Moral distress

Moral distress

Moral distress

Registered nurses have the responsibility of coping with the physician and family decisions concerning life support measures. The moral distress consequences can be detrimental: it can lead to frustration, stress, anger, and depression in most cases. Therefore, moral distress is a crucial challenge in healthcare that has been ignored repeated by the practitioners (Butts, 2013). Thus restricts the ability of a registered nurse from giving quality patient care and satisfaction in doing their mandates. The call to an action plan (Four A’s) that they would help nurses overcome the moral distress in their profession (Butts, 2013).

                  The four A’s of rising above the moral distress

What is the best way to handle Family members of 84 years old lady suffering from a stage four cancer who instructs a nurse to provide a life-sustaining service that delays the dying process without going through any medical test? It may be a directive from the family members but not to the best interest of the patient, which would be against nursing ethics. According to nursing g ethics, it is advisable to diagnose the patient before providing any form of treatment. There resources for palliative care that can be used in handling the situation and providing the best care rather than the family’s option. It is recommended that the nurse in charge should act according to the goals of the profession and guide their integrity (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, and Korhonen, 2015).

Social media provides an essential platform for sharing information; debating about healthcare policy and practice matters; help in promoting the behavior of healthcare professionals in interacting and engaging the public in health matters (Butts, 2013). On the other hand, the information regarding health care in most social media platforms are of poor quality with little relevance because unknown authors post them. Thus, they lack the credibility of authorization.

Q2)

            Social media use can have an important impact on the nurse’s health, both at the individual level as well as in the workplace. Social media use for nurses has both negative and positive consequences. Social media can preserve negative societal attitudes through the shared information. Davis, Fowler, & Aroskar, (2010) asserts that many nurses are ignorant to the privacy settings of their social media accounts, and do not realize the far reaching nature on the posts online. It is significant to note that socials media impact health negatively in ways such as mental anguish that is associated with ethical violation. On the other hand, social media can also be beneficial when discussing issues of national importance, for instance, Patient Protection or Obama care Act in the U.S. in addition social media has made it possible for nurses to connect with each other and advocate for their profession and their patients.

References

Butts, J. B. (2013). Ethics in professional nursing practice.

Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., & Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing: an integrative review. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(8), 1744-1757.