Nursing Dilemma Mini Paper Emily Gruenwald Madonna University NUR 4840: Dynamic Nursing Leadership Dr. Savine May 26, 2024 To begin, it is important to distinguish between ethical dilemmas and moral dilemmas. An ethical dilemma is a situation in which two, or more, ethical principles conflict with each other, resulting in either two equally good or bad choices. Where in a moral dilemma, there is a conflict between the individual's values and beliefs. In a moral dilemma, the individual knows right from wrong and is forced to complete something against the individual's conscience. Given the situation of the military nurse and the terrorist prisoner, I believe that the situation is a moral dilemma. There is an internal conflict for the nurse …show more content…
This situation places all moral conflict onto the nurse rather than the prisoner. The nurse is the individual who decides to follow commands or listen to their internal moral compass. While it is important to give humans the right to autonomy, there are instances where autonomy should be overridden, however, this topic is widely debated. Autonomy can be restricted if the person is harming themselves or others, such as a threat to public safety (Varelius, 2006). Other times when autonomy can potentially be revoked is when the individual cannot make decisions for themselves. Within the case study, the prisoner is a threat to public safety, so it could be debated that the prisoner does not have the right to autonomy. We can learn that ethics and morals are not always black and white. There are often instances where ethics and morals are heavily debated due to differences in opinion. Understanding ethical and moral principles can help individuals both inside and outside of the healthcare field make informed decisions about everyday tasks as well as medical decisions. Based on the definitions of moral and ethical …show more content…
ANA. 2024, February 12 -. https://www.nursingworld.org/content-hub/resources/workplace/why-ethics-in-nursing-matters/ Varelius J. a. The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage The value of autonomy in medical ethics. Medicine, health care, and philosophy, 9(3), 377–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-006-9000-z Varkey, B. 2021. The. Principles of Clinical Ethics and Their Application to Practice. Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre, 30(1), 17–28.
Nurses are required to protect and support their patients if they are to be an efficient patient advocate. Ethically questionable situations are quite common for nurses that conflict with their professionals and personal morals. At times, the patient necessitates the nurse to speak out for them demonstrating
During week 4, we became familiar with the application of ethics in the nursing practice settings. We learned about ethical theories and principles, which are crucial when practicing in any clinical settings during ethical decision-making and while facing one or multiple ethical dilemmas. Also, we were introduced to the MORAL model used in ethical decision – making progress. The MORAL model is the easiest model to use in the everyday clinical practice, for instance at bedside nursing. This model can be applyed in any clinical settings and its acronyms assist
Planning included reaching out to other health organizations, objectives, and goals of health fair were established. The implementation includes getting volunteers, set up for the health fair. The evaluation of the process occurred throughout the implementation and changes were made as needed. The evaluation will be completed by gathering information from health booth to determine the number of participants. Review vendor and participant evaluations about the health fair including how they heard about the health fair, ratings of booths and suggestions for improvements. Record everything to determine changes. Reflection on past experiences and what worked and did not work.
Under the code of ethics for nurses this moral issue is also conflicting because you’re first and foremost obligation is to the patient. Now you also have your institution ethical code conduct that you also has to abide by. Provision 5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth (ANA, 2001, p.18). In this case the nurse owes it to herself in making the right moral decision to preserve integrity and safety of patient and
Professional Code of Conduct for Nurses Chantel Findley Nova Southeastern University Professional Code of Conduct The classical term for the word ethics is, moral philosophies that rule an individual’s or group behavior or action. The American Nurses Association used ethics to write the Code of Ethics for Nurses with these values and visions in mind: “(1) As a statement of the ethical obligations and duties of every person who chooses to enter the profession of nursing. (2) To act as the nonnegotiable standard of ethics.
Define a critical thinking task that your staff does frequently (Examples: treat high blood sugar, address low blood pressure, pain management, treating fever etc.). Create a concept map or flow chart of the critical thinking process nurses should take to determining the correct intervention. Include how much autonomy a nurse should have to apply personal wisdom to the process. If the critical thinking process was automated list two instances where a nurse may use “wisdom” to override the automated outcome suggested. Note the risks and benefits of using clinical decision making systems.
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.
Registered Nurse John, Registered Nurse Jane and Director of Nursing Ms Day are all entitled to self – determination and to be motivated by their own actions. The actions of John, Jane and Ms Day are their own undertakings even though nurses are not considered autonomous decision makers (Butts, 2013). Nurses are still required by law to follow the instructions given to them by physician authority and to refute this needs a strong case for argument (Arnold & Boggs, 2013). RN John displays a sense of duty of care to protect the weak and vulnerable. An impression of doing the greater good is conveyed by John in his actions of stealing medical supplies. He believes he is not doing any harm to those around him as the supplies were meant for the disposal unit anyway and are meant for a good cause (McPherson, 2011). Rn Jane wants to prot...
Ethical dilemmas are the issues that nurses have to encounter everyday regardless of where their workplaces are. These problems significantly impact both health care providers and patients. Patient safety is the most priority in nursing and it can be jeopardized by a slight mistake. Medication errors and reporting medication errors have been major problems in health care. Errors with medications have been found to be the most common cause of adverse drug effects (Brady, Malone, Fleming, 2009). Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago conducted a research in 2012 that approximately forty percent of the hospitalized clients have encountered a medication error (Lahue et al., 2012). A nurse’s role is to identify and report these medication errors immediately in order to stop or minimize any possible harm to the patients. Ethical moral dilemmas arise when reporting the mistakes that have been made by one’s own colleagues, acquaintances, peers, or physicians.
An ethical dilemma is defined as a mental state when the nurse has to make a choice between the options and choices that he or she has at her disposal. The choice is a crucial task as the opting of the step will subsequently determine the health status of the concerned patient, hence it requires a great deal of wisdom along with proper medical and health training before any such step is opted as it is a matter of life and death. Strong emphasis should therefore be on the acquisition of proper knowledge and skills so that nurses do posses the autonomy to interact with patients regarding ethical issues involved in health care affairs and address them efficiently. It is normally argued that nurses are not provided sufficient authority to consult and address their patients on a more communicative or interactive level as a result of which they are often trapped in predicaments where their treatments of action and their personal beliefs create a conflict with the health interests of the patient. (Timby, 2008)
By establishing a code of ethics the nursing profession provides a framework for judgment calls dealing with these difficult situations. This set of moral principals sets a standard for thinking through ethical problems, which ultimately helps nurses settle these types of issues. These ethical nursing dilemmas usually arise from disagreements in personal values and social issues that regard the decisions or beliefs of patients. The objective is to come to a common understanding which upholds the best interest of the patient while reinforcing the personal values of the healthcare professional.
Friendships may be formed; however, having professional interactions is something that is not always followed. In terms of patient confidentiality, we may not realize that a HIPPA violation has occurred due to a friendly conversation with coworkers. If a patient were to overhear their nurse discussing their information in an unprofessional manner, then it may cause issues with a patient’s dignity and their rights. If a patient’s right is violated, then it can lead to a patient’s mistrust in their caregiver, leading to mistrust in the facilities, and can end with a patient’s health being compromised. The patient is the reason for this career; if the needs of the patient are being unmet or violated then the purpose of our occupation will be unsuccessful and indifferent.
Ethics asses the values, morals, and principles of nurses. Legal codes or laws are rules established by our government. It’s important that nurses have a clear and comprehensive understanding of ethical and legal codes within their career. The understanding of these codes is essential for nurses to safely practice and to protect their patients. Nurses must abide by these principles or face the consequences of legal action. These principles include autonomy, utilitarianism, confidentiality, and many others. Autonomy is the agreement to respect ones right to determine a course of action, while utilitarianism is what is best for most people as defined in American Nurses Association. In order to give you a
The four fundamental nursing responsibilities of promoting health, preventing illness, optimizing health and alleviating the ill are represented in the code of ethics. (Arnold & Boggs, 2016) One can say that the code of ethics are rules that a nurse needs to follow in order to effectively communicate and protect the patients. The American Nurse Association provided the code of ethics to guide nurses to ensure that patient’s care, safety, rights and health are well cared for and well managed. Models like Utilitarian, deontological, and the human rights-based all contribute in answering dilemmas that can arise with a patient. Thus, explaining what some of the code of ethics are, and how the code of ethics influence our responsibilities as a nurse will impact the overall care of the
Norm violating behavior is behavior that is not considered appropriate within society. For this study, the social behavior that was carried out was having an animated conversation with oneself while in a public place. This is considered norm violating because people do not engage in this activity due to the rules of what society deems as acceptable. This leads to the hypothesis: If a person begins to have an animated conversation with themselves in a public setting then those around will become uncomfortable. Further, individuals have the preconceived idea that those who talk to themselves are “abnormal” because societal expectations have been established and hold a consistency within the culture.