NS4101 LAW AND ETHICS FOR NURSES ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
Choose 1 of the 3 scenarios presented below to serve as the focus of your essay. From each of the scenario, please identify 3 themes/issues (i.e. 1 for each of law, ethics and values) that you will discuss in depth using the guidelines below. Indeed, each scenario highlights a lot of issues, but be mindful of the word count and your ability to discuss the issues with sufficient depth.
| Scenario A Herman is 60 year old fishmonger in East London. He was referred by his GP to the Memory clinic. Accompanied by his wife, Gemma, they told the doctor that Herman has been having ‘momentary lapses of memory’. There were a few occasions where Herman gave the wrong change to customers which is uncharacteristic of Herman. He has worked as a fishmonger since he was 16 years old and knows his business well. During the course of Herman’s medical investigations, it turns out that Herman is now experiencing the onset of dementia. Gemma is very distressed during the conversation and has told the team that she is suffering from a range of medical issues as well (i.e. Diabetes and Hypertension). Incidentally, Herman is also referred to the cancer clinic because of an unusual lump found on his throat during the physical examination. When asked about support, Gemma said that they have an only son but he lives in Thailand. She also did mention in passing that his son comes around every year and ‘taking money’ from them. She appears upset when asked further and refuses to share any further information about the issue. Scenario B Nabila, a 72-year-old lady was admitted into the Female Medical Unit. She was rushed into A&E by her family because of a recent fall. Based on the decision of the consultant, she was admitted for further investigations and monitoring. Nabila only speaks Sylheti but understands rudimentary English according to her daughter, Fatima. On the ward, the nurses noticed that Nabila is quite timid and ‘appears to say yes’ to all the procedures and questions of the nurses. The nurse refers to her as the ‘lovely Bengali’ during hand over. However, on day 3 of Nabila’s admission, she appears distressed and distraught after the ward rounds. The nurse noticed that this happened after one of the doctors took her blood for testing. When asked, one of the other patients said, ‘Well he just took her arm and prick her arm. I’d be upset too!’. Scenario C Blessing is admitted into the emergency obstetric unit because of profuse bleeding. She is 23 years old and was originally from Gambia. She arrived into the country just under a year ago. During her admission, the team found out that Blessing currently has an asylum application to the Home Office. She also lives with her boyfriend, John. During her stay, Blessing became comfortable with the nurses and told them that she is currently working on cash-on-hand basis. She also revealed to one of the nurses that she was ‘cut’ as a baby during a pelvic exam. Furthermore, during one of the visits from John, her boyfriend, the nurses notices a marked change in Blessing’s behaviour. She would often close her curtains and remain unusually quiet around John. The team considered this as ‘odd’ but are not sure of how to proceed with this ‘oddity’. On day 5 of her admission, her case worker came around and is asking for updates and information about Blessing including whether Blessing has disclosed any other information apart from her medical information. |
| Assignment Structural Plan: |
| Choose 1 of the 3 scenarios presented above to serve as the focus of your essay. From each of the scenario, please identify 3 themes/issue (i.e. 1 for each of law, ethics and values) that you will discuss in depth using the guidelines below. Indeed, each scenario highlights a lot of issues, but be mindful of the word count and your ability to discuss the issues with sufficient depth. |
| Introduction: (indicative length ~200 words) Introduce your essay by clearly identifying the 3 major points that you have chosen to highlight on your essay. Also make it clear how each point corresponds to each area of the module (i.e. which one is relating to law, to ethics and to values). Body of the Essay: (indicative length ~1,600 words) Discuss each of the themes identified using the relevant resources garnered through research. Explore and discuss the role of the nurse around these issues. Relate the specific standards of the NMC code that is relevant to the issues identified. |
| Identify and discuss the legislations that are pertinent to the identified issues. This should also include any statutory reporting duties and other applicable legal principles discussed during the lectures and seminars. Offer a solution from a nursing perspective. Discuss how you might prevent or mitigate the identified issues should you encounter this situation in practice. Conclusion: (indicative length ~200 words) This part summarises the key points that you have discussed in your essay. |
Assessment Marking criteria:
- Relevance (15%) – Identifies key issues of an assignment and develops lines of arguments
- Depth (15%) – Consider material in sufficient depth to adequately address key concepts and principles of area of study/assessment topic.
- Development of argument (20%) – Appraise and evaluate basic concepts, principles and theories; suggest solutions to problems
- Use of evidence (20%)- Uses relevant evidence from a wide range of available and appropriate sources
- Written communication (20%) – Well written, coherent, accurate reports/essays (including grammar, spelling, sentence and paragraph construction and assignment structure) in accordance with the module guidelines. There is a clear introduction, body and conclusion
- Referencing (10%)- Reference sources current and appropriately
Technical guidance
▪ Font: Use Arial, Font size 12
▪ Spacing: double spaced lines
▪ Pagination: Each page should have a page number.
▪ No headings to be used
