“Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.” ~ Albert Schweitzer, Franco – German Physician & Philosopher, who won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for philosophy of “Reverence for Life”. Given the increasing complexities in medical technology, complex medical laws and changing dynamics of work in nursing profession, ethical dilemmas in nursing need to be seen with a fresh perspective. It is a fact that in nursing profession ethics and personal integrity are held with high value. Nurses are confronted with ethical dilemmas in nursing frequently in their profession. Every day nurses have to face unpleasant and challenging situations wherein they have to exercise fair sense of judgment to arrive at quick decisions. Ethics in this regard are very important for every healthcare system.
Written code of conducts, working principles and work ethics are very important to prevent incompetent, unethical, or illegal practices in nursing. Ethical dilemmas in nursing homes also need to be studied carefully because even a slight mistake, miscalculation and cheating from the part of a medical professional can lead to loss of human life. Why Ethics Are Important for Nurses Nurses are the bridge that connect patients, their family members and medical professionals. Since nurses require ethical judgment skills in many clinical situations, the need of well trained nursing staff, who’re aware of every minute detail of nursing ethics is very important.
Ethical confidence is essential among new graduate nurses to handle issues sensitively. An ethical dilemma example that many nurses often face in hospitals is the refusal of a treatment method that has been advised by the medical expert but is refused by the patient, or worst by the family members. What should a nurse do to convince the family members and the patient that the medical treatment suggested by the doctor will bring promising results? Certainly, it is one of the greatest ethical dilemmas in nursing practice, that needs to be mentioned in nursing ethics.
Integrity in nursing profession is also one of the main reasons as why well written ethics and code of conducts are important. Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing Research Amongst numerous ethical issues in healthcare, proper research and presentation of results is the most crucial one. Owing to development and growth of specialized hospitals, most of them have their own research and development departments, where they conduct study about diseases and response of patients to several medicines. Since every patient is different, numerous medicines and treatment procedures may or may not work for everyone. However, in case of finding of some breakthrough results about diseases, some hospitals take a step ahead and market themselves aggressively, to attract maximum clients. Similarly, some hospitals secretly or directly promote numerous other medical ethical issues like designer babies, surrogacy and cloning. Now, there can be both sides to the coin, positive and negative however, since topics like these are controversial, they always present dilemmas before nurses who have to be a part of the system, to work and earn money. Abortion, for instance, is among the ethical dilemmas in nursing faced by nurses or medical professionals. While there are some doctors who are against abortion, there are certain others who are comfortable doing it.
It is all about individual’s view and opinions. One of the current ethical issues in nursing or rather, in medical science is genetic engineering. Should we allow gene therapy, to produce healthier, more intelligent and smarter race of people and that too, by power of choice or should we stick to the natural reproduction process? These are certainly some challenging questions confronting the medical fraternity. Nurses being one of the first medical care professionals patients encounter with, they have to face numerous situations where their ethics comes in question. Issues like euthanasia or maintaining confidentiality of patient records are some obvious issues that need to be understood carefully. Owing to tremendous scope of ethics in nursing profession ‘ethical dilemmas in nursing case studies’ is a subject of intense study in top nursing schools. It is very important for every hospital management to set specific work ethics for its employees like nurses so that they can be at least aware of their rights and they don’t commit blunders in any treatment process by taking wrong decisions in haste.