Nurses Should Respect And Let Patient Exercise Autonomy

Studies have shown that many factors have been contributing to influence patient’s care in an ethical manner. What factors could affects one decision for their medical care? Does it also included the nurse’s individual views or should consider their moral obligations? But what is ethics really is? Based on the book Nursing Ethics by Butts & Rich, “Ethics is a systematic approach to understand, analyze, and distinguish matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and deplorable as they relate to the well-being”. Ethics should follow the current AMA guidelines.

Patients have the right to self-determination and individuals should have control over their own lives. With respect for human autonomy comes respect for patient rights. Apart of the nurses job is to promote, advocate and protect the rights, health, and safety of our patients. Patients have the right to determine their health needs, make informed decisions, and the right to information regarding their treatment and also the refusal of treatment. Nurses are obligated to know the rights of a patient and to make sure the patient understands their treatment plan. Supporting patient autonomy includes making decisions in the best interest of the patient, considering their values and recognizing differences between cultures. In the treatment

Moreover, an emphasis is imposed on the rights of a single patient to commit an act or decision even though it is in contrast with the views of the others. In regards to the ethical dilemma, a nurse could not justify the morality of the two possible choices based on their results and consequences. The Deontological approach would encourage the health care staff as well as the patient to ask themselves the most righteous choice for their situation. With this in mind, a combination of ethical theories can also be employed to give light to the dilemma. In view of this, another ethical approach could be applied to solve the issue, and this is the Right-based approach. This theory also aim to promote the rights of every person, and that, they are indispensable just to make ends meet. However, not all ethical theories can be incorporated in every dilemma in a health care setting because their foundations would contradict one another. In order to provide an effective and efficient solution, nurses should be knowledgeable of the principles enveloping each of the ethical theories and should be wise to apply them in appropriate issues and

Healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to respect patient’s wishes. Consequently, many legal and ethical dilemmas arise in healthcare in response to clinical decisions related to the needs, beliefs, and preferences of patients and families. Other dilemmas result over concerns about the integrity, competence, or actions of other healthcare professionals. Preserving human dignity, relieving suffering, equality, integrity, and accountability are essential nursing values (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Nurse leaders have an

Sule stated that, “The Patient Bill of Right adopted by American Hospitals Association states that ‘a patient possesses the right to be informed of the medical consequences of his or her actions and decisions and refuse treatment to the extent permitted by the law’. However, this is true only if the patient is in position to understand the consequences of his treatment. Incompetent, senile patients neither have the correct judgment regarding which treatment is appropriate for them, nor are they in a state of understanding the implications of their treatment. In such case, their willingness to grant or deny consent cannot dictate the course of treatment.” Problem with the Act is being able to find that the patient component enough to make such a call. Another issue that Sule stated was on confidentiality and autonomy. According to Sule, “This is another ethical issue erupting from the conflict of patient's rights and professional ethics in nursing job and profession. The Patient Bill of Right makes it mandatory for the medical practitioners to reveal the form and extent of the ailment along with the course of treatment to be undertaken by the practitioners. However, this law of autonomy clashes with the nursing ethic that the professional should maintain high degree of confidentiality regarding the patient's health and treatment.” This can cause conflicting issues in the NP’s

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

Autonomy includes three primary conditions: (1) liberty (independence from controlling influences), (2) agency (capacity for intentional action), and (3) understanding (through informed consent) (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009, p. 100). According to Beauchamp & Childress (2009) to respect autonomous agents, one must acknowledge their right to hold views, to make choices, and to take actions based on their personal values and beliefs (p. 103). Respect for autonomy implies thaturges caregivers to respect theassist a patient in achieving? Heed? the autonomous choices of their patients. From there, patients can act intentionally and with full understanding when evaluating medical treatment modalities. Autonomy also includes a set of rules, one of which requires that providers honor patient decision-making rights by providing the truth, also known as veracity (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009, p. 103). In this case, several facets of the principle of respecting autonomy, specifically veracity, informed

To begin with the person is the centre of the plan, to be consulted with and their views must always come first: It should include all aspects of their care, and every professional should work together to provide it. (Leathard 2000) Autonomy refers to an individuals’ ability to come to his or her own decisions and requires nurses to respect the choices patients make concerning their own lives (Hendrick 2000).However Gillon Argues that the principle respect for autonomy may need some restriction, otherwise we may be morally obliged to respect an autonomous course of action with unthinkable consequences.( Gillon 1986) Every human being has an intrinsic value, they all have a right to well being, to self-fulfilment and to as much control over their own lives as is consistent with others (British Association of Social Workers 2002).Professional Judgement and patient preference cannot be suspended if practice is to be safe and effective rather than routine(DOH 2005) Alex had to attend this session as it was within his Timetable, how could it have been effective?, he was unhappy and

This assignment will explore a case study on an episode of care where a patient with chronic pain was hoisted. This will be written from the perspective of the author, a student nurse. The purpose of this assignment is to underline the ethical, legal and professional issues surrounding the episode of care during nursing practice and how these issues influence the role of the nurse and their professional judgement in delivering holistic, person-centred care for the patient. The author will cover the complications on delivering care when healthcare professionals should consider and respect the patient’s decisions and personal preferences whether it may benefit the patient or not. Therefore, the author will argue the principles of the

In conclusion it can be seen that early and regular pain assessment on par with other vital parameters along with appropriate treatment by all healthcare providers will lead to improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. This can be achieved by education, use of departmental guidelines and protocols,regular audit of practice and feedback to the professional involved.

Nursing is an all encompassing profession in which practitioners are not only proficient in technical medical functionality, they also have the obligation to remain compassionate and respectful of patients and as such are expected to adhere to pre established codes of ethics. Of these ethics, autonomy is of extreme importance as it offers patients a sense of personal authority during a time where they may feel as if their lives, or at the very least their health, is no longer under their control. Autonomy in the context of nursing allocates the patient and often their family with the final word on the course of treatment. The concept of patient autonomy is a highly variable subject in all fields of health care. It is a universal concept that varies widely in its meaning and interpretation. Autonomy in its simplest form can be defined as a state of independence or self governing (Atkins, 2006). Patient autonomy can also be defined as the ability to make once own decisions, based on one’s sound judgment. It is defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2011) as the "agreement to respect another 's right to self determine a course of action; support of independent decision making." This seemingly straight forward ethical concept is rife with difficulties when one considers potential disagreements that may arise even when informed consent is provided, particularly among children or vulnerable people. Relevant research and

Practicing beneficence involves a moral obligation to act for the benefit of others by helping them to further their important and legitimate interests, often by preventing or removing possible harms. Nursing is a healthcare profession where beneficence is often displayed. During the entire patient interaction, nurses must advocate for their patients. For instance, if a patient doesn’t have an order for pain medication or their current order isn’t sufficient, nurses must advocate for the patient by contacting the physician. By doing this, nurses are working for the good of the patient that may unable to verbally express their pain and perspective.

Not only is visually assessing a patient’s pain important, but so is having nurse-patient interaction. This includes asking open-ended questions and listening to what patients have to say. It is important not to rush the patient when they are answering so that they can answer to the best of their ability. Accepting the answers patients give to questions asked means also trusting their answers. This will give them a sense of safety and security (Baath, Wilde-Larsson, Idvall, & Hall-Lord, 2012).

Intro: This essay aims to explain the concept of pain and the impact it has on the patient and the nurse. It will discuss the concept of comfort and caring, clinically inflicted pain, the considerations of legal, ethical and cultural norms and the responsibilities of nurses in ensuring the provision of comfort and care. This will be achieved by in depth analysis of peer reviewed nursing literature related to this topic.

Autonomy applies to the profession of nursing because the patient should always be allowed to make decisions regarding their care while being treated with respect and dignity; however, autonomy can serve as a limiting agent when the patient decides to refuse care that would be of benefit to them. Autonomy is a sensitive issue because it allows the patient to choose to die and all health care can do from that point is allow the patient to do so comfortably. With healthcare always being one step ahead, it allows a surrogate to serve as a voice piece for that patient when they are unable to make decisions. However, that surrogate can end up making decisions they think is best for the patient ignoring the patients’ will. The responsibility of the nurse and interdisciplinary team is to inform and educate the patient and patient’s surrogate on all aspects of care to include medical diagnosis, treatment, and care plan so that the patient and