Help Paper on Today's Nursing Issues

[keludtke]

I am taking a class called Legal, Ethical, And Social Forces in Nursing for nursing school. I have to write a position paper on an issue that is going on in nursing today. I have to present both sides of the issue. I need help!

I feel a little out of the loop on what is going on in the field since I have been overseas for a year serving in the Army. I just returned home Dec 21 and I started school again in January. I don't know what to do the paper on. Anybody have any ideas? It would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

Thank you

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

we usually do not help with papers on this site as that is part of your education. I will say that when I was in school I would pick out the threads pertaining to my topic and read responses. You generally get SEVERAL opinions. Another option is to google nursing sites, maybe with nursing + ethical + legal as your keywords. Pain management, end of life decisions, abortion, withholding treatment, euthanasia-------there is a lot out there.

[S.T.A.C.E.Y, LPN]

Abortion, end-of-life, nursing shortage, are common and personally I think they're overused. Lots more out there.

What about new-grads now entering specialties? Nursing shortage now means many specialties have to recruit new grads simply because there aren't enough experienced nurses to draw from. Great for new grads, who now are not required to spend the "mandatory 1-2 years in medsurg" before moving on to a specialty, especially when you don't like medsurg. But, if your mom or dad was going to be in ICU because of cardiogenic shock, multisystem trauma, or sepsis, would you want someone fresh out of school to care for them? Is it better for the new grad to be working on a medsurg unit she is not interested in, or in a specialty unit she is very interested in. Could go either way.

Also, it costs more for specialty units to educate/train new grads into these specialties, but what is the payoff? Does it mean that newgrads are now happier in their specialties, and stay longer? Maybe nurses who enter specialties are happier and less likely to burn out. Does it mean that medsurg is no longer the training ground, losing its staff after 1-2 years as they move on to areas they are more interested in?

I think that this would be a great topic to touch on legal, social and ethical issues in nursing.

OOPS! Didn't realize this thread was so old! How the heck did I end up here....