LPN Ethical Practice and Team Relationships

Competent Ethical Practice and Relationship Between Healthcare Teams

• Objectives: Students will be able to recognize the principles and ethical responsibilities of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), understand the purpose of ethical practice environments, and explain how to achieve ethical practice environments.

Principles and Ethical Responsibilities of LPNs

• Responsibility to the Public: As self-regulating professionals, LPNs commit to providing safe, effective, and ethical care to the public. This includes maintaining standards of practice, professional competence, and conduct. LPNs are to provide only functions for which they are qualified by education or experience. They must recognize that community, society, and the environment are important factors in the health of individual clients. They also respect the rights of individuals regardless of diverse values, beliefs, and cultures. Care is directed toward the health and well-being of the person, family, and community. Collaboration with clients, their families (to the extent of confidentiality rights), and healthcare colleagues promotes the health and well-being of individuals, families, and the public.

• Responsibility to Clients: Provide safe and competent care. Respect clients' rights to be informed and make decisions about their health care. Respect and support client choices. Assist and support client participation in decisions about their health and well-being. Respect and adhere to jurisdictional legislation on capacity assessment and substitute decision-making when clients are incapable of consent. With other health care professionals and substitute decision-makers, consider the best interests of the client and any previously known wishes or advanced directives. Advocate for equitable access to needed and reasonably available health services and resources for clients. Respect and protect client privacy; safeguard health and personal information. Report any situations of private or confidential information access or disclosure without consent or legal authority. Ensure communications (verbal, written, and electronic) are respectful and avoid identifying the client unless appropriate. Maintain professional boundaries in electronic media.

• Responsibility to the Profession: LPNs have a commitment to their profession and foster respect and trust amongst clients, healthcare colleagues, and the public. Maintain professional standards and uphold the integrity of the profession. Participate in activities that allow the profession to evolve to meet the needs of emerging healthcare. Practice in a manner consistent with the responsibility of self-regulation. Promote workplace practices and policies that facilitate professional practice in accordance with principles, standards, laws, and regulations.

• Responsibility to Colleagues: Develop and maintain positive, collaborative relationships with nursing and other healthcare professionals. Take action to address unprofessional conduct of other members of the professional team. Collaborate constructively and respectfully to provide safe, competent, ethical, and appropriate care. Engage in opportunities to inform colleagues about the LPN role and capabilities. Acknowledge colleagues' roles and unique contributions to the inter-professional team. Respect the expertise of colleagues and share one's own expertise and knowledge.

• Responsibility to Oneself: Recognize and function within one's personal and professional competence and value systems. Demonstrate honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness. Recognize capabilities and limitations, performing only tasks within the scope of practice that one is qualified for through knowledge, skills, and judgment. Accept responsibility for knowing and acting consistently with principles, practice standards, laws, and regulations. Inform appropriate authority in the event of becoming unable to practice safely, competently, and/or ethically. Engage in continuous learning to develop the competencies needed to meet the profession's ethical and regulatory requirements. Maintain required mental and physical wellness to meet the responsibilities of the role.

Ethical Practice Environments

• Role of Leaders: Organizational leaders must provide ongoing education in ethics concepts and ethical practice for nurses. Use the Code as the ethical framework for nursing and demonstrate zero tolerance of lateral violence. Create safe spaces for discussing ethics issues. Every nurse must learn about resources for resolving ethical conflicts, learn how to use them, and collaborate across levels of the organization.

• Approaches: Establishment of ethics consult services, creation of ethics committees, and policy development (e.g., culture policies, end-of-life treatment policies) are examples of approaches to ensure ethical practice environments. These and other policies aim to minimize unwanted or unnecessary treatment.

Definition of Team and Teamwork

• Definition of Team: A team is defined as two or more individuals who work together toward shared goals, each with task-specific competencies, specialized roles, and shared resources, communicating to coordinate and adapt to change.
• Teambuilding: Teamwork refers to behaviors like communication, information sharing, and checking understanding, in addition to attitudes like belief in the team's abilities and the need for collaboration, and cognitions like shared mental models used to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate. Effective teamwork minimizes adverse events caused by miscommunication and role/responsibility misunderstandings, and enhances patient safety.

Characteristics of Healthcare Teams

• Collaboration and Trust: Team members must exhibit trust, respect, collaboration, and possess specialized knowledge and skills. They need to understand their individual roles, the roles of others, and interact as a collective unit to achieve common goals.

Benefits of Effective Teamwork

• Organizational Benefits: Reduced hospitalization time and costs, reduction in unexpected admissions, and better accessibility of services for patients.
• Team Benefits: Improved coordination of care, efficient use of healthcare resources, and enhanced communication and diversity.
• Patient Benefits: Enhanced satisfaction with care; acceptance of treatment; improved health outcomes & quality of care; and reduced medical errors.
• Member Benefits: Enhanced job satisfaction, clearer roles, and enhanced well-being.

Components of Successful Teamwork

• Open communication
• Clear direction
• Clear roles and tasks
• Respectful atmosphere
• Shared responsibility for success
• Balance of participation for task at hand Clear specifications of authority and accountability
• Clear decision-making procedures
• Regular/routine communication & information sharing
• Enabling environment (access to resources)
• Mechanisms for evaluation and outcome adjustment

Types of Healthcare Teams

• Core Teams: Teams directly involved in patient care, often including leaders and direct-care providers (nurses, dentists, pharmacists, doctors, assistants), along with case managers.
• Coordinating Teams: Teams responsible for operational management, coordinating functions, and managing resources for core teams.
• Contingency Teams: Respond to emergencies or specific events (e.g. cardiac arrest, disaster response).
• Ancillary Teams: Provide support services in facilitating patient care (e.g., cleaners, domestic staff).

Key Relationships for Humane Healthcare

• Nurse-self relationships
• Relationships with team members
• Relationships with patients and families

Nurse-Physician Collaboration

• Defined as interactions between nurses and physicians to achieve shared problem-solving, decision-making, communication and coordination.

Barriers to Interprofessional Collaboration

• Differences in requirements, regulations, and norms of professional education
• Differences in accountability, payment, and rewards
• Concerns regarding clinical responsibility
• Complexity of care
• Personal values and expectations
• Personality differences
• Culture and ethnicity
• Generational differences
• Gender
• Differences in language
• Differences in schedules & professional routines
• Varying levels of preparation & qualifications

Strategies for Effective Health Communication

• Be Humble,
• Ask Open-Ended Questions
• Speak in Plain Language
• Keep Communications Confidential
• Communicate like a leader in healthcare settings

This quiz focuses on the ethical principles and responsibilities of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). It explores the importance of ethical practice environments and the role of healthcare teams in maintaining these standards. Students will assess their understanding of providing ethical and effective care in diverse environments.