Ethical Dilemma
The film Wit is an emotional story about a woman’s struggle with terminal ovarian cancer. The film focuses on the treatment she receives in the hospital not only from the chemotherapy but the inhumane treatment from the staff especially the physicians. This was an eye opening experience to see the patient’s side to hospitalization and how important it is to see the patient as a human and not an object that lacks feelings and emotions (Bosanquet & Nichols, 2001). The greatest ethical dilemma posed in the film was aggressively treating the ovarian cancer with the full dose radiation and have the patient suffer the unpleasant severe side effects, or allow the cancer to grow and metastasize. In this film, the nurse tries to convince
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Patients come into the hospital setting to get better or to find a cure. It is a nurse’s duty to provide comfort care and to make sure the best possible care is being presented to the patient. A human’s life is worth more than a research finding. Nurses at time may feel inferior to a physician and may blindly accept anything that a physician orders, or may feel insecure to question the physician. The implication for the nursing practice in general is to be the patient’s advocate. It is the patient’s right to decide what treatment and how much they can tolerate. The patient’s wishes must be granted and the patient needs to have a sense of autonomy. Always keep the patient’s health, and best interest in mind. As nurses we must treat patients as a whole which includes the mind, body, and spirit. We must not look at our patients as a disease process which is the ultimate way to dehumanize an individual. Nurses will at some point in their career face ethical dilemmas, but it is important to talk to the patient and to listen to their wishes. Although neither choice may be desirable the nurse needs to choose the option that best meets the patient’s needs. This film beautifully portrayed one of the biggest ethical dilemmas that a nurse may face in her career. One of the biggest messages that was hidden in the film was to view your patients as every day normal human beings. At one point in time, patients were once doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc and they had a life of their own, never realizing that illnesses are
In Margaret Edson’s play Wit, a cancer patient promoted her end of life decision to her primary nurse rather than her supervisor doctor, and asks her primary nurse to take care of her till death. For result, there was one huge fighting between Vivian’s primary nurse Susie and doctor Jason when her heart stop beats.
The art in a social justice movement is used to further educate individuals while entertaining them; one example is the 1978s classic The Wiz. The Wiz was created during the Black Arts Movement to illustrate historical and political issues in the African American communities. If one watches The Wiz closely one can see the how the Scarecrow character is used to demonstrate how African American mental mislead. The Scarecrow was told over and over by the Crows he was not smart enough to get down off of “dis here pole”. The Scarecrow believed the Crows and felt he was dumb and not good enough. However, the Scarecrow was very smart, but due to years of being mental beat down he could see it. This has happened so many times in African American history. African Americans have
One cannot fake being a nurse, one must be extremely genuine in order to perfect being a nurse; therefore, explaining why nurses enforce and value their code of ethics. The purpose of the code of ethics is to ensure patient safety and implement standard of care by following the nine provisions of ethics. The nine provisions explain the nurses’ responsibility while caring for a patient; for example, maintaining the rights and autonomy of a patient. Another point that the provisions highlight is being the patient advocate, nurses are in the front line of patient care and they must protect their patients. An important guideline that the nine provision emphasize is the need and requirement for nurses to continue with their education to promote beneficent and to avoid maleficent. The National Nursing Association (ANA) states that the nursing code of ethics “reiterates the fundamental and the commitment of the nurse” (Lachman, Swanson, & Windland-brown, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the obligations and duty of a nurse and why it is important when attempting to maintain standard of care.
The first provision of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) “Code of Ethics” states, “ The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.” The second provision states, “The nurse’s primary commitment is the patient, whether the patient is an individual, family, group, or community” (Fowler, 2010). As nurses we need to respect the autonomy and allow for the patient to express their choices and concerns. We also need to provide them with support by giving them knowledge and understanding so they
Although nursing is universally practiced, not all nurses values and morals are the same. Nurses and nursing students are usually put in situations where they must operate within an ethical structure which is either unfamiliar to their cultural criterion or those of the patients for whom they are taking care of. The most prominent values and morals of nurses are based on human dignity and benevolence. Human dignity is the main component that branches off into other values under caring for health and well-being. Trust, integrity, autonomy, and privacy are one of the many sub-values that fall under human dignity. It is important for the nurses to respect and understand the culture and beliefs of the patient without being judgmental or confrontational. The wellbeing of the patient is priority and so the nurses must focus on gaining the patients trust first by tending to their needs and exhibiting
Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.
In the medical profession, doctors and nurses run into ethical dilemmas every day whether it be a mother who wants to abort her baby or a patient who has decided they want to stop cancer treatment. It is important for the nurse to know where they stand with their own moral code, but to make sure they are not being biased when educating the patient. Nurses are patient advocates, it is in the job description, so although the nurse may not agree with the patient on their decisions, the nurse to needs to advocate for the patient regardless.
Nurses everywhere face problems and challenges in practice. Most of the challenges occur due to a struggle with the use of ethical principles in patient care. Ethical principles are “basic and obvious moral truths that guide deliberation and action,” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, 2014). Ethical principles that are used in nursing practice include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. These challenges not only affect them, but the quality of care they provide as well. According to the article, some of the most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical issues were protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent to treatment, staffing problems, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making (Ulrich et. al, 2013). The ethical issue of inadequate staffing conflicts with the principle of non-maleficence.
In this essay the author will rationalize the relevance of professional, ethical and legal regulations in the practice of nursing. The author will discuss and analyze the chosen scenario and critically review the action taken in the expense of the patient and the care workers. In addition, the author will also evaluates the strength and limitations of the scenario in a broader issue with reasonable judgement supported by theories and principles of ethical and legal standards.
Barnett, Wilson J.(1986). Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing. Journal of Medical Ethics. Retrieved on 12th July 2010 from
The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses has five elements that pertain to the Principle of Autonomy. Each individual element applies to “respect individual persons” (Baillie, McGeehan, Garrett T, M., Garrett R. M., 2013, p.33). In Chapter 2 of the Health Care ethics: Principles and problems text, it discusses thouroghly the consent of an individual to make their own decisions regarding their health and future requests of care. As a nurse or within all heath care professions, we must treat each individual patient with care, respect, and to remain mindful to the patient regarding any aspect of their lives. In the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, it explains ways of maintaining the empathy required in the health field. It further discusses that the respect for human dignity must be a priority, relationships to patients must remain neutral, the severity of the situation, the right to self-rule, and the professionalism that must be upheld by the nurse and their associates.
In conclusion, there are numerous legal and ethical issues apparent in the nursing practice. Nurses should study and be as informed as they can with ethics and legality within their field in order to ensure no mistakes occur. Ethical issues vary based on patient’s views, religion, and environment. Nurses are influenced by these same views, but most of the time they are not the same as the patients. As a nurse we must learn to put the care of our patients and their beliefs, rights, and wishes before our own personal
This movie starts off as Jordan Belfort, the main character in the movie, losing his job as a stockbroker in Wall Street. After losing his job, he goes and gets a job in a Long Island brokerage room. In the brokerage room, he sells penny stocks. Thanks to him being aggressive in his selling skills, he was able to make a profit. With the new income, he gives his wife a bracelet and she asked him why doesn’t he go after the people that can afford to lose money, not the middle-class people or lower income people. That is when he gets the idea to get a lot of young people and train them to become the best stock brokers.
Full Movie, n.d). In the modern healthcare system, the changes in the ethics and professionalism as provided by the nursing code of ethics is relevant. Therefore, some individuals within the system may take time to accept the transformations and some may be unaware that change exists. Eventually, they end up noticing the change later as well as what is required of them as stated in the code of ethics. In one example, the code of ethics within the nursing professionalism necessitates that the nurse has to be willing to overlook certain aspects (social, career, and familial relationships) to aid the patient in full recovery. There are numerous alterations in the nursing code, and what is taught in medical school; therefore, the previously educated nurses should be aware of the modifications. A nurse known as Sarah had worked within the healthcare system for more than fifty years. Within her tenure, she experienced numerous changes in the code of ethics and what is taught within the system (Saver, 2006). By the time she could adjust the trends in alterations, it was late; hence, difficult for her to keep up with
The film, Of Two Minds, is based on real life accounts of individuals living with bipolar disorder. Before watching this film, I had an idea of what bipolar disorder is , but after viewing this film I was completely mistaken. Previously, I thought being bipolar was going from a “normal” mood to an angry or sad mood in a matter of seconds and could be simply fixed by taking medicine. But my previous thoughts were completely wrong and bipolar disorder is very serious and complicated. I didn’t know the severity of this disease and I think a lot of the general public is uneducated about bipolar disorder as well as mental illness. Terri Cheney describes having bipolar disorder as, “Take the best day you ever had and multiply it by a million, it 's like a flu but one hundred times worse. It 's having flu in your mind."