Ethical Dilemmas In Nursing Research

Conducting quality research requires the researcher to perform within both ethical and legal guidelines. “Ethics is the study of right and wrong” (Houser, J., 2012, pg.50). Ethics provide the avenue for decision making and are guided by the researcher’s integrity. Legal guidelines provide direction to the researcher by specifying what is required by law to conduct research. As a nurse researcher, it is an ethical duty to advocate for patients when incompetent, unethical or illegal practices are observed.

Nurses are faced with many ethical and legal issues, such as protecting and maintaining the patient privacy and confidentiality. “A dilemma can arise when confidential information is requested by family members or friends of the patient” (McGowan, 2012, p. 61). As nurses during our pinning ceremony we took the “the Nightingale Pledge promised to do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affair” (McGowan, 2012, p. 61). Protecting and maintaining patient confidentiality is a serious matter and you can be fined and faced with federal charges, if you are found guilty.

The most well-known controversial issue about hospital ethics pertains to withholding, or proceeding with, treatment for children. Every day, thousands of children are forced to undergo unnecessary procedures that not only lengthen their lives by a little, but cause them immense pain. Whether or not the child is withheld, or followed through, with procedures is mainly decided by the parents, with little decision from medical staff. Even though a decision is always made, both parents and medical staff are left wondering if their decision was the right one. Wondering if there could have been a better procedure that would have shown a better prognosis. Deciding from what is right and wrong for the patient is the main ethical issue that is flooding hospitals around the world.

In regards to our roles as nurses, the moral codes and values that govern our ability to effectively deliver propitious and compassionate care to our patients disregarding race, background, differing views, and age are of unconditional significance. The ultimate goal of every healthcare learning facility is to equip future caretakers with the core moral and functional principles that would ensure impeccable performance of the provider down to even the most diminutive echelon. To become caring providers not just in practice, but in who we are as individuals in society. However, with that being said, perfection is something almost ethereal in nature, but throughout our attempt to pursue it, we are able to capture greatness. The issue however

A1- Because of the increased unethical usage of social media within the discipline of nursing.

A lot of dilemmas face the nursing profession. These ethical dilemmas faced by nurses is unique and covers a myriad of issues. According to Loyola University (2017) the International Council of Nurses’ (ICN) Code of Ethics posits that, alongside the inherent responsibilities of promoting health, easing suffering, and preventing illness, a respect for human rights: cultural rights, the right to life and choice, right to dignity, and the right to be treated with respect, is a critical part of the job. Certain values and principles guide the decision-making process in nursing (Loyola University, 2017). These are the building blocks of nursing ethics, thus raising the subject of ethical dilemma.

Ethical issues will always arise during a pandemic illness. At least one of the four principles of medical ethics that guide nurses will have to be put into play when confronted with ethical issues. The outbreaks of the HIV/AIDS virus can be seen as an example for ethical issues posed by epidemic emergencies. According to Chiappelli et al. (2015), ethical dilemmas observed during this outbreak includes isolation and quarantine; privacy and confidentiality; and the interpretation of ethical norms across different ethno cultural settings. In such cases, ethical guidance for pandemic planning is generally concerned with procedural notions of justice (Njozing, Edin, San Sebastian, & Hurtig, 2011). Furthermore, patients often times know that they

Nurses are the patient’s first line of defence and are the most likely health care professionals to recognise and interrupt errors (DeBourgh, G. A. & Prion, S. K. 2012). Nursing actions and interventions have been recognized as playing a role in both the early detection of complications and in the identification, interruption, and correction of medical errors (Henneman, Gawlinski, & Giuliano, 2012,). They also need to take into account the ethical dimension of nursing practice when planning, implementing and evaluating nursing care (Fedoruk, 2012).Their role involves different type of care with specialised nursing standard. Therefore, it is important that we have a better understanding of nursing practice if we are to see a positive impact

As nurses, we have the ethical and legal obligation of protecting patient's right to privacy. According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), federal law reinforces and defines privacy through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The use of social media such as Facebook, and Instagram is tremendously growing in popularity. Often nurses feel emotional or excited about their day at work that their post may offer serious potential consequences, and even termination from their jobs. Nurses must always take into consideration their ethical duties to protect patient information because divulging information in the use of social media is a violation of privace and

Nurses face ethical dilemmas everyday and it's important to know how to address them appropriately to not cause conflict. To handle this particular scenario the nurse should respect the patients privacy always, communicate honestly about their diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, and be an advocate for the patient’s spoken interest. As nurses we are obligated to tell the truth, and at times it may be painful for our patients to hear, but honesty is one of the core virtues. Nurses can still deliver bad news in a knowledgeable and caring way. In this particular scenario, before I would discuss any of the adverse effects of the medication I would ask the patient if she understands her diagnosis of pneumonia. This would allow me to understand if

I do agree with you that it is imperative for nurses to know the law that governs their state of practice. Personally, this is something new for me. Having an interest in law and ethics started a couple of years ago for me while I worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with many of the 24 and 25week premise and long effects of the care treatment received while in the NICU. Indeed nursing surrounding is bursting with the ethical and legal condition and arrays of nurses indicate a lack of training in this aspect as you mentioned. Perhaps, an avenue to fix this might be encouraging continuing education, hospital in-service, and an upsurge in nursing education programs to increase nurses’ versed knowledge in the law.

Introduction: Ethics is the department of philosophy concerned with what is good for people and society. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos that could suggest custom, habit, man or woman or disposition. At its most effective, ethics is a device of moral standards. They influence how human beings make decisions and lead their lives. (Spencer, Massing, & Gough, 2017)

A nurse must go through extensive education and specialized training to be provided with the clinical experience of a nurse. Through this training you also learn how a nurse should act morally and ethically as well as in a professional manner. It takes a positive attitude, good work ethic, clean appearance, and style of communication with peers and patients. The ‘creator of nursing’ Florence Nightingale, set the standards high with her expectations of excellence in the nursing field. We as nurses must uphold a certain standard in our field. We are responsible for people’s lives and should always keep core nursing values to dictate our behaviors. “The core values of nursing are honesty, knowledge, responsibility, human dignity, quality of all

The profession I plan to pursue in the future is either becoming a neonatal nurse or midwife. My profession's code of ethics does consist of research because their are always new health issues arising and we must stay abreast of it. On nursingworld.org it says, "The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development". By this particular code of ethics, as you progress throughout nursing and continuously practice health care; we must learn about what takes on in our field just in case if we ever run into a patient with that condition. Another similar one I found on nursingworld.org is, "the nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public

“Nearly all healthcare clinicians have or will encounter ethical dilemmas during their clinical operations. Consequently most of them get not training on how to solve the situation. The clinical professionals should be trained on how to resolve ethical dilemma cases, since they are vulnerable to this kind of cases. Ethical dilemmas affect the psychological decisions one makes since they dread transgressing on other imperative moral decisions. Cases of ethical dilemmas affect almost every person regardless of their class or status in the society. Ethical dilemmas in clinical organization affect both the executives and their subjects’ indifferent levels. The heads find themselves perplexed by some ethical issues in their operations, the same way their juniors would experience ethical dilemmas in their standards,”(Welch, 2001, p.1). In situations where life and death is involved, prompt decision should be considered whether one party is hurt but it must be in the best interest of the outcome. Always positive outcome is promoted or considered in an ethical dilemmas. There are many ethical dilemmas that happen in our day to day working lives as nurses but how we tackle the situations matters most. Being diligent and neutral as a health care worker is very important because you are not the judge but helping to resolve the situation.