Ethical Issues in Mental Health Nursing

In conclusion, mental health nurses are able to adapt quickly to new situations such as dealing with complex patients regularly. They have long-term relationships that are otherwise not essential in other fields. This builds a mutual trust between the patient and the mental health nurse. Mental health nurses differ from other fields of nursing as they have unique skills, such as: having a different concept of recovery, providing the right kind of continuing support for their patients, having the power to detain a patient, as well as having the relevant skills and knowledge with regard to ethical and legal responsibilities. All nurses struggle with ethical issues and challenges related to patients care on a daily basis. It is difficult for

Ethics plays a very important role in the healthcare setting, especially when minors are involved. There are several factors and outliers that affect the decision making process as well as the quality of patient care. A major dilemma nurses face is confidentially, especially when parents or guardians have certain legal rights over the minors that limit their choices. All patients whether they are minors should still be able to expect confidentiality. The argument is whether or not teens are able to make these difficult medical decisions alone and whether they understand what’s going on, the procedure process, and all the risks and consequences involved. The ethical dilemmas that many nurses face with teen pregnancies are confidentiality, informed consent, and competence. Nurses face whether or not to

Ethical issues have always affected the role of the professional nurse. Efforts to enact this standard may cause conflict in health care settings in which the traditional roles of the nurse are delineated within a bureaucratic structure. Nurses have more direct contact with patients than one can even imagine, which plays a huge role in protecting the patients’ rights, and creating ethical issues for the nurses caring for the various patients they are assigned to. In this paper I will discuss some of the ethical and legal issues that nurses are faced with each and every day.

Nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas or ethical distress every day, each situation being unique and requiring nurses to set aside their own values and beliefs in order to provide proper care for their patients (Ramos, Brehmer, Vargas, Trombetta, Silveira, & Drago, 2015). Ethical dilemmas allow nurses to learn more about themselves and help shape their morals and values (Potter & Perry, 2014). An ethical dilemma arises in a situation in which no solution seems completely satisfactory (Drumwright, 2012).

Autonomy. Hai’s mental state is altered with the manifestations of delusions and hallucinations making him incapable of deciding for himself. His ability to practice his autonomy and refusal of medical treatment is deemed invalid due to his mental illness.

An ethical dilemma is defined as a mental state when the nurse has to make a choice between the options and choices that he or she has at her disposal. The choice is a crucial task as the opting of the step will subsequently determine the health status of the concerned patient, hence it requires a great deal of wisdom along with proper medical and health training before any such step is opted as it is a matter of life and death. Strong emphasis should therefore be on the acquisition of proper knowledge and skills so that nurses do posses the autonomy to interact with patients regarding ethical issues involved in health care affairs and address them efficiently. It is normally argued that nurses are not provided sufficient

Ethics are a set of moral principles that serve as a guiding philosophy for behavior. Consequently it is not a surprise that ethical dilemmas occur daily in the health care setting. Any nurse who refuses to provide care for a patient faces an ethical dilemma (Kuhn, 2012, pp. 412-418). The reasons given for refusal range anywhere from a conflict of personal values to fear of personal risk of injury. Nurses do have the right, at times, to refuse patient care assignments. The decision to accept or reject an assignment must be based upon a judgment by the nurse of the nurse 's ability to provide competent patient care. This paper aims to show both sides of the argument when it comes to nurses refusing a patient assignment. One side believes that nurses has the right to refuse patient assignment, as they must be true to themselves if they want to perform their best on the job. On the other hand, the other side believes that it is the nurse’s responsibility to care for all patients and, therefore nurses cannot simply refuse a patient.

The first version of the code of ethics was named after Florence Nightingale in 1893. Designed after medicine’s Hippocratic Oath, the author, Lystra Gretter, believed that Florence Nightingale exemplified the “highest ideals of nursing” (Fowler, 2010, p. xiii) and wrote the “Florence Nightingale Pledge” in her honor. To this day, nursing schools all over the country, recite this, or similar versions at, at graduation. This public expression of nursing’s values, commitments, and duties was the foundation for the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (The Code) that is so well known today. The Code is a “nonnegotiable ethical standard” that “provides a succinct statement of the ethical values, obligations and duties of every individual who enters the nursing profession” ("ANA," 2016). Using The Code and the deontological decision-making model, the author of this paper will analyze the case scenario provided, and resolve the ethical dilemma.

Ethics is determined as making valued judgements to the means or end of care in order to ‘be a good nurse’. Furthermore code of conducts within nursing are based around principle ethics as well as medical ethics and states the rules the professional must abide by. It has involved or created various debates or complex issues that can be frequently argued; for example, euthanasia and whether is should be legalised in the United Kingdom, as it is in other countries. (Berridge, P. et al Liddle, C. 2010 p29-42).

This paper will describe an ethical dilemma faced by a registered nurse on the medical/surgical unit at Baptist Nassau. This dilemma will be analyzed using Catalano’s ethical decision-making model (2009) for nurses. Throughout this paper the pros and cons of this dilemma will be discussed, as well as answer the question “Is it morally and ethically just”?

In order to create a morally and ethically sound practice and health care environment for every patient, the nurse’s decision-making role is vital and should be treated as such. The nurse’s professional morals and ethics should always be patient oriented to consistently assure the best decisions are being made to support each and every individual appropriately. These morals and ethics should consist of, the willingness to take action on behalf of patient needs and interests, the ability to advocate for the patients care even if that means questioning

Throughout the course of their career, nurses will constantly face the reality of death and dying patients. Disparate from medical physicians, nurses are almost always on duty to treat and hand out medication. Therefore, a situation where it is not possible for their patient to completely heal can ultimately put the nurse in a high amount of stress. Such feelings can lead to discomfort with aiding hospice patients and a decrease in nurses in that area (Peters, et al., 2013). The quality of end of life health care is also jeopardized due to the nurse facing ethical issues and death anxiety (Hold, 2017, p. 13). The impact of a patient death can incite more stress in the health care worker, according to Bickham, "Nurses often experience

Autonomy is the concept of making a rational decision that is informed and un-coerced. Respect for autonomy is whereby the patient is allowed to act in any way they would like. It means that the patient has the capacity to act in their own intention with their own understanding and without the control of any influences that would prevent them from taking a voluntary and free action ADDIN EN.CITE Hickman20081382(Hickman, Cartwright, & Young, 2008)1382138217Hickman, Susan E.Cartwright, Juliana C.Young, Heather M.Administrators' Perspectives on Ethical Issues in Long-Term Care ResearchJournal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: An International JournalJournal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: An International Journal69-78312008University of California Press15562646http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jer.2008.3.1.69( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_5" o "Hickman, 2008 #1382" Hickman, Cartwright, & Young, 2008). Its corresponding virtue is that of being respectful ADDIN EN.CITE Beauchamp20091384(Beauchamp & Childress, 2009)138413846Beauchamp, T.L.Childress, J.F.Principles of Biomedical Ethics2009New York, NYOxford University Press9780195143317http://books.google.com/books?id=_14H7MOw1o4C( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_1" o "Beauchamp, 2009 #1384" Beauchamp & Childress, 2009).

`Ethics' is defined as ."..the basis on which people...decide that certain actions are right or wrong and whether one ought to do something or has a right to something"(Rumbold, 1986). In relating `ethics' to nursing care, "Nursing decisions affect people... nurses have the power to good or harm to their patients" (Bandman et al, 2002). In this essay, the author will also identify the most important ethical principles and concepts of Evan's case, will outline the different stages of one's approach to ethical decision-making by utilising the "DECIDE Model for Ethical Decision-Making" founded by Thompson et al (2000) and will make a decision on the best course of action to take as a nurse in this

Ethical issues in nursing will always be an ongoing learning process. Nurses are taught in nursing school what should be done and how. Scenarios are given on tests with one right answer. However, there are situations that nurses may encounter that may have multiple answers and it is hard to choose one. “Ethical directives are not always clearly evident and people sometimes disagree about what is right and wrong” (Butts & Rich, 2016). When an ethical decision is made by a nurse, there must be a logical justification and not just emotions.