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Geriatric Ethical Issues Paper

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This paper aims to identify some of the ethical issues in geriatrics, a focus on health care of elders, and to be able to understand the difficult ethical challenges in elder populations. In order to provide the highest level of care that is safe and effective, the health care team needs to understand that their main point should be the best interest of the elders while providing appropriate care to enhance the quality of life in the latter days of their lives.

Ethical Challenges in Geriatrics
Nursing profession provides an opportunity to make a direct impact for the common good of humanity; it is a tough and stressful job. Nurses face ethical challenges on a daily basis regardless of where they practice. They have to …show more content…

Care can be considered simply an ethical task and thus a burden of one more thing to do, or it can be considered a commitment to attending to and becoming enthusiastically involved in the patient’s needs (Lachman, 2012). It is important for nurses to understand their role as a patient care provider and the commitment to providing the best care possible that is safe and effective. The commitment to preserving and respecting the patient’s autonomy is one key ingredient in maintaining a good nurse/patient relationship. A nurse must also ensure that the patient is being informed and consulted about his treatment and plan of care regardless of the patient’s decision-making capacity. Protecting patient’s privacy and confidentiality is one way of gaining the trust and confidence of the patient. There will always be an ethical issue in the nursing field that comes daily in which a nurse must make a decision. This ethical decision will be affected by many factors including their own personal values and beliefs; however, the code of ethics set by the organization provides the nurse a tool guide in which they can base their ethical decisions on. It also provides the nurse guidance for legal and ethical responsibility to the patients. Geriatric nurses may encounter difficult ethical issues in patient care but proper ethical training class for elderly care and geriatric education will better equipped them to confront the ethical issues and dilemmas they are likely to encounter in nursing homes. With education qualification, knowledge and compassion, nurses, can make conscious, moral choices that have long lasting impact on the

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