D1 evaluate the effectiveness of legislation relevant to health and care workers when
supporting the wellbeing of older people
The Nursing and Midwifery Council
The Nursing and Midwifery Council presents the standards that nurses, midwives, and
nursing associates must uphold in order to be registered to practice in the UK. The four main
codes of practice which are specified in by the nursing and midwifery council are prioritising
people, practising effectively, preserving safety, and promoting professionalism and trust.
For example in the code it says that nurses should treat people as individuals and uphold
their dignity. Nurses could do this by avoiding making assumptions and recognising diversity
and individual choice. If a nurse had to do a physical examination in order to help diagnose
and treat the ailment, the nurse should be understanding if the service user is uncomfortable
or is unable to go through with the examination because of their culture.
The code also states that nurses should prioritise the safety of the service users. They could
do this by educating themselves and having knowledge on the laws and policies which are in
place the protect vulnerable people. They should also speak up and take all of the
reasonable steps to protect the service users from risk of harm, neglect, or abuse if they
suspect it could be taking place.
The strengths of this code of practice are that they set out standards which ensure that the
care which is provided to service users is of high quality and meets all of their individual
needs. The code can be used as a way of reinforcing professionalism into the care which
they provide. If the staff are caught failing to comply with the code then they may be unable
to revalidate their registration with the NMC.
The weaknesses of the code of practice are although nurses, midwives, and nursing
associates have to renew their registration with the nursing and midwifery council, there is
no one there to assess and supervise whether or not they have fulfilled the requirements of
the code of practice. This means that it is possible for care staff to get into bad habits or take
shortcuts when providing care to a service user. Although not all members of staff fail to
follow the code, the NMC does not take into account the staff members that do.
Overall I think that the code of practice set by the nursing and midwifery council is effective
in ensuring that standards are in place for care staff to follow. The standards which are in
place ensure that when followed service users will be receiving high quality care. However,
because there is nothing in place the regulate whether or not care staff are following the
code of practice, it makes it easier for them to make shortcuts and bypass certain codes
which may be time consuming. Although the revalidation must be done every three years,
there is no assessment in between this time period, making sure that they are following the
procedures.
The Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act is a law that defends an individual's rights as a human and ensures
that they are treated with fairness, dignity, respect, and that they are having their individual
needs met. It allows the individual to make a decision as to if they would like to be cared for
and how they would like to be cared for. The act ensures that older people have the right to
not be treated in a inhumane way, for example being refused anything to eat or drink. Older
people also have the right to be not discriminated against or treated with prejudice
regardless of their gender, age, nationality, or religion.
The strengths of the act are that they enforce the need for fairness, dignity, equality and
respect among society. This is important because it protects older people who are in the
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