Kohlberg's Three Stages In Nursing Care

Words: 1909
Pages: 8
Open Document
Registered nurses have many important roles and responsibilities when involved with the care of a patient. The main roles in nursing care do not change, regardless of whether they work in a small town clinic, a community centre or a large scale hospital. One of the main responsibilities all registered nurses have is to consistently provide high quality, safe and evidence based holistic health care to every one of their patients and to cause no harm. 12% of the 6.7 million of emergency department presentations were children under the age of five. Child abuse occurs in every 6 of 1000 Australian children. This works out to be roughly 4824 of ED presentations in children under 5 is a result of some form of abuse. In Victoria, registered nurses …show more content…
There are three stages in this theory with two levels to each stage. In Stage 1 of Kohlberg’s theory, children experience ‘Pre-conventional morality’ and an orientation to ‘Punishment-Obedience’. Physical consequences of an action determine its goodness or badness regardless of the human meaning or value of these consequences (McLeod, 2013). The child behaves in order to avoid being punished. If they are punished, they must have done something wrong (McLeod, 2013). This teaches the toddler that good behaviour and obedience is followed by positive reinforcement whereas bad behaviour is punished. The distinction between right and wrong behaviour can be confused by the child when negative reinforming/punishment is used, regardless of the child behaving correctly or badly (Kohlberg, 1984). Punishment (abuse) in response to normal exploratory or autonomous behaviour can interfere with the development of a healthy personality, and children may become chronically dependent, subversive, or openly rebellious (Florida Center for Child Welfare, 2011). Abuse in young children can adversely affect their ability to differentiate right from wrong and can be detrimental to their moral development. Abused toddlers may feel that they are "bad children" affecting the development of positive self-esteem. This can cause them …show more content…
These childhood events and potential developmental delays can impact a child, adolescent and/or adult physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. In children presenting to hospital with injuries, there are characteristics of bruises, fractures, other injuries and the typical presentation to medical assistance that are highly associated with non-accidental injury whereas other injuries paired with logical stories and can be accepted as accidental injury. If the registered nurse suspects and has reasonable grounds to believe non-accidental injury has occurred to a person under the age of 18, they are legally and morally obligated to report their concerns to their superiors, DHHS and the Victoria police. One of the main responsibilities of the registered nurse is to consistently provide high quality, safe and evidence based holistic health care to every one of their patients and to cause no harm. When caring for children nurses should encourage their development with the parents and caregivers by providing information about how to handle each stage of their developing child. They can also help identify and reduce child abuse cases by informing potential struggling parents with what to do when difficult situations arise and where
Show More

Related Documents: Kohlberg's Three Stages In Nursing Care

Essay on exam review

Exam Review # 3 Chapter 8: DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFESPAN Issues in studying human development: What is human development? The scientific study of the changes that occur in people as they age from conception until death. Longitudinal design Research design in which one participant or group of participants is studied over a long period of time. Eg: The Cosby Kids. Cross-sectional design Research design in which several different participant age groups are studied at one particular point…

Words 4407 - Pages 18

Comprehensive Health Assessment Essay

COMPREHENSIVE WRITTEN ASSESSMENT Complete Nursing Health History Biographical Data Name: B.R. Address: xxxxxxx Phone: xxxxx Gender: Female Provider of History: Client Birth Date: February 2, 1973 Place of Birth: Portland, Oregon Race: Caucasian Educational Level: Associate’s Degree in Nursing and currently pursuing Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing Occupation: Registered Nurse Significant Other: Fiancé “Mark” Support Person(s): Mother & Brother Reason for Seeking Healthcare…

Words 5986 - Pages 24