational needs than to the needs of patients.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is necessary to underline that the decision which Judie is supposed to make is crucial since it affects her job. To avoid conflicts, it might be wise to leave the position, despite the fact that it might look as abandoning. Besides, since the situation causes anxiety, it might affect the health, so it is necessary to discuss the matter with the administration and to make the decision only upon their suggested solution.
References
Grace, P. J. (2013). Nursing Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Advanced Practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers: Boston, MA.
Kacey, K. (2014). Work engagement in nursing practice: A relational ethics perspective. Nursing Ethics, 21(8), 879-889.
McCarthy, J., & Gastmans, C., (2015). Moral distress: A review of the argument-based nursing ethics literature. Nursing Ethics, 22(1), 131-152.