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Ethical roles and responsibilities of a nurse
Ethical roles and responsibilities of a nurse
Ethical roles and responsibilities of a nurse
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Conversely, the ethical principle of autonomy provides for respect for the capacity and autonomy of a patient to make choices and decisions concerning their life and death. As nurses try to respect the autonomy of a patient, they may go against other principles, such as beneficence and non-maleficence. However, beneficence sees the nurse as the advocate to the patient who must do good at the best interest of others. Therefore, performing euthanasia to the patient would represent a feeling of responsibility, for example, in Terri’s welfare whereby the nurse would relieve her of the shame of sitting in a vegetative state for close to two decades. The nurses should also consider the quality of life regarding the point at which an individual ceases
On the morning of May 17th, 2005, Nola Walker was involved in a two-car collision. Police and Ambulance were dispatched and arrive on scene at the intersection of Kenny and Fernley Street. Ambulance conducted various assessments on Ms. Walker which revealed no major injuries and normal vital signs. Mrs walker denied further medical investigation and denied hospital treatment. Later on, Queensland police conducted a roadside breath test that returned a positive reading, police then escorted Ms. Walker to the cairns police station. Ms. Walker was found to be unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing. An ambulance was called but attempts to revive her failed (Coroner’s Inquest, Walker 2007). The standard of Legal and ethical obligation appeared by paramedics required for this situation are flawed and require further examination to conclude whether commitments of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice were accomplished.
The ethical principle of nonmaleficence demands to first do no harm and in this case protect the patient from harm since she cannot protect. Nurses must be aware in situations such as this, that they are expected to advocate for patients in a right and reasonable way. The dilemma with nonmaleficence is that Mrs. Boswell has no chance of recovery because of her increasing debilitating mental incapability and the obvious harm that outweighs the intended benefits. If the decision were to continue treatment, suffering of the patient and family would be evident. Autonomy is the right to making own decisions and freedom to choose a plan of action. When making decisions regarding treatment of another person, it is important to respect the expressed wishes of the individual. John says that his mother would want to live as long as she could, but questions arise related to her quality of life and perception of prolonged suffering by prolonging the dying process. In BOOK states that quality of life changes throughout one’s life ...
Barbara Huttman’s “A Crime of Compassion” has many warrants yet the thesis is not qualified. This is a story that explains the struggles of being a nurse and having to make split-second decisions, whether they are right or wrong. Barbara was a nurse who was taking care of a cancer patient named Mac. Mac had wasted away to a 60-pound skeleton (95). When he walked into the hospital, he was a macho police officer who believed he could single-handedly protect the whole city (95). His condition worsened every day until it got so bad that he had to be resuscitated two or three times a day. Barbara eventually gave into his wishes to be let go. Do you believe we should have the right to die?
In this essay, I will discuss whether euthanasia is morally permissible or not. Euthanasia is the intention of ending life due to inevitable pain and suffering. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek words “eu,” which means good, and “thanatosis, which means death. There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is when medical professionals deliberately do something that causes the patient to die, such as giving lethal injections. Passive euthanasia is when a patient dies because the medical professionals do not do anything to keep them alive or they stop doing something that was keeping them alive. Some pros of euthanasia is the freedom to decide your destiny, ending the pain, and to die with dignity. Some cons
The author will also discuss the nursing care required in each area (physical, psychological and social health) and some of the evidence that has supported this in relat...
This paper will talk about the book No Good Deed and how there are many ethical dilemmas that healthcare providers deal with every day. Each day there are ethical issues that arise, especially when caring for terminally ill patients. The book No Good Deed talks about how two nurses struggle with a situation that is far too common in healthcare today. Despite the literature about end of life care, it still remains an issue for many providers and patients. Nurses are lead to deal with multiple ethical issues seen in the book No Good Deed. After reading the book No Good Deed one is able to see how literature about end of life care is viewed and how beneficence plays are large role in nursing care.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) thinks that nurses should stay away from doing euthanasia, or assisting in doing euthanasia because it is against the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (ANA, 2001; herein referred to as The Code). Overall, nurses are also advised to deliver a quality of care what include respect compassion and dignity to all their patients. For people in end-of-life, nursing care should also focus on the patient’s comfort, when possible the dying patient should be pain free. Nurses have also the obligation to support the patient but also the patient’s family members during these difficult moments. We must work to make sure that patients and family members are well informed about every option that is
In James Rachels’ article, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”, Rachels discusses and analyzes the moral differences between killing someone and letting someone die. He argues that killing someone is not, in itself, worse than letting someone die. James, then, supports this argument by adding several examples of cases of both active and passive euthanasia and illustrating that there is no moral difference. Both the end result and motive is the same, therefore the act is also the same. I will argue that there is, in fact, no moral difference between killing someone and intentionally letting a person die. I plan to defend this thesis by offering supporting examples and details of cases of both active and passive euthanasia.
I'm not afraid of being dead. I'm just afraid of what you might have to go through to get there” (Pamela Bone). The sense of dying or losing a loved one is a conception that has plagued any family member at some time or another. How will one deal with the struggle of burying their loved one, the bills, and not waking up and seeing them or calling them every day? More so, will that person be in the pain when they leave their physical form? Euthanasia, or assisted suicide, gives a person the chance the take the ending of their life into their own hands and make, an otherwise undefined, decision of how he/she would want their final moments to be. In this paper I plan to display that based on the utilitarian perspective, Rachels’ writings, and contemplating human rights constructed from a governmental outlook, that euthanasia is just and morally acceptable and should be considered in a reasonable means of expiry when an entity is plagued with chronic mental, emotional, or physical pain.
In today's society, one of the most controversial health-care-related ethical issues is assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Assisted suicide is not to be confused with ethically justified end-of-life decisions and actions. Nurses have a responsibility to deliver comprehensive and benevol...
The ethical debate regarding euthanasia dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was the Hippocratic School (c. 400B.C.) that eliminated the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate for a doctor? More so, euthanasia raises the argument of the different ideas that people have about the value of the human experience.
"How can the Little Sisters of the Poor, in the service of the elderly, not be concerned about the passing of the principle of euthanasia by a Commission in the European Parliament? We feel that the confusion caused by the text pertaining to the use of extraordinary means to prolong life, palliative care and euthanasia can easily mislead an uninformed public. Yet behind these extremely complicated phrases, the thought is clear: to give doctors the right to satisfy the request for euthanasia, that is to say, to take a person's life. Human dignity does not consist in being able to choose the time of one's death, but in being aware of the fact that one's basic right is the right of respect for life, of respect for human dignity"(Little)
Euthanasia is considered to be “a good death,” which allows a patient to die without pain. Active voluntary euthanasia is a procedure which expedites the process of a terminally ill patient to die quicker. In his argument, Philosopher Daniel Brock supports the reasoning that active voluntary euthanasia should be allowed. In one of his arguments, Brock develops based on the overall “well-being” of the patient. The “well-being” of a patient is the patient’s interest in living.
Euthanasia needs to consider the views of the family and friends affected, the medical profession and the individual involved. Utilitarianism opposes individual pursuit and promotes intention to bring about the greatest good, however in some cases this does not favour a minority. Euthanasia increases the utiles of a terminally ill patient but decreases the utiles that represent the pain. Jeremy Bentham believed the “role of law was to delimit autonomy, and the creation of rights destroyed all notion of liberty” (BMJ, 2005). Euthanizing provides personal liberation and autonomy to the patient deciding when and how they die.
‘Mercy’, ‘dignity’, ‘good’ and ‘self-determination’ are the moral basis that the advocates for euthanasia defend. How appealing they sound, their accounts are simply an attempt to escape from dying process, through which we still hold our existence. The argument of pro-euthanasia might suggest that we are able to control over our life and death without moral conflict because such values related to euthanasia can justify the action of killing.