Ethical Dilemma In
Nursing
With the technological
developments in the fields of medical care, long life has now become
a reality. Health care professionals are able to provide both
conventional and latest medical treatments to save the lives of
people suffering with even chronic and terminal illnesses. However,
ethical issues and conflicts have now become very common in health
care industry due to rising medical costs. Many times, health care
providers and nurses encounter critical situations that require them
to make decisions that have to be both ethical and medical.
An ethical dilemma can be considered
as a mental state where a nurse has make a choice out of all the
available options, while attending a patient. Nurses are trained
with the objective of providing quality nursing care to patients
with the assistance of technology. However, emphasis must also be
there to provide knowledge and skills to nurses so that they can
help diagnose ethical situations in health care and address them
efficiently. On the other hand, nurses often face situations where
they would be unable to decide on the correct course of treatment or
action as their values and beliefs conflicts with the interests of
the patient.
In critical medical complications,
family members often find it difficult to decide on the best
treatment option. In these situations, assistance from
well-qualified and trained nurses can be sought for obtaining
critical information and support. In another situation, a nurse
needs to administer a life-saving drug to a patient undergoing
treatment in the critical care unit, but is not directed to do so.
There are numerous such instances of ethical dilemmas in nursing.
Nurses are expected to be benevolent, truthful, maintain
confidentiality, respect the patient’s individuality and autonomous
so as to be ethical. |
