Nursing Ethical Dilemma
Sarah,
While reading your scenario, I could feel my heartrate increase. I can clearly recall how anxiety inducing situations like this could be when I was a new nurse. If I were the new nurse in this scenario, I hope that I would choose the third option. My progression through the steps in the Ethical Model for Ethical Decision Making proposed by McGonigle, Mastrian, and Farcus (2018, p. 89-91) are as follows:
1. Examine the ethical dilemma. In the situation you have presented, a new nurse has been asked by a physician to send an EKG via an unsecured text to prevent having to wait for the EKG to be uploaded into the patient’s electronic health record. Unfortunately, what this physician has asked this nurse to do has placed her in a potential compromising situation. The physician’s request has created a situation where the nurse must worry not only about her patient’s needs, but also determine how to approach this ethical dilemma.
2. Thoroughly comprehend the possible alternatives available.
The options presented are to 1) send the EKG by text as the physician requested, 2) obscure the protected health information (PHI) and send the text, or 3) inform the physician that he or she must …show more content…
However, as you have pointed out, she has the resources of her charge nurse and house supervisor to support her actions if the physician were to act unprofessionally. The delay in reading the EKG could have unfortunate consequences for the patient. However, if the nurse is not comfortable reading the EKG and determining the seriousness of the patient’s arrhythmia on her own, she could consult the charge nurse for help. The urgency of the situation could then be relayed to the physician. If the patient is unstable, it is likely best the physician comes to the bedside or rapid response is
While reading your scenario, I could feel my heartrate increase. I can clearly recall how anxiety inducing situations like this could be when I was a new nurse. If I were the new nurse in this scenario, I hope that I would choose the third option. My progression through the steps in the Ethical Model for Ethical Decision Making proposed by McGonigle, Mastrian, and Farcus (2018, p. 89-91) are as follows:
1. Examine the ethical dilemma. In the situation you have presented, a new nurse has been asked by a physician to send an EKG via an unsecured text to prevent having to wait for the EKG to be uploaded into the patient’s electronic health record. Unfortunately, what this physician has asked this nurse to do has placed her in a potential compromising situation. The physician’s request has created a situation where the nurse must worry not only about her patient’s needs, but also determine how to approach this ethical dilemma.
2. Thoroughly comprehend the possible alternatives available.
The options presented are to 1) send the EKG by text as the physician requested, 2) obscure the protected health information (PHI) and send the text, or 3) inform the physician that he or she must …show more content…
However, as you have pointed out, she has the resources of her charge nurse and house supervisor to support her actions if the physician were to act unprofessionally. The delay in reading the EKG could have unfortunate consequences for the patient. However, if the nurse is not comfortable reading the EKG and determining the seriousness of the patient’s arrhythmia on her own, she could consult the charge nurse for help. The urgency of the situation could then be relayed to the physician. If the patient is unstable, it is likely best the physician comes to the bedside or rapid response is