CNA Responsibilities Related to Legal and Ethical Situations

As individuals who work within the healthcare industry, we are given the appropriate knowledge and skills to take care of others to the best of our abilities. We have an ethical obligation to do what is good and what is the right thing to do from a professional standpoint in making our patients feel safe at all times. In doing so we will be protecting their personal information based on the HIPAA ACT of 1996. Which stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It is a national standard to protect sensitive health information from being disclosed without any individuals consent and knowledge.

Care Ethics is the awareness to the needs of others. Providing care, preventing harm and maintaining respectful relationships. Every one of us is an individual and we have our own unique personalities. No matter what your own personal beliefs are, when you enter your place of business your bias should be left at the front door. Every individual is entitled to be cared for regardless of their belief and values. I had a patient once whose religious affiliation prevented them from accepting any blood transfusions. He still needed to be cared for no matter what. At the end of the shift the man had asked if I ever had a blood transfusion. I did not lie I said yes. I actually had 80 units of blood due to an illness. Without it I would have died. He looked at me and said thank you for taking care of me and that you did not judge me for not wanting to take the blood. This is how you build your trust and respect of others.

There are other unethical behaviors that you must be aware of that can become situations that can lead to verbal warnings and writeups. They are a disruption to patient safety.

1. The use of your personal cellphones should never be used in the patients’ rooms. Yes, it has happened. I actually had to reprimand a nursing assistant who was sitting on a one-to-one observation. When I walked into the room on my rounds the patient was asleep, the aide on her phone. Not a good thing. You are there to observe and watch the patient. I needed to replace the nursing assistant and she was sent to the managers office for a conference.
2. Everyone is given their assignments for the day. If a call bell/light goes off in another patient’s room, that is not part of your assignment you are still obligated to answer it, find out what the patient needs and report it to the appropriate person or take care of the action needed. Example patient may need help to bathroom, may just want water pitcher filled. When you report to work on any unit all patients are our responsibility not just the ones we are assigned to for the day.
3. All facilities have computer access for patient charting. Computers are for charting, researching and gathering of information. Not for personal shopping or answering your emails from home.
4. There are some patients and family that want to give thanks to you for the care you provide, while it is your job to take care of them, it is nice to be acknowledge. Facilities do not like you to accept any gratuities. What we did where I worked if anyone did receive something they shared with the entire unit. If you were given any money and they refused to take back we bought breakfast or lunches for the staff.
5. Stealing from patients is a behavior I should not have to mention, but yes it has happened. We had a nursing assistant stealing money from patients. We had a nurse who stole narcotics from the patients, where she gave placebos instead. These behaviors were dealt with by the authorities and the staff members were arrested and lost their jobs.

Know that when you report to work to take care of others you are there to make a difference, to help improve their wellbeing, gain trust and respect while keeping the dignity of your patient.