Ethical dilemmas in nursing practice

[SDLP99]

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone could give me some examples of ethical dilemmas they have faced while nursing and how they have handled the situations. The main dilemma that always seems to come to my mind is the assisted suicide situation, but I know there are many other dilemmas faced everyday by nurses. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN]

A patient having a communicable disease and not making any efforts not to spread it. I had a patient with a serious disease that could be very easily passed on to his/her spouse and the spouse had no clue. None. We could not say a word. :angryfire

I was also talking to someone today who works in OR. Had a patient bleeding microscopically from everywhere and could not find a cause. Docs began suspecting he was on the receiving end of Coumidin poisoning by a loved one. No one could say anything until there was an investigation so he couldn't tip the perpatrator off. They just had to watch him closely while he was in the hospital. :angryfire