Ethical Issues In Nursing Essay

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At its’ peak in 2012, 259 million opioid prescriptions were written by physicians in the United States. Specifically, that is the equivalent of one prescription for every adult in the country. Subsequently, at least two million people suffer with an opioid use disorder (OUD) within the United States. Unfortunately, this epidemic crisis has caused ethical strains in regards to the physician-patient relationship (Rothstein, 2017). Furthermore, nurses often face ethical dilemmas as well when caring for patients that suffer with OUD (da Cunha, 2015). However, healthcare professionals are legally and ethically responsible to treat pain and reduce all patients’ suffering (Dineen & DuBois, 2016). First, physicians face ethical and legal ramifications when dealing with pain management in their patients mainly impart to the physician-patient relationship. Upon meeting with a patient, physicians enter into an implied contract that legally obligates them to continuously treat the patient until there is nothing more they can do for them (Furrow, Greaney, Johnson, Jost, & Schwartz, 2015). Now, pain is a subjective experience reported by the patient, instead of an observable objective assessment completed by the physician. Therefore, physicians are required to treat pain as it is …show more content…

As stated above, bias, stigmas, and lack of education can create unethical situations in undertreating pain. From my personal experience, it can be very difficult to administer pain medication to a patient that does not appear to be in physical distress. Furthermore, administering medications to patients with OUD is extremely difficult as you know you are aiding in their addition and problem. However, as a Registered Nurse I am aware that I am legally and ethically obligated to treat all patients’ pain, just as they report it to me, so I will continue to do that. However, not all nurses think that

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