adverse situation that may arise if the patient is not ready to accept
the truth about the illness or the treatment outcomes. Beneficence
refers to the goodness that can be driven from the care interventions.
In conjunction with truthiness, the need for adherence to treatment
regimen should be discussed with the patient [13]. This in return helps
the patient to take a role in his/her treatment and maintenance of his/
her own health. No maleficence refers to “no harm” to the patient.
Harm to the patient in a clinical setting can be intentionally, such as
the harm that are occasioned by nurses’ negligence of their duty to
care for the patient. On the other hand, unintentionally “harm” to the
patient may be occasioned through the provision of specific nursing
interventions to the patient. In both cases, the nurses should be vigilant
to prevent any of the “harms” from happening. Intentionally, the nurse
should design appropriate nursing interventions and prioritize the
punctual implementation thereof. With regard to unintentional harm,
nurses should avoid potential errors that may be occasioned through
the administration of the medications, many of which can cause lethal
side effects if not administered correctly [12,13].
After the implementation of the caring interventions, the nurse
conducts the evaluation of the impacts of the caring interventions on
the patient. The efficiency and sufficiency of the implementation of the
designed multidisciplinary caring interventions are appraised and the
attainment of the set goals are evaluated as may desirable be evidenced
by the patient’s improved quality of life and the ability to self-care.
Summary and Conclusion
This paper presents a discussion on some priority aspects of clinical
care for the patient with heart failure from the perspective of nursing
care as summarized in the Figure 1 below. A brief summative overview
of the disease process and the central concept in heart failure as
fundamental to the conceptualization of clinical care needs for a patient
with heart failure was presented. The findings were discussed as themes
within the framework of the nursing process in providing clinical
nursing care for a patient with a heart disease and the application of
ethical principles were discussed