Ethical Controversy

People from all walks of life face many ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas have consequences. Our worldview determines how we deal with these dilemmas, and guides us to the right decisions. In this essay, I will examine an ethical issues through my Christian worldview. I will also present other viewpoints, and compare them to mine.

Ethical Dilemmas? Well what are ethical dilemmas though? Ethical dilemmas are a case of reasoning that involves a right versus right decision. As anyone can comprehend, an ethical dilemma has multiple answers. In any case involving a right versus right decision, it is based on a number of factors, including your intuition, thinking and even feeling. However, to solve these predicaments, Kidder came up with 3 principles that are aimed at assisting the decision making process. Although Kidder determined these principles, making a decision involving ethical dilemmas revolves around the idea of a person’s own values and what they believe is right in their own mind.

The topic of end-of-life care may seem daunting and uncomfortable, and yet most individuals do have unique desires and concerns regarding their provision for the future. Providing the opportunity for that communication, the advance directive and POLST forms allow an individual to explicitly state their wishes before the future. Developed to lessen the apprehensions concerning patients undergoing any extensive and unwanted measures to preserve life at any cost, these medical directives lighten the decision-making burden for physicians and families alike and help comply with the patient’s utmost end-of-life wishes.

When a patient is terminally ill or is experiencing extreme pain, often Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide can both be plausible options to end any suffering. Euthanasia is currently legalized in seven countries and parts of the United States (New Health Guide). This number is not likely to increase soon because of the high controversy, which is due to the very serious topic of this matter: a person 's life. The general process of these medical methods is usually understood as a doctor somehow deliberately causing the death of a patient or helping with their suicide. Many believe that it is unethical and violates laws, oaths, and more. Though people believe this, it is truly unethical to not give a person a choice in the manner in which they will perish.

This film explains the legal role of advance directives in end of life issues. An advance directive is “a written document directing how medical decisions are to be made in the future when the patient lacks decisional capacity and is unable to decide and choose” (Hanlon, End of Life Issues, Slide 28, Bullet 1). All three of the cases demonstrate the importance in filling out some form of directive. When there is nothing to go off of, it makes decisions extremely tough for families and medical providers. Having legal documentation of patient wishes helps understand what treatments they would or would not consent to. In cases like

There are many situations that cause ethical dilemmas in the scope of nursing practice. One such situation that is encountered repeatedly is that in which a patient has no living will or advance directive to designate when extraordinary life saving measures will be stopped and the patient will be allowed to die. This becomes a dilemma in many cases because there is so much uncertainty in outcomes for individuals. This uncertainty stems from

Discuss the ethical dilemmas PMHNPs sometimes find themselves in and name the opposing ethical principles

According to Thelen (2005), one of the prevalent ethical issues physicians and nurses face in clinical practice has got to do with end-of-life decision making. Common dilemmas in this case as I have already pointed out in the introductory section include decisions revolving around the withdrawal of treatment in the end-of-life care. From an ethical and medical perspective, withdrawing treatment in end-of-life care can in some instances be considered both acceptable

Essentially one of the most controversial and difficult healthcare decisions for the healthcare professional, patient or family member to make or support is withholding and/or withdrawing life-sustaining therapies. This could possibly be due to the fact that at times societal views group assisted suicide and withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, as one and the same. However, they are not, a client can refuse life-sustaining treatment and still receive palliative care. Furthermore, when providers support the decisions of these patients it is not their intention of cause death but to respect the patient's autonomy. The purpose of this assignment is to analyze different opinions on end-of-life (EOL) issues in nursing, specifically,

However, as shown later, the interpretation of these principles leads to controversy when they superseded patient autonomy. The American Nurses Association (2010) stated that “patient autonomy should guide all discussion regarding the end of life” (p. 7). By maintaining patient autonomy through advance directives, patient wishes are respected and a clear line of communication is formed. In addition to providing patients with autonomy, healthcare providers must strive to uphold the ethical principle of beneficence. However, practicing beneficence may be limited by advance directives and physiological conditions. In the face of this, healthcare providers must instead provide care by preparing both the patient and family for the dying process and eventually death (American Nurses Association, 2010). While this action does not heal the patient, beneficence occurs though the prevention of potential pain and anguish caused by unsolicited prolongation of life. Lastly, the ethical principle of nonmaleficence when applied to advance directives carries much debate. The ethical dilemma hinges on the interpretation of non-maleficence for patients with advance directives in life or death scenarios. This ethical dilemma was examined in a 2012 survey regarding physician’s adherence with advance directives. The scenario asked physicians if they would honor the advance directives of a patient who under different circumstances wanted to die “peacefully” but now was experiencing unexpected ventricular fibrillation. Results showed that only 41% of physician would comply with the patient’s advance directives. The majority of physicians would ignore the advance directive under the guise that it was not written in anticipation of the presented condition (Burkle, Mueller,

Nobody can escape death. It is inevitable. It can arrive when one is old and fragile, content with the life they have lived, or it can jump out from around a corner when one is on their way home from celebrating their twenty-first birthday. It has no set schedule or due date for those to plan around. Years ago, when medical interventions where still fictional, death carried out its own course of action however it desired. As medicine has progressed, many life-saving treatments have been developed as well as life-ending interventions. End-of-life decisions generate many ethical issues that policymakers, medical professionals, and patients and family members have never encountered before. One such question is whether “palliative sedation” is

Plus help the patients determine what choice must be discussed and who needs to be participating in making the proper decision and to help executing them. Most importantly, another main ethical consideration of death and dying issues such as those addressed by hospice and palliative care services based on the right to die pain-free and with dignity is the ability to focuses on decision making concerning which treatment options are best and who is in the better predicament to make the right choices These are vital debate the typically assumes that individual have ethical options about their care; especially during the end-of-life care. With this, denotes The World Health Organization, (1990), although the medicinal system in the America, it works to perfect excellent care choices. But then, unfortunately these options which are greatly available only for those who have the monetary capital or those that have

With major advancement in medical treatments, it is now possible to keep a patient alive, which would not have been possible in former times. This has made end of life issue one of the most controversial issues in healthcare. Medical improvements have set the stage for ethical and legal controversies about not only the patient’s rights but also the family’s rights and the medical profession’s proper role. It is critical that any decision made in such situation is ethical and legal to preserve the rights of the patient and also protect the healthcare institution involved. It is very important when making decisions to discontinue treatments to make sure all other alternatives have been explored.

What if an individual could no longer make personal decisions about health care? In the event a patient is unable to personally advocate, having an advance directive ensures that end of life care will be carried out as desired and specified. As Galambos (1998) explains, advance directives are written documents acknowledged under State law that allow the expression of wishes regarding the extent of healthcare and intervention in the event of losing the capacity to express end of life wishes. The two most common advance directives are the Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare. In the event of a terminal condition and the patient 's inability to express his or her desires, living wills are intended to specify wishes for various end-of-life care procedures. Durable powers of attorney are used to designate a surrogate who will share the wishes of the represented patient and act in the patient 's best interest (Nelson & Nelson, 2014). Advance directives are important because they guide and direct health care professionals, patients and family members to protect end-of-life autonomy for clients (Galambos, 1998). This paper will explore advance directives within the context of federal and state laws, legal and ethical principles, and implications for the registered nurse.

There are many ethical issues that the medical field faces daily. One major issue that is a common debate recently is death and dying and the ethical dilemmas associated with this stage in life. There are many different routes a patient can take when they are diagnosed with a terminal illness, two routes that are often up for debate are palliative care and physician assisted suicide. Many ethical concepts are brought up in the debate of these routes of care, sometimes even conflicting one another. Since medicine has advanced over many years we are experiencing a growing population of elders. With this increase in the elderly population, the debate of death and dying has become an important topic to