Ethical Issues In Health Care

To save or not to save? That is the question. In the hospital setting, many problems arise and it is the duty of the healthcare workers to ensure, aide, and facilitate the patient’s well being to the best of their ability. Though all problems cannot simply be solved with medicine and therapy, it takes a considerate amount of critical thinking as well. What should happen when a problem like making sure a patient stays alive, backfires and the patient actually wants to die? Also, for a person desiring death, it is not considered righteous and we, as humans will deem them as mentally ill. This is where the ethical and moral issues of promoting health and respecting the patient’s right to autonomy are conflicted.
Upon certain circumstances, ethical

issues are bound to arise in the hospital. In the article, “Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders in Suicidal Patients: Clinical, Ethical, and Legal Dilemmas”, the authors explained the ethical dilemma of a doctor’s order to not revive a mentally ill patient that attempted suicide (Cook, Pan, Silverman & Soltys, 2010). Patients actually trying to kill themselves create a big problem for health care workers when they see that the patient has a DNR (Do not resuscitate) order. The patient Ms. A was found with shallow breathing and constricted pupils. She was also holding a rosary, a funeral home card, and a DNR order from her physician (Cook et al., 2010). From an evaluation of the situation, one could possibly tell that she had planned this and is attempting suicide, considering she is holding the items of what people should consider when they find her incapacitated. But what the code team noticed is that a DNR order had been placed and now they were battling between the doctor’s orders and what was morally correct. The code team ended up reviving her based on the attending psychiatrist’s orders and later confirmed her attempt of suicide (Cook et al,. 2010). With further clarification of the situation in corporation with the ethics committee, Ms. A’s request for a DNR order was denied on the grounds that she was not terminally ill and she has a background of suicidal attempts (Cook et al., 2010). This can strike various types of controversy among many when taking into account those who simply want to die. Should you continue to care for patients who will constantly try to kill themselves?
For the health care workers encountering these ethical dilemmas, it generates conflict upon their duties as health care advocates.

In the nursing field, there are core values that need to be followed in order to make sure the nurses are always maintaining optimal care. These are to be caring, to show integrity, to respect diversity, and to demonstrate excellence. Two of the values, caring and integrity are in conflict with this ethical issue. A nurse’s obligation is always to make the patient feel better and help rid their sickness, but what happens when the patient doesn’t want to get better? This is where the conflict of integrity comes in, in that nurses should respect the patient’s autonomy, but also do what is right and make them better. And though the patient may wish to cause self-harm, a nurse should never aide in the harming of a patient. The nurse should always maintain a caring position and respect the patient’s well

being.
This ethical issue has stirred much contemplation in my head considering all of the facts and moral values.

I actually cannot make up my mind on the issue. On one hand, I want to stay professional and abide by what the patient desires but on the other, my moral side says I should not because I, as a human would not want people to kill themselves and idly watch as they slowly die when I could have revived the patient. This is definitely an issue to be further discussed for future references because this will most likely be reintroduced in the hospital and knowing what to do in those couple of seconds can mean life or

death.