| CODE | NUR1130 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Ethical and Legal Aspects of Nursing Care Delivery | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 2 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Nursing | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | In the course of this study-unit students will seek to explore the salient legal and ethical aspects associated with nursing care delivery, nursing as a regulated discipline and the professional and associated legislative framework. Specifically, the study-unit will provide an opportunity to the students to become aware, discuss and think critically about such aspects of care, with an emphasis on developing skills and knowledge which will enable students to address challenges in this regard effectively and safely, within the respective legal parameters and ethical boundaries, and in relation to nursing roles and scope of practice. The study-unit will also refer to standards and values underpinning the professional role of the nurse e.g. the principles of autonomy, dignity, veracity, justice, equality and privacy; introduction to contemporary professional issues and debates in general nursing (advocacy and patient rights, empowerment, informed consent, the importance of documentation and accountability and their importance in terms of professional and patient/client safety). Study-Unit Aims: The aims of this study-unit are: - to help students develop a sound theoretical knowledge regarding legal and ethical aspects of nursing care delivery; - to help students acquire the ability to address such aspects of care in an effective safe manner; - to guide students regarding where to seek relevant resources pertaining to legal and ethical aspects of nurse care delivery and how to use such resources; and - to enable the development of critical thinking skills associated with addressing legal and ethical challenges in the practice area. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate significant awareness of the legal and ethical aspects of nursing care delivery; - Describe how to address legal and ethical aspects of care delivery; - Explain how and when it is necessary to act and document accordingly in view of the legal and ethical implications inherent in nursing care delivery; - Discuss the ethical principles, standards required and values underpinning the professional role of the nurse with particular reference to the Maltese Code of Ethics for Nurses and Midwives; - Explain the role and function of the Council for Nurses and Midwives (Malta) as per current legislation (Health Care Professions Act, Cap 424); - Describe what are patients rights as per current legislation (Health Act, Cap 528) and implications for practice; and - Discuss contemporary legal and ethical issues and challenges at the place of work for nurses such as professional boundaries, scarcity of resource allocation, sexual harassment, violence at work and computer misuse. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Think critically about legal and ethical aspects of care delivery; - Know where to search and how to access respective relevant resources; and - Determine an appropriate course of action in line with relevant legal parameters and ethical boundaries. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Beauchamp, Tom L. & Childress James, F. (2015) Principles of Biomedical Ethics.(7th ed.) Oxford University Press: New York. - Berglund, Catherine (2012) Ethics for Health Care (4th ed) Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. - Cauchi, M.N (ed) (2003) Ethical Issue in Practice for Nurses, Midwives and Family Medicine, Malta: The Bioethics Consultative Committee. - Edwards, Steven (2009) Nursing Ethics: A Principle-Based Approach (2nd ed) UK: MacMillan Education. - Hendrick Judith (2000) Law and Ethics in Nursing and Health Care. UK: Nelson Thornes Ltd. - Johnstone, Megan J. (2019). Bioethics: A nursing perspective (7th ed.). Chatswood, Australia: Elsevier. - Rumbold Graham (2005) Ethics in Nursing Practice (3rd ed) Edinburgh: Baillière Tindall. - Tingle John & Cribb Alan (eds.) (2013) Nursing Law and Ethics (4th ed.) USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Adrienne Grech |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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