The free dictionary defined ethical code as a system of principles governing morality and acceptable conduct. However, it was noted that no code can provide absolute or complete rules that are free of conflict and ambiguity. Because codes are unable to provide exact directives for moral reasoning and action in all situations, some people have stated that virtue ethics provides a better approach to ethics because the emphasis is on a person’s character than on rules, principles, and laws (Beauchamp & Childress, 2001). The core ethical principles in nursing are;…
Nurses are provided guidelines for how to approach the care of patients in the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics, but they are just that, guidelines. It is simply a map to help navigate some of the more difficult decisions that are necessary for a nurse to make. Ethics, in nursing, is based on individual interpretation. A person’s values shape their individual approaches to patients and patient care. The ANA document does not tell or indicate what is an absolute right or wrong. Each and every nurse has to make those decisions individually. Ethical knowledge and guidelines help a nurse maneuver through personal/professional relationships, to give safe and ethical care in an ever-changing healthcare system.…
In her current and only professional practice, there are not many moral or ethical dilemmas she comes across. Actually, she can not think of one instance. In nursing school, however, she had a community rotation where she was supposed to go to a clinic where abortions were performed and she may have been asked to assist in one. This was both a moral and ethical dilemma that went against all that she believed in. This is a huge controversial subject and this writer soon learned that a nurse could refuse to participate in an abortion but could not refuse to care for the woman before or after the procedure. This writer was able to avoid even being asked as on her assigned date, a snow emergency had been…
Ilene, many of the ethical dilemmas faced by nurses could be eliminated if people would take the time to let their family know what interventions they would want in situations like this. End-of-life planning and advanced care directives will increase the quality of life of a dying patient, ease the ethical decisions having to be made by family members, and will ensure that personal wishes will be abided by (Eggertson, 2013, p. E617). Many people talk about what they do and do not want but never write them down. This leaves the family, doctors, and other health care members second-guessing the wishes of the patient whenever they are too ill or sick to make decisions themselves. If your patient had made these decisions earlier and made it…
In the United States, privacy and confidentiality are the basic rights of the society enshrined not only in professional practice codes of ethics but also in the constitution. Hence, nurses and for that matter, all health care professional have a legal, moral and ethical responsibility to protect patient's privacy.…
However decision making is essential for nurses to participate in order to focus on ethical and moral issues and note situations that appears to be dilemmas with the help of professional and ethical competence (Tschudin, 2002). Moreover unprofessional ethical practice may result to litigations if care was deemed not to be professionally sound.…
The topics that will be discussed in this paper will be the ethical decisions that have to be made by Dr. F and the RN in regards to disclosing information to Dr. J. Also, according to the NANDA nursing diagnosis for ethical consideration, Dr. F and the RN also have to consider if Mrs. Z has some knowledge deficits in regards to her prognosis and if due to her culture, she feels powerlessness towards her diagnosis. Ethical theories are important to justifying and relating situations in nursing. In this paper, there will be discussions relating ethical theories to nursing, as well as, ethical decision making models that will relate to the delivery of healthcare.…
The profession of nursing must have high values and ethics, but how does a nurse make that tough ethical decision. Ethical decision making is defined as “The process of choosing between actions based on a system of beliefs and values” (Black, 2014, p. 347). The nurse has to go through a process to come to the most ethical and just decision based on their facility and their ethics.…
Up holding the patient’s wishes to the best of the nurse’s abilities can seem fairly straight forward. Often, there are situations where this could be hindered by the family, who also have good intentions to protect the patient. Although the nurse may feel strongly to advocate for the patient, in these situations, it becomes difficult to ignore the request of the family who know the patient and have their best interest at heart. This creates an ethical dilemma as to how to approach the situation because there is no clear answer to what would be best for the patient.…
I agree with you opinion especially how it closely relates to and guide nursing practice. I didn’t have too many thoughts about ethic when I was still a nursing student. With more experiences I found ethics are so empowering in making judgements/decisions in nursing care. I always ask myself: am I being truthful to my patients? Am I respecting their wills? Am I being fair to all our patients?…
A year ago, a report from the Johns Hopkins Berman Establishment of Bioethics analysed ethical issues medical attendants face in clinical work on, nursing education, research and course of action. The report said nurses require more moral backing in their practices and required the guidelines to encourage a moral workplace.…
Prior to this assignment, I thought that medical ethics meant to practice nursing as a prudent nurse would practice, in a socially acceptable way. Ethical behavior is one doing what is right rather than what is wrong. I knew that all medical professionals had to comply with patient confidentiality, but I did not realize that all medical professionals, including writers, were held accountable just as if they were providing bedside patient care. I never considered medical writing before and never wrote medical information, other than charting. Charting is a big part of patient care, so naturally I understood the ethical responsibilities that were associated with charting. I also knew that research professionals were also held to high ethical standards because of their interaction with medical patients. After this assignment, I realized I knew less than I thought I did about medical ethics. I learned that all medical professionals, regardless of their position, are held to a high ethical standard.…
Ethics refers to the study of situations that require practical reasoning. Ethical dilemmas are encountered in many instances of the nursing career. Therefore, some reasons determine particular ethical behaviors. For example, what individual regards as an ethical behavior may be considerably different from another person’s perception of the situation who may be applying a different approach. This situation results in moral distress that arises in the circumstances where a person is unable to decide on the ethical choices that may be available due to the various religious, moral as well as professional constraints (Amoah, 2016). This constraints influence actions that an individual can take or the way they believe is the right or wrong action to take.…
S.Z, a 65 year old Hispanic male, is being discharged from hospital after being admitted with a blood sugar of 589. He has been seeing a curandero to manage his diabetes mellitus type II, hyperlipidemia, and osteoarthritis. He has not taken his prescription medications for these chronic conditions, but instead takes traditional medicines the curandero tells him to take. His daughter approaches the nurse with her concerns over her father’s heath and asks the nurse if her father’s discharge orders can be cancelled; the daughter would prefer the doctor write orders for her father to be admitted to a nursing home.…
For the purpose of this assignment, ethics in relation to nursing will be discussed. "Ethics; A code of principles governing correct behaviour, which in the nursing profession includes behaviour towards patients and their families, visitorsand colleagues" (Oxford Dictionary of Nursing 2004).…