Reference no: EM133882200

Case One

You have been working at Sonivale Gardens Residental Aged Care for seven months of a year long graduate program. You enjoy the facility and have established rapport with the staff and residents. Sonivale Gardens has 38 single rooms. Clinton is an RN who moved to Sonivale from the city for a tree change and has worked in residental aged care for 15 years. Clinton has worked at Sonivale Gardens for two years. While you have become friendly with a few of the RNs, Clinton is quiet and tends to keep to himself. You have heard Clinton complain of back pain several times since you have worked at Sonivale and seen him taking tablets at the end of his night shift as you are coming on, but you had not thought anything of it. You have been added to a WhatsApp group with a few of the staff and you notice that there are several negative comments about Clinton and his 'dodgy' medication practices. On your next shift you are completing the medication count with Gwen (RN), when you notice the Panadiene Forte of a recently deceased resident are missing. Tanya (EN) is in the room and explains that Clinton took them out of the cupboard as they were no longer required. There is a line through the page and Clinton has written 'deceased'.

Case Two

You have been working at the Sonivale Super GP Clinic for five months as a new graduate nurse. You love the clinic environment and the variety of patients that access the service. You are working an afternoon shift and the clinic closes at 2100 hours. Today has been very busy but the last patient was seen at 2015 hours, so you are enjoying a quiet moment to file some documentaion. Your colleague Angela (Registered Nurse) has been at the GP clinic for 20 years through its evoluaton from regular GP practice to super clinic, is on one of the computers. Angela is respected for her extensive knowledge base and is highly regarded by the medical staff. As you walk behind Angela, you notice that she has a patient's blood results open. Angela says to you, 'I saw my ex's new partner at pathology last week, and I want to know what's wrong with her'.

There have been a number of high-profile cases in the media recently, which have highlighted the need for nurses to have a comprehensive understanding of their moral, ethical, legal and professional obligations in relation to their practice. We acknowledge that these cases have been extremely complex and distressing for those involved.

Throughout your career you will encounter situations which will call on your moral courage and decision making. This assessment task requires you to explore these as a beginning practitioner - and asks the question - what would you do and why?