Ethical Issues In Nursing Essay

Introduction

In this assignment, I am going to outline, define and analyse ethics and explore some ethical issues, and how ethics is related to the nursing profession.

What is ethics?

Ethics is a system of moral principles guiding human action or a branch of philosophy that covers a whole family of things that have a real importance in everyday life (BBC.co.uk)

There are different forms of ethical issues, such as;

Supernaturalism - This type of ethics is God based which means it depend on God. It teaches that the only source of moral rules is God and that something is good if God says so. In addition, the way to lead a good life is to do the will of God.

Consequentialism - This type of ethics says that either right or wrong depend on the consequences of one's act, and that the more good consequences are produced, the better the act.

Situation ethics- In situation ethics, right and wrong depend upon the situation. It teaches

Virtue Ethics - This type of ethics stresses the role of a person's character and behaviour. It is more of a person rather than action based.

2.1 - key ethical and moral points common to all case studies

Euthanasia is the termination of a very sick person's life in order to relieve them of their suffering. This links to the case of a man who named Tony Nicklinson who had a stroke and left him with locked-in syndrome. He could not do anything for himself. Therefore, he solely depended on carers and family for his care. He described his illness as a living nightmare. He could not speak, clean his teeth and even could not scratch an itch. He wanted to end his life through assisted suicide. He wanted a doctor to be able to end his life for him. He gave his consent to that effect but the law is against assisted su...

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...ormation about them is shared with other health professionals. Furthermore, nurses must ensure they gain patients consent before beginning any treatment or care and must uphold patient's rights to be fully involve in decisions about their care. Nurses must ensure they treat their patient's fairly and without discrimination based on their religion, culture, gender and ethnic background.

References & Bibliography

Clarke. L, (1990) Abortion: a right issue.In: Birthrights: Law and ethics at the beginnings of life, (eds. Lee R and Morgan M) Blackstone. London

Harris J. (1985) The value of life. Routledge and Kegan Paul. London

Hendrick, J (2001) Law and ethics in Nursing and Health Care. Nelson Thornes. United Kingdom.

Herring, J (2006) Medical Law and Ethics, Oxford: University Press. www.bbc.co.uk www.direct.gov.uk www.legislation.gov.uk www.nspcc.org.uk