Ethical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical - Essay Example From basic nursing care to the advance and critical nursing practices, to researches and home care system, every procedure to be carried out must be done with utmost understanding of the procedure itself and its implications for both the patient and the nurse practitioner. Butts and Rich (2012) stated in their book Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice that â€Å"Rules and theories matter little without the formation of good character† and believed that nurses are faced with ethical issues every single day. They added that imbibing textbooks ethics serves as a sturdy foundation for nurses to develop practical wisdom and virtuous character in practice. Assessment is the initial step in every nursing procedure therefore it is vital to first determine the nurse’s understanding of what ethical issue really means. A lot of people misunderstood ethics as mere observance of social norms, religious beliefs or the law instead of it being an impartial concept of its own (Paul and Elder, 2006). It may be understood as a moral principle of a specific individual, group, or custom and other author allows its usage to be interchangeable with â€Å"morality† (Deigh, 1995). ... and a process of enactment.† There is no absolute right or wrong in responding to ethical dilemmas but the goal for deciding how to act upon it is based on the basic notion of beneficence and non-maleficence. The knowledge on General Principles of Nursing Ethics is vital in facing these situations. It is important that nurses are aware of these virtues in order to be properly guided in decision making. These are beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for autonomy, justice, and respect for person. Beneficence is active promotion of good while non-maleficence means duty to do no harm. Respect for autonomy is acknowledging the patient’s rights, values and choices so as respect for person which equates to treating all patients as worthy individual. And lastly, justice is the promotion of equity or fairness in every situation a nurse encounters (Barnett, 2003). Ethical issues faced in the nursing practice can be clinical problems relating to patient right and care, professiona lism, philosophical, organizational and societal (Bosek, 2009). One of the most common face is conflict between patient autonomy and nurse’s belief such as denial of blood transfusion for the Jehova’s Witness or withdrawal from life sustaining treatment even if it can cause fatal consequences, or tending to post-operative abortion patients that are done not for medical purposes. An example of this was the quandary faced by nurses of University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey when they were directed by the hospital in September 2011 that all nurses are required to assist in pre- and post-operative care of abortion patients (Katarsky, 2011). Clearly this presents ethical battle against the nurses’ morality especially if they are pro-life or have opposing cultural and religious beliefs.