Ethical Issues In Nursing Practice

A t it’s very core, nursing practice “deals with issues and situations that have elements of ethical or moral uncertainty” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, & Walton 2014, p. 21). In my limited experience, this has proved very true. I have encountered numerous situations that, in reflection, could be considered ethical dilemmas. As I was not necessarily able to recognize this in the moment, I feel that there is significant room for growth in my ability to confront these issues. In this paper, I will discuss an ethical issue I was confronted with while working as a Registered Care Aide, analyze it using McDonald’s Framework for Ethical Decision-Making (2001) as well as the related nursing values from the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Code of Ethics (2008), and reflect on my own growth through this process. It is my hope that this will help me to better recognize when ethical issues present themselves in my nursing practice, so that I may provide equally excellent care for all of my future patients.
The Case
McDonald (2001) outlines that to fully understand an ethical issue, the case must be stated clearly, with consideration given to the known and unknown information. In the situation that I will be
I think that it would have been important to establish whether or not this family made these choices because they believed that it was the best course of action for Helen, or if it was simply what was easiest and most convenient. If the family did believe that their chosen course of action was what was best for Helen, this situation would be much easier to resolve in an ethical manner. All of this said, I felt that since my role in this situation was that of a (very green) care aide, soliciting this kind of information would be overstepping. Intervention and information gathering of this nature is very much in the scope of Registered