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;…
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…
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 significance of the profession ethic of nursing care in North America in the early 1900s was recognized as a nurse leader. Overall, the emphasis appeals on ethics about the nature of nurse’ day-to-day commitments to others including issues such as the vulnerability of ethics, respect and dignity (Doane 2009). Some ethics, for example dealing with patients with their proper titles or names, which may be related to manners and courtesy, however, this kind of behavior is more properly understood as a etiquette, that is relevant rules of behavior and social norm (Holt, 2012). In giving nursing care, nurse involved in relationship with the patients and their families, and, in general, it is involved in the more continuous interaction with them…
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.…
Holistic nursing care involves taking care of the patient as a whole and this includes the physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental well- being (Doosey and Keegan, 2013). As a nurse, taking care of these modalities will assist with promoting healing within and allow the patient to cope with their illnesses. An interview was conducted with a close family member in order to develop a holistic care plan. The family member sometimes struggles with dealing and coping with the current symptoms related to their illness. This essay will discuss the family member demographic information, which includes the following: their past and present health status, and present concerns. Second, there will be a discussion on the family member coping patterns, health values, social support, spiritual practices, and personal health goals.…
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?…
1. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (The National Law 2009) has great importance on the governance of the conduct of registered and enrolled nurses.…
This case presents an ethical dilemma, a situation which arises when one must choose between mutually exclusive alternatives (Beauchamp& Walters, 2003). Decisions may have results that are desirable in some respects and undesirable in others. In Juana 's case, her decision to refuse the blood transfusion had the desired outcome of allowing her to remain true to her religious beliefs. However, her choice also resulted in her death. If she had followed the recommendation of the physicians and the team, the desirable outcome would have been possible survival but would have had the undesired effect of violating her religious principles. The major ethical dilemma was that by honoring the patient 's autonomy and religious beliefs, the physicians and…
“The American Nurses Association (ANA) states nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations,” (ANA, 2012). However, what happens when there are not enough nurses to care for humanity? For many years now there has been a significant nurse shortage, rendering this topic the focus of myriad studies which scrutinize, analyze, and reanalyze the cause, effect, and solutions for this crisis (Webber, 1994). According to author, Hinshaw, (2001) “The shortage of nursing…
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the 7 principles of patient- nurse communication and how it applies to me and my interaction with patients, The 3 Methods of interdisciplinary communication and the SBAR communication applies to my own practice and the ethical principles that are applied to patient- clinician…
I became aware of this medical- ethical dilemma through my clinical assignment in pediatrics. My patient was a 3 month old female who was born dead. Apparently the mother suffered Placenta Abruptio, it is unknown how long the fetus suffered with hypoxia before birth. Nurses claim this infant was born dead. CPR was performed for more than 15 minutes before the heart started. Needless to say the baby was then placed on life support. A determination was made that the infant is brain dead. The major dilemma is that the Mother never returned to the hospital and is considered missing in action. Consequently leaving the infant without a guardian or family member to speak on her behave regarding whether to withdraw the life support and possibly…
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.…
A.) Like any other medical profession, Registered Nurses are governed and controlled by different groups. There are rules and policies that nurses have to abide by to practice nursing. First there is the Board of Registered nursing(BRN). This agency is responsible for communicating what is appropriate and legal for a nurse to do in the state of California. The BRN also enforces an education requirement, which forced graduates to pass the NCLEX prior to practicing (What is the board of registered nursing,2016). By doing this, the agency is protecting the public and community from unsafe nurses. For example, after I graduated the nursing program, I studied vigorously for the state board exam. In order for me to practice as a nurse, I needed to…