The Ethics Of Nursing Ethics

As a registered nurse practicing in the state of California I am responsible for practicing within my states legal regulations and nursing scope of practice. My concern for the welfare of the sick and injured allows me to practice ethical provisions of nursing. These are required if I am to carry out competent and effective nursing care. Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals. Therefore, as health care professionals we must be familiar with the different philosophical forces, ethical principles, theories and values that influence nursing. At the same time, we must be respectful to our patient’s

between two sets of human values, both of which are judged to be “good” but neither of

The nursing profession is set up with many guidelines, rules, and regulations. Often, these are set up and guided by different values that should be exhibited in the practice. Many organizations including the Viterbo Nursing Program have values that are to be followed by those who associate themselves with that organization. At Easter Seals many colleges and majors come together to care for disabled kids who are having a weekend away from home. This variety of people that collaborate leads to a vast amount of values to be portrayed over the span of the weekend. Of the values that I saw the most memorable were the values of altruism, autonomy, commitment, dignity, social justice, stewardship, and veracity.

Ethics, the rules and principles that guide right behaviors or conduct, are foundational to the field of bioethics, which focuses on ethical issues in healthcare (Mclennon, Uhrich, Lasiter, Chamnes, & Helft, 2013). Nurses are faced with ethical decision making principles daily when caring for their patients, some days more than others. According to Yoder-Wise (2011), ethics may be distinguished from the law because ethics is internal to an individual, looks to the ultimate “good” of an individual rather than society as a whole, and concerns the “why” of one’s actions (p. 91). In this particular situation, the nurse has to decide if she will respect the wishes of the patient’s family members or be upfront and honest with her patient and

Nurses often encounter ethical and social dilemmas that affect individuals and families for whom they provide care. These situations may present more commonly when caring for the pediatric population. Nurses must know how to approach these issues in a knowledgeable and systematic way. Ethics involves defining the best course of action in a presented situation. Ethical reasoning is the analysis of what is morally right and reasonable. Bioethics is the application of ethics to health care. Ethical behavior for nurses is discussed in codes such as the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code for Nurses. Ethical issues have become more complex as technology has created more options in health care. Controversy arises because an obvious choice of what is right or wrong does not exist and because moral support is possible for more than one course of action. Ethical dilemmas are among the most difficult situations in nursing practice. To find solutions, healthcare providers must apply ethical theories and principles and determine the burdens and benefits of any course of action (Rae, 2009).

The aim of this essay is to discuss an ethical issue encountered whilst on placement. The discussion will focus on the influence of the key ethics theories of deontology and utilitarianism, ethics principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice on decision-making in practice. It will consider the patients’ and staffs’ values and beliefs, legislation and professional practice. Confidentiality will be respected by using a pseudonym, Carol, in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council [NMC] (2008) guidelines on confidentiality.

This paper will present an argument of how the process of do not resuscitate (DNR) results in an ethical dilemma for workers in the healthcare field. In presenting the argument, this paper will also address the following three course learning objectives: 1) explain the legal rights of individuals as they interact with health care services, 2) analyze the monitoring systems that ensure human rights, legal aspects, and quality

The existing North American legal norms recognize parents as children’s guardians and therefore the legitimate decision-maker (Carnevale, 2007). However, parental authority is not absolute as the government has the right to intervene in the cases of neglect or abuse ( Carnevale, 2007). The ministry should have determined if the parents are competent to act as the primary decision-maker before making an action. Once their competence is tested, legal guardian must then decide for the best interest of the child. On one hand, full resuscitation measures could be maintained to ensure Mary Jane’s survival and try to reduce permanent injury much as possible. On the other hand, therapy could be partially or fully limited. The parents can decide to limit any form of treatment or to discontinue all current treatment on the basis that it is inflicting harm without a reasonable prospect of benefit. Thus, the parents face a dilemma: to continue all resuscitating treatment and hope for Mary Jane’s best possible recovery or withdraw life support and allow her to die.

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.

Ethical problem solving and decision making is an arduous process for any nurse or health care worker. As Marquis and Huston, (2015) point out, that ethical decision making takes thinking skills and risk taking abilities to address and solve ethical problems. An ethical dilemma occurred during my charge in the NICU many years ago. A twenty-two week baby was born breathing and crying, it was decided by the team of neonatologists and the parents that no heroic efforts would be made to keep this baby alive. At the time the neonatal resuscitation guidelines for saving a baby were twenty-four weeks. Meanwhile, the baby came to the unit and placed in an isolette while the parents visited and held the baby. After numerous hour of life one of the doctors decided to place the baby on a nasal cannula and place lines in the baby for comfort care, however, no

The combination of professionalism and ethics can be equated with an extraordinary nurse because they are core components in the nursing profession and crucial to patient trust, confidence and wellbeing. Having a degree in nursing is not what makes one a professional. Professionalism is

In this paper I will explore an ethical dilemma that may arise within my nursing practice. I have presented a narrative, from the article “A Dilemma in the Emergency Room”, that portrays an ethical situation involving patient confidentiality. I will focus on Standard IV: Ethical Practice of the College of Registered Nurses of British (CRNBC) as well as the other (CRNBC) Standards of Practice to further evolve my understanding of ethics from what I have learnt throughout my 110 professional practice course.

On 10/01/16 I had a 62-year-old female client that came in to the hospital from a nursing home with a diagnosis of Syncope and collapse. She is a quadriplegic with contractures and need all her ADL’s done for her. She came into the hospital with a pressure ulcer on her left hip.

The Theory of ethics in care is described by Edwards (2009). His explanation describes the evolution of ethical and care based treatment, in three versions. First, Gilligan (1982) focuses on the context of the situation in regards to patient care vs. Impartial reflection. Impartial reflection is the moral based judgement used in patient care, which does not include closeness or caring in the relationship. Gilligan was the first to point out that we treat strangers differently than an induvial we are personally connected to. Second, Toronto (1993) acknowledged, “that if we focus on caring relationships and the relationship between power and caring practices, such as bringing up children, and caring for the sick, a radically different set of social arrangements will ensue.” (Edwards, 2009, p.233). Lastly, Gastmans (2006) explored the best way to care for a patient, at a

The diverse and active scientific work of nursing has allowed to define the body of knowledge within what is called the nursing science, which has also allowed discipline to acquire more strength and notoriety. The discipline of nursing in the past 50 years has been a process from the development of the theory, followed by synthesis, through the development of concepts and, in recent times, in the debate on integration. The understanding of the dimensions of the disciplinary and theoretical development has been reached up to now has been little widespread or limited understanding for a variety of reasons. However, practical nurses, graduates with Bachelor 's degrees, master 's degrees and doctorates in nursing and academic need