Applying Ethical Frameworks in Practice
Soniya , RN
Grand Canyon University: NRS 437V
Professor: Teresa Ortner, RNC, MSNEd
December 11, 2012
Applying Ethical Frameworks in Practice
When patient seeks for assist and care, professional-patient relationship is established and the promise of confidentiality is incriminated automatically. Respecting confidentiality is the professional commitment. Yet occasionally unavoidable situations bring health care profession to face nothing but the alternative choices which ends up breaching the confidentiality. The author would like to discuss one’s professional position regarding the ethical implications of a breach of confidentiality, ethical ...view middle of the document...
Reporting of child abuse, certain infectious disease, and potential violence would be the latter case to protect the public’s good. Furthermore, this also is legal duty in addition to the ethical obligation (Kerridge, Lowe, & McPhee, 2005).
Ethical Theories and Ethical Principles
In the article by Pamela G. Nathanson (2000) entitled "Betraying Trust of Providing Good Care? When is it Okay to Break Confidentiality," the nurse, Hathaway’s decision and actions to inform Andrea’s parents and her school are appropriate and justified. The proper treatment for the Andrea would be slim without informing her parents and obtain the consent. The points are, revealing the patient’s confidentiality certainly is the risk, however, the benefit of patient outweighs and discrete notification to school without disclosing the source was a canny decision which resulted in keeping confidentiality with patient on this event.
The author can relate this to a few ethical theories. Informing parents has utilitarian motives for achieving the ultimate benefit of patient. Informing the school has duty driven deontological nature while maintains utilitarian view of concerning other students at school. Also this can be referred as situational ethics which states the act or judgment causes happiness or goodness for the person or persons affected and it is ethically sound. Upon examining ethical principles, Hathaway’s decision on informing Andrea’s parents reflects veracity, beneficence and justice while informing school reflects utility and confidentiality.
Looking from the reminiscence, one of staff was refusing to take care of patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). She was pregnant at that time and feared for her unborn baby. This caused quite upheaval of the unit. Drew upon utilitarianism which is based on the greatest good principle and the ends justify the means would weigh the good of his or her family members against the good of the patient. And preventing the possible disease spread to her and her baby would justify refusal of the assignment. But upon deontology, refusal would be a disruption of nursing duty. Here come other moral principles to consider such as justice, beneficence, generality, and universality. Summing up, refusing to care for an HIV patient would place a nurse in violation of these principles.
Identify a Reasonable Alternative
Theories are just that, the fact to remember is that they do not provide entire solutions for all dilemmas while they offer a framework for moral decision making. The foundation for the ethical decision-making is the problem-solving model. However, the knowledge of ethical decision making does not depend on a set of fixed rules. Rather decisions are established upon a framework of ethics that is vibrant and suitable in day-to-day situations. The decision-making expertise involved in settling these dilemmas are intricate and multifaceted.
Among many resources to utilize in ethical...