Case Study Professional Conduct on Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

Subject Name : Dissertation

Case Study Professional Conduct

PART A Case Summary
The case is related to tribunal held imposed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) on 22nd December 2017 under the name of Wahid v NMBA (Review and Regulation). The tribunal was upheld for reviewing the decision by NMBA that for canceling the registration of Mr. Wahid due to an unsatisfactory professional code of conduct.
Mr Wahid was claimed for two complaints by NMBA related to his behavior towards the elderly patient at the hospital when was on duty on 29th and 30th October 2016. He was alleged to have repeatedly shouted at the patient who was transferred to the hospital due to suspect of stroke and reduced communication skills. He had also failed to draw the curtain while he was helping the patient with his bedpan. He handled the patient roughly and did not show any compassion while working with the client.
Later, Mr Wahid accepted all the allegations and regretted that he would not act in such a manner in future. The final decision of tribunal agreed with the NMBA decision which also included eight hours of further education for the next 12 months. The educative period will basically focus on ethical consideration and person-centered care. The tribunal also stated that Mr Wahid could join back as a nurse only after his performance is reviewed by NMBA after the educative period.
PART B Professional Code of Conduct
The professional code of conduct set for the nurses by NMBA establish the standards of the legal requirements, professional behavior, and conduct of practice for all the nurses in their workplace settings (NMBA, 2018). The nurses in their professional behavior have their own beliefs, perspective, and values. However, the profession code of conducts aid in the setting the specific standard that should be adopted by the nurses in their practice. The seven listed code of conducts are consistent in nature and follow the National Law which also includes explanatory values statement (APHRA, 2016). Moreover, the principles are accompanied by guidelines that are applicable in a practical scenario. The codes of conduct are applicable in case of all the nurses including clinical and non-clinical settings. The codes are also applicable in the setting where the nurses may get engaged in face-to-face interaction with the patient, publications, advisory roles, leadership, etc. The codes of the conduct are used in order to promote the delivering of safe practices (Kangasniemi et al., 2015).
The two codes of conduct breached in this scenario include Principle 1, that is, legal compliance and Principle 3, that is, cultural practice and respectful relation. The first principle comes under the domain of legal practice which states that the nurses should adhere to the professional code of conducts under the provision of National law and are abided by the related laws. The third principle comes under the domain of safe, effective, and collaborative practice. The nurses must provide safe care to the patient based on person-centered care and evidence-based practice for the wellbeing of the patient (NMBA, 2018). Moreover, the nurses must get engaged in a professional relationship with the patient and adhere to the provision of privacy and confidentiality of the client.
According to 1.2 guidelines of Lawful behaviour, nurses must practice honestly and ethically while treating the patient (NMBA, 2018). Here Mr Wahid has roughly handled the patient and did not treat him well. This was clearly the unlawful behavior towards the patient which adversely affected their practice and damaged the reputation of the nursing profession. As the nurse participated in such type of action this was clearly viewed as unprofessional behavior and thus had implication on his registration. Moreover, the nurse must understand and uphold their responsibility which was also breached in this scenario.
According to 3.5 guidelines of confidentiality and privacy, nurses must hold legal obligation for protection of privacy and confidentiality of the client. In this case scenario, there was a breach in the patients privacy as the nurse failed to draw the curtain while helping him to use the bedpan. At the same time, there were two to three more patients in the room. The second guideline stated under 3.5 explains that nurse must uphold the privacy of the client while working with multiple numbers of people at a time. Moreover, according to 3.4 bullying and harassment, nurses must understand the harassment and bullying in the workplace and must not get engaged in it. Such types of behavior are completely unacceptable and include physical or verbal abuse, humiliation, aggression, violence, and so on (NMBA, 2018). Thus the nurse getting engaged in these types of action while treating their patient clearly violate human rights of the patient and are punished under the provision of the legal body.
PART C Analysis of case outcomes
The courts decision was abided by section 202 of the National Law, where the NMBAs boards of the decision were kept intact. The court exercised the Boards function under section 178 of National Law where it was stated that action of the board was taken as the registered health practitioner have got engaged into unprofessional codes of conduct which is unsatisfactory. Moreover, the matter was not required to be referred by the tribunal under section 192 as the conduct does not constitute any type of professional misconduct. Thus, this is not necessary to report the matter to the panel. However, Mr Wahids case failed to meet these criteria and the tribunal showed no hesitation in agreeing with the NMBAs boards decision related to the case occurred on 29th and 30th October 2016.
Under the ethical code of conduct, nurses must promote and protect the trust and develop an inherent nurse-patient relationship. The nurses must actively preserve the dignity of the patient and practice through kindness and respect towards the powerless people receiving the care (Snelling, 2016). However, there may be misconduct in the practice if there is a lack of adequate knowledge among the practitioner. The nurse must also take adequate measure to establish trust among the people receiving the care (Bryce et al., 2017). Moreover, they must hold respect for the self and others that value the dignity of others. The practice of kindness is applicable for the nurse oneself and the consumer. They must preserve the dignity of the people and treat the patient as an individual rather than treating them as a sick person (Schmidt et al., 2017).
The case clearly showed that Mr Wahids professional conduct failed to meet the standards of practice he clearly viewed the patient and the relatives as the problem and thus he was completely wrong in his views. He was abided by professional obligation but he failed to keep them intact. He faced challenging condition by completing a long weekend shift which disabled him to follow the standards adequately. Moreover, the decision taken by the court cannot be actually considered as punishment. He was asked to take eight hours of education which is not at all burdensome. In the educative period of time, Mr Wahid must uptake more research and adopt practical way after resuming the professional practice. Moreover, the court also advised that the practice of Mr Wahid could only be resumed after he passes the educative practice by NMBA after a year of education. Thus, these will an important evaluative step before resuming of the service.
The decision made by the court cannot be considered as exact punishment. Moreover, education also provides a person will scope of improvement (Sherwood amp Barnsteiner, 2017). Thus, I agree with the decision provided by the NMBA board as well as the tribunal. However, I believe that the evaluation of Mr Wahids improvement must be strictly done before resuming his service as a professional nurse.

PART D Reflection and Prevention
This study provided me a clear idea of implementing the NMBA codes of conduct in a practical scenario. After conducting this study, I became aware of various aspects of professional standards that must be practiced in clinical and non-clinical settings while serving the patient. Moreover, by referring to the case study I was successfully able to analyse various misconduct done by the nurse in that particular setting. I was also able to explore the ethical standards in various respects of legal practice, safety, and collaborative practice, maintaining professional integrity, and promotion of health and wellbeing of the patient. Moreover, analysis of the professional codes of conducts enabled me to clarify my ethical thoughts and made me more aware of the certain ethical challenges that may arise in the practical scenario. Moreover, I also became more aware of the behaviors like empathy, compassion, respectful behavior, and so on while dealing with the patient. This has also helped me to develop a clear mindset to deal with various ethical dilemmas. Additionally, it also helped me to evaluate my personal skills and value system and made me capable of integrating the codes of conduct in a personal and professional scenario. I am determined that I will always respect the rights of the people and conduct clear communication with the patient and family members. Further, I will also strive the truth and always focus on making an informed decision. Thus, the whole study not only enhanced my personal skills but also enhanced by professional judgment capability. So, I can further apply them in delivering the best service and obtain the best possible outcome.

References
Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency. (2016). Professional standards. https//www.ahpra.gov.au/search.aspxqnurses20code20of20conductAustralian Health Practioner Regulation Agency. (2018). Legislation. https//www.ahpra.gov.au/about-ahpra/what-we-do/legislation.aspx
Bryce, J., Foley, E., amp Reeves, J. (2017). Conduct most becoming.Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal,25(6), 25.
Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., amp Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing an integrative review.Journal of Advanced Nursing,71(8), 1744-1757.
Nursing and Midwifery board Australia. (2018). Codes of conduct for Nurses. https//www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/news/2017-09-28-new-codes-of-conduct.aspxSchmidt, B. J., MacWilliams, B. R., amp Neal-Boylan, L. (2017). Becoming inclusive a code of conduct for inclusion and diversity.Journal of Professional Nursing,33(2), 102-107.
Sherwood, G., amp Barnsteiner, J. (Eds.). (2017).Quality and safety in nursing A competency approach to improving outcomes. John Wiley amp Sons.
Snelling, P. C. (2016). The metaethics of nursing codes of ethics and conduct.Nursing Philosophy,17(4), 229-249.