The Importance Of Ethical Dilemmas In Nursing

As a family nurse practitioner (FNP), we have the responsibility to provide the best care we can with the patient’s best interest at heart. On a daily basis we deal with the needs and wants of our patients, this alone provides an ethical dilemma. What we think is best and what our patients want could in fact create an ethical dilemma, however, when we have an ethical dilemma, it is our responsibility to get to a decision with caring, respect, an open mind and honesty to our patients (Parker, 2007). In making a decision regarding an ethical dilemma it is our responsibility to use a framework model to guide us in making an informed decision that is best for our patients. It may not always be the most popular decision but if it is in our patient’s best interest, then you are practicing as a good and prudent, NP.

Nurses rely on personal knowledge and their professional skills to provide ethical care (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). In everyday practice, nurses must balance the needs of their patients against those of the organization, society and themselves. They strive to deliver the highest level of care for patients, but adjusting for limited organizational and personal resources often requires difficult decisions. This paper explores the following scenario suggested by Maville and Huerta: “You are a nurse providing home care to a mother, and you suspect child abuse after observing the mother’s reaction to her child” (as cited by Arizona State University, 2014). When faced with a moral dilemma, a competent nurse incorporates ethical, bioethical and legal considerations. In the proposed story, incorporating the nursing ethics of advocacy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and collaboration will guide the nurse towards an appropriate and legal course of action.

Today many nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals encounter ethical dilemmas on a daily basis. An ethical dilemma can be defined as when there is more than one reasonable solution to a specific scenario. No one solution is more right than the other. In fact, they may both feel wrong, but a decision must be made (Butts & Rich, 2016). In the healthcare setting, nurses should be prepared to think critically and make ethical decisions. There are many factors that contribute to the process of ethical decision making such as ethical perspectives, principles, theories, and guidelines. Ethical decision making is to be rational and systematic. The selected case to be discussed is the case of Jahi McMath,

Nurses confront numerous dilemmas throughout their professional lives. The different types of dilemmas include, but are not limited to, ethical, moral, and legal dilemmas. These are the three most common dilemmas in nursing. A dilemma can be defined in many different ways. But all dilemmas are situations in which you have to make a difficult choice. Chiaranai (2011) states that an “ethical dilemma is a circumstance that arises from fundamental conflicts between ethical beliefs, duties, principles and theories” (p. 250). Therefore, an ethical dilemma forces the nurse to address thought on what is right and what the harm might be to the patient.

In the 25th week of her pregnancy, the mother was advised by the nurse to remain on bed rest to avoid further complications and potentially hurting her unborn baby. The mother continued to work from the hospital placing additional stress on the baby despite the nurse’s appeal that such stress can cause the baby harm. Attempts to stop premature delivery were made but failed, the mother asked the medical team not to take any extraordinary measure to save the baby. The premature baby lived but the mother showed little interest in his health and wellness. The nurse tried to the best of her ability to spark

Humans often struggle to find the right answers in life. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is not always easy and one can be overwhelmed with the problems and ethical issues surrounding them. As a future healthcare professional, it is imperative to understand the role that ethics plays in nursing and how ethical dilemmas impact individuals. There are countless complex ethical issues that confront nurses during their careers and it is crucial they understand where their own values and beliefs lie. Euthanasia, DNR’s, end of life care, privacy, stem cell research and restraints are all great examples of some common ethical issues. “While there are many challenges facing nurses in the work environment (nursing short-age, mandated

Every medical professional has or will face some ethical and legal issues in the Medical Field, the Nurse Practitioners (NP) are no different. Fant stated that in an ethical dilemma there are no right answers or solutions; however, in these dilemmas there are no wrong answers either. Sule feels that the ethical issues for NPs are in consent and capacity, confidentiality and autonomy, and in the non-compliance on part of patient. Offredy and Townsend both feel that a breech in clinical governance and management can cause

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

Nurses are faced with ethical issues and dilemmas on a regular basis. Nurses must understand his or her values and morals to be able to deal adequately with the ethical issues he or she is faced with. Some ethical issues nurses are exposed to may be more difficult than others and the ethical decision making process is learned over time.

Step one: collecting useful data. Find out exactly what is going on in that patient’s life. The patient’s relationship with the parents. If the patient is in abusive home environment? Step two: identifying the type of ethical problem. The ethical dilemma in this case is whether this nurse to keep promise made to the patient or to break in order to make sure patient receive adequate care. Step three: Using ethical theories to examine the problem. The use of ethical analysis will help the nurse to move toward resolution and to take action that are compatible with caring response (Purtilo & Doherty, 2011). Step four: Evaluate the practical alternatives: The nurse should list all alternatives. She can discuss the alternatives with one of her colleague whom she trust and share this type of situation without breaching patient’s confidentiality. Step five: Complete the action: The nurse require courage and strength to act, bearing in mind that there may be some risks (Purtilo & Doherty, 2011). Step six: Evaluating the process and outcome. The nurse determine what she did well, why she think is appropriate intervention, the most challenging part of the situation and what the patient and her family, and others said about the action taken (Purtilo & Doherty,

Nurses are constantly challenged by changes which occur in their practice environment and are under the influence of internal or external factors. Due to the increased complexity of the health system, nowadays nurses are faced with ethical and legal decisions and often come across dilemmas regarding patient care. From this perspective a good question to be raised would be whether or not nurses have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to make appropriate legal and ethical decisions. Even though most nursing programs cover the ethical and moral issues in health care, it is questionable if new nurses have the depth of knowledge and understanding of these issues and apply them in their practice

`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.

Engulfed by a cloud of grey, there are many situations that are not unblemished in the profession of nursing. Ethical dilemmas are often the most challenging to handle as they are interlinked with our own personal values and morals, requiring knowledge and attention to many factors (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, & Walton, 2014). Ethical predicaments will cross our paths daily and we need to utilize ethical frameworks, codes and our personal decision making to come to a well-informed conclusion. When we are in the vicinity of an uncertain quandary our human nature is tested, and we thoroughly scrutinise who we are ethically and morally. I am going to work through an ethical decision making model

Nurses often encountered various ethical dilemmas in the practice setting. Both virtue ethics and caring ethics support good ethical decision making for nurses (Park, 2012, p. 149) but these are inadequate to assist in solving an ethical dilemma (Park, 2012, p. 149). For that reason an ethical decision making tool is helpful for the nurses or clinicians to come up with an ethical decision (Kelly, 2012, p. 571) that allows them to gather information, identify any gap of understanding on the issue or the disagreements between the involved parties through a clear communication (Park, 2012, p. 140). Several authors presented an ethical decision making processes (Park, 2012, p. 141), here presented the two processes that can be applied in resolving an ethical dilemma. One example of ethical decision making process is the DECIDE model by Thompson, Melia & Boyd (Allen, Chapman, Francis, & O’Connor, 2008, p. 5) and the Integrated ethical decision-making model which was derived from the combination of the different ethical decision-making models strengths (Park, 2012, p. 140). These two ethical decision-making model steps are identical to each but differ on the detailed instruction on how the steps are to be done or used in actual case. By comparing the two models the integrated ethical decision-making model have a detailed instruction. The