Question

How do you handle difficult ethical decisions in your nursing practice?

Answer 1

How do you handle difficult ethical decisions in your nursing practice?

We are raised from childhood with values often impacted by our families, religion and the society around us. These values set the stage for how we manage ethical challenges in our day-to-day lives. There are formal definitions for morals in nursing and medicinal services, and in addition real rules, including the American Nursing Association Code of Ethics and the International Council of Nursing Code of Ethics. The two reports give a guide to medical caretakers over all settings. Beauchamp and Childress, in their work "Standards of Biomedical Ethics," recognize four standards of bioethics, which give a system to moral thinking as we manage testing moral situations. The standards are as per the following:

1. Respect for autonomy assures the autonomy and individual decision-making of a patient is voluntary and not done under duress. As healthcare professionals, we must respect, recognize and assure patients they are free to make informed decisions without controlling influences.

2. Nonmaleficence or first do no mischief. We hear this frequently as we enter the medicinal services callings yet what does this mean? Obviously, it implies what is expressed, yet it says significantly more: Healthcare experts ought not purposefully incur or make mischief or damage through demonstrations of commission or exclusion.

3. Helpfulness guarantees medicinal services suppliers are encouraging or giving advantage to another individual as well as the benefit of a populace.

4. Justice also is sometimes referenced as fairness. The benefits and risks should not only be considered, but fairly distributed. We have a responsibility to ask questions and raise concerns, if needed. We need to inquire and perhaps be that moral compass.