Ethical Reasoning

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3 years ago

Ethical Reasoning             1

Ethical Dilemmas

              Medical practitioners are regularly faced with dilemmas as they perform their duties as health caretakers. They deal with people from all lifestyles, cultural differences, attitudes, beliefs, races, and religion so it is no wonder that many of studies and researches were conducted to discuss how these medical professionals can deal with such diversity. Bosek and Savage (2007) write that nurses, especially, those who get closest and spend the most time with their patients, tend to be faced with more difficulties in dealing with their patients. The following are today’s ethical dilemmas that concern the nursing profession:

  • Pro-choice vs. pro-life. This issue usually affects the personal aspects of nurses who have their own values and beliefs about specific matters like abortion and physician-assisted suicide. Can the nurse who opposes these issues support the patients’ right to choose and their autonomy?

  • Freedom vs. control. Nurses are in a quandary if they allow patients to make a choice that can harm them (patients) or if they (nurses) prevent patients to make a choice. For example, the patient decides not to eat anymore but the nurses know that the outcome will surely harm the patient.

  • Truth telling vs. deception. Nurses are faced with the dilemma if families do not want to tell their patient about his medical condition. Some families decide that telling their loved one about a medical prognosis would worsen the situation.

  • Empirical knowledge vs. personal belief. The data gathered from research and studies clash with long established beliefs such as cultural and religious beliefs.

Ethical Reasoning           2

Nurses are faced with the dilemma when patients refuse to take some medicines or refuse to undergo examinations because it is against their cultural practice.

  • Distribution of resources. Nurses are also in a dilemma when faced with the issue of how, who, and where to allocate the medical services and resources. Some families are problematic over costs of healthcare that affect their decisions as well.

Nurses’ Approaches

            Nurses are faced with dilemma that involved many ethical principles related with ethical theories. As with other cases in health care,  every situation has elements of the theories of teleology, virtue-based ethics to exert effort so patient will get the care and goodness that as a human being would wish for; value-based ethics to be merciful, truthful, and be broadly good as a person and a professional who seeks only comfort and relief for patients; ethics of care that should be present between a health caretaker and patient relationship; and deontology which centers on the action, the process, rules, and principles involved against the outcome of the action itself.

            The ethical dilemma that nurses face all the time entails the reference of varied ethical principles and theory. As Otto (2000, 58) explains, although the human factors are essentially needed to be considered, the guidance of the inherent values of a person as well as professionalism must come hand in hand. Like other medical health practitioners, nurses are persons who work directly and spend more time with the patients than others. They are the most susceptible to the everyday rigors of patient-health caretaker relationship. With these realities and challenges, a nurse should always be alert and have the presence of mind to think quickly and ethically to resolve the issues at hand.

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