Ethical Reasoning in Nursing Practice
EDINBURGH NAPIER UNIVERSITY
School of Health & Social Care
NUR09722
Exploring the Theory and Application of Law and Ethical Reasoning in Nursing Practice
PORTFOLIO OF EVIDENCE
Matriculation Number
Word Count
Date of Submission
date / month / year
Resubmission (Yes / No)
Prior to submission delete all instructions in blue in order to adhere to word count and reduce text matching.
Cover Sheet
Please use the coversheet when you have completed your learning portfolio and before you submit it to Turnitin to ensure you have included all the required information and it is correctly formatted using the guidelines below.
Learning Portfolio
Introduction
LE1 Vignette/Scenario Situation
LE2 Report
LE3 Action Plan
Conclusion
References
Formatting and Presentation
Line spacing: 1.5
Text aligned: Left
Font type: Arial
Font size: 12
Background
The purpose of this educational portfolio is to enable you to identify and achieve the prescribed learning outcomes of this module,
NUR09722 Exploring the Theory and Application of Law and Ethical Reasoning in Nursing Practice.
Learning Outcomes
The learning outcomes are as follows:
LO1. Critically examine the relationship between law, ethics and ethical reasoning in nursing practice in Singapore.
LO2. Implement and appraise a decision-making process using legal and ethical framework or code of practice
LO3. Demonstrate critical understanding of values-based practice to a population group to inform future delivery of health care services in Singapore
LO4. Critically reflect on the way in which healthcare legislation, culture and society influence ethical nursing practice and health and well-being more broadly.
You will be required to provide evidence of achievement for each learning outcome within your portfolio.
What is an educational portfolio?
“An educational portfolio attempts to connect and relate the student’s learning experiences to professional practice and competencies. An educational portfolio may contain a collection of items that demonstrate personal reflections, skills, knowledge and accomplishments as evidence of a student’s progress and learning.” (Hill, 2014)
Educational portfolios are grounded in problem-based learning (Kunkle, 2009). This approach allows students to search and discover while they are learning. Students learn by active questioning, discussions, problem solving and critical thinking. Students search out information and assess its relevance, leading to the use of reflection.
Evidence of Achievement of Learning Outcomes
Your portfolio requires to be written in an academic style at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 9. Guidance about this level of academic writing can be found on the SCQF website (see Level Descriptors section). http://scqf.org.uk/the-framework/scqf-levels/
Student services and the library also provide support around academic writing. http://www.napier.ac.uk/study-with-us/undergraduate/student-support
Academic Evidence
You must produce academic evidence within your portfolio of your achievement of the learning outcomes for this module. This should include references of nursing and health related books and journals along with reports, publications and websites from high quality, reliable sources.
Completing your Portfolio
To complete your portfolio you MUST use this template. In order to successfully populate your portfolio with evidence you will need to engage with the module content on Moodle andattend the face to face lectures, tutorials and online classroom.
Once completed, your portfolio will be submitted electronically via Turnitin. Refer to Moodle for guidance on submission of your portfolio via Turnitin (details will also be covered in tutorials).
References
Hill, T. L. (2012). The portfolio as a summative assessment for the nursing student. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 7(4), 140-145.
Kunkle, J. (2009). The clinical portfolio: An assessment tool for clinical student learning. Radiologic Science and Education, 14(1), 3−8.
Learning Portfolio Assessment
Introduction
Learning Outcome 1 will be addressed by briefly examining the importance of law and ethics in nursing practice.
Word Count Guide: Approximately 300 words
Portfolio Entry 1
Ethical vignette (scenario situation). Reflect on your everyday practice and try to identify a situation which represented an ethical problem or dilemma. The situation may also involve relevant legal and/or professional issues which it may be appropriate to address.
The chosen situation should be adapted on the basis of the work you have already done for the formative assessment.
Word Count Guide: Approximately 500 words
Portfolio Entry 2
Learning Outcomes 2, 3 and 4 will be addressed by discussing, analysing and evaluating the research and evidence base that informs the discussion related to the vignette/scenario from an ethical standpoint taking into account relevant legal and/or professional issues as appropriate and with reference to supporting academic literature.
When planning your report section, it may be helpful for you to consider the situation in relation to each participant e.g. the nurse, patient, relatives and other healthcare professionals as appropriate.
In your discussion it will be important to consider the law and ethical issues. We recommend that you use the bioethical principles as your ethical framework and use should also be made of the philosophical theories of deontology, utilitarianism and values-based care as appropriate.
Your discussion must be supported with academic evidence.
Word Count Guide: Approximately 1,750 words
Portfolio Entry 3
Learning Outcome 4 is addressed by reflecting on how this learning will inform future practice and you should develop an Action Plan to address what would be done if the situation arose again?
We ask you to use reflection because it will allow you to think about the things you have learned from this situation and to consider whether you were satisfied with the outcomes or whether you would handle the situation differently in the future.In order to complete the action plan of your portfolio we recommend that you consider this stage of a reflective model (see Appendix 1 & 2 for examples of reflective models).
This Action Plan should be written in the 1st person
Word Count Guide: 700 words
Conclusion
Summarise the key aspects discussed in the portfolio and the implications for future nursing practice. No references are required in the conclusion. The conclusion should be written in the third person.
Word Count Guide: approximately 250 words
References
Please include a list of the references you used in your learning portfolio here. These must follow the APA6th referencing style and be written in alphabetical order by first author’s surname. Referencing guidelines are accessible here: http://libguides.napier.ac.uk/shsc/ref
Appendix 1: Gibbs (1988) Reflective Model
Description
What happened?
Action Plan
If it arose again what would you do?
Feeling
What were you thinking and feeling?
Evaluation
What was good and bad about the experience?
Conclusion
What else could you have done?
Analysis
What sense can you make of the situation?
Based on: Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. & Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection for nursing and the helping professions, a user’s guide. London: Palgrave.
Reference
Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Oxford Polytechnic Further Education Unit.
Appendix 2: Borton’s Reflective Model (1970)
References:
Cottrell, S. (2011) Study skills: critical thinking skills: developing effective analysis and argument. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Nicol, J. S. & Dosser, I. (2016) Understanding reflective practice. Nursing Standard. 30(36), 34-42. doi:10.7748/ns.30.36.34.s44. ISSN 0029-6570
