Ethical dilemma
This essay will narrate a nurse’s ethical dilemma as experienced in a local emergency department. In addition, the paper will discuss the relevant codes of conduct and law and make recommendations based on the nurse’s ethical dilemma.
The subject in this case is a 93-year-old Alzheimer patient who was by then in an extended care facility. As the ailment worsened, she became unable to eat or drink anything, and this was a great threat to her health. It reached that point where the patient would not respond to any touch or voice. The physician in charge of her at this extended care facility had indicated that she would not thrive with that condition. The granddaughter to this ailing patient was the power of attorney. To make matters worse, the elderly patient had no advanced directive. The patient’s family had earlier been directed to send her to the emergency care department where she could be fitted with a feeding tube. If this was done, the patient would get better. So, the nurse was faced with the ethical dilemma of facilitating a diligent demise of the patient and at the same time balance the families’ wish (Heiser, 2014).
Ethical Principle 3 in Standard 3.2 deals with promoting and protecting the wellbeing of health consumers. It requires the health practitioner to respect the rights of the health consumers and their families, especially when it comes to participating in decisions about how they are cared for. The Nursing Council of New Zealand (2012) further emphasizes the need to put into account the priorities, needs and concerns of the health consumer and his family. If the nurse chose not to involve the family in deciding the fate of the Alzheimer patient, she would have grossly violated this ethical principle. And now that the patient herself was not in a position to give informed consent, the nurse turned out surprisingly ethical enough and involved the family.
It seems this nurse understood the legal risks that surrounded...
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Ethical Dilemma Introduction The following paper will narrate an ethical dilemma which has been faced by a nurse working is a local emergency department. The analysis of the dilemma will be done using Catalano’s (2009) ethical decision making algorithm for nurses. Various potential solutions to the dilemma will be discussed along with an examination of both the positive and negative consequences of the decision. This ethical dilemma, faced by the emergency department nurse
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