Ethics and Its Impact on Nursing
Ethics and its impact on nursing
“Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling,” Valdemar W. Setzer. According to Fundamentals of Nursing, The Art and Science of Nursing Care, (4th edition)” ethics is a systematic inquiry into principles of right and wrong conduct, of virtue and vice, and of good and evil as they relate to conduct” (84).Taylor, Lillis and LeMone writes,” Nurses are assuming increasing responsibility for managing care and they are prepared to recognize the ethical dimensions of their practice and participate more competently in ethical decision making” (84). Common ethical issues encountered by nurses in daily practice include cost containment issues which jeopardize patient welfare, end-of-life decisions, breaches of patient confidentiality, and incompetent, unethical, or illegal practices of colleagues. However, knowledge of professional ethics, standards of practice, nursing code of ethics and patients “Bill of Rights” assist in resolving ethical problems. Nursing ethics and ethical theories have a significant impact on Nurses professional conduct and practice. As nurses assume increasing responsibility at all levels of care, the institutional and public policy arenas offer unique dilemmas. Two types of moral and ethical problems commonly faced by nurses are moral dilemmas and moral distress. In an ethical dilemma, two or more clear moral principles apply but support mutually inconsistent courses of action. Ethical distress occurs when the nurse knows the right thing to do but the institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right actions (Jameton, 1993, p. 542). Four current examples are short staffing, whistle blowing, cost containment, and health care rationing. Firstly, chronic understaffing; this resulted because
“Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling,” Valdemar W. Setzer. According to Fundamentals of Nursing, The Art and Science of Nursing Care, (4th edition)” ethics is a systematic inquiry into principles of right and wrong conduct, of virtue and vice, and of good and evil as they relate to conduct” (84).Taylor, Lillis and LeMone writes,” Nurses are assuming increasing responsibility for managing care and they are prepared to recognize the ethical dimensions of their practice and participate more competently in ethical decision making” (84). Common ethical issues encountered by nurses in daily practice include cost containment issues which jeopardize patient welfare, end-of-life decisions, breaches of patient confidentiality, and incompetent, unethical, or illegal practices of colleagues. However, knowledge of professional ethics, standards of practice, nursing code of ethics and patients “Bill of Rights” assist in resolving ethical problems. Nursing ethics and ethical theories have a significant impact on Nurses professional conduct and practice. As nurses assume increasing responsibility at all levels of care, the institutional and public policy arenas offer unique dilemmas. Two types of moral and ethical problems commonly faced by nurses are moral dilemmas and moral distress. In an ethical dilemma, two or more clear moral principles apply but support mutually inconsistent courses of action. Ethical distress occurs when the nurse knows the right thing to do but the institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right actions (Jameton, 1993, p. 542). Four current examples are short staffing, whistle blowing, cost containment, and health care rationing. Firstly, chronic understaffing; this resulted because
References: American Nurses Association. (1985). Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Kansas City, MO: ANA, 72-73. American Nurses Association. (1988). Ethics in Nursing: Position Statements and Guidelines. Kansas City, MO: ANA, (Vol Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (1994). Principles of Biomedical Ethics (4th edition). New York: Oxford University Press, 143-149. Benjamin, M., & Curtis, J. (1992). Ethics in Nursing (3rd edition). New York: University Press, pp 355-366. Taylor, C., lillis, C., & LeMone, P. (2001). Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art & Science of Nursing Care. Philadelphia, PA 19106: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 84-95