NURS 521 – WEEK 2 – Prompt 1

NURS 521 – WEEK 2 – Prompt 1

Explain the statement, “What may be an ethical dilemma for one registered nurse may not be an ethical dilemma for another registered nurse." Be sure to define an ethical dilemma in the course of your discussion. Describe a challenging situation in your nursing career that required you to consider the ethical dimensions of the patient case and the role you played in providing care. (Be sure to respect and maintain patient and colleague confidentiality.)

R//. Patricia Bratianu, RN, on her Nursing Exploring blog states that “ethics is the study of practical reasoning” (NE, 2019). An ethical issue is a situation in which a person is forced to decide between two (2) actions that will influence the wellbeing of another person (Butts & Rich, page 53). Nurses face a variety of ethical issues on a daily basis and they need to bring together their own values with their nursing professional obligation. What a person considers ethical differ from a person who approaches a situation with a different view. For example, in my clinical setting, I face ethical dilemmas while caring for patients with disabilities which may place them at risk for self-harm. An elderly patient may want to walk without supervision. Nurses provide respect for patient autonomy by identifying and improving a patient’s freedom of choice, respecting patient choices, and providing privacy. As a nurse, my desire is to promote independence, but the risk of patient injury due to falls may be greater. So my dilemma is how to balance this issue. Which is more important, independence or safety? Another dilemma I face is with families or patient’s relatives. There is this patient that has an uncured, progressive neurodegenerative disease. The patient does not know what really happen and the families insist on hiding the diagnosis from the patient on the pretext of protecting the patient. This practice deprives the patient of his autonomy and right to self-determination. So my dilemma is how to handle the situation. I advocate always for the truth. The truth, regardless of how painful it may be, has to be revealed to the patient especially if the patient asks for it.

Reference:

Butts, J. and Rich, K. (2019). Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice Book Review. [Vitalsource] Retrieve from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284099096/cfi/6/18!/4/2/2/2/2/4/2@0:0

Nursing Ethics - Ethical Dilemmas Faced By Nurses Everyday. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.nursingexplorer.com/blog/nursing-ethics-ethical-dilemmas-faced-by-nurses-everyday-47

Nurses face ethical dilemmas on a daily basis, regardless of where they practice (Fant, 2012).