Ethical dilemmas...

Good Morning, Gil · Feb 28, 2012

http://news.nurse.com/article/20090525/NATIONAL01/90520001

Just came across this article, interesting. It was published in 2009, so many changes have already been made. As far as the SICU case, I know, at least in my hospital, families can be back during resuscitation so long as they're not impeding the progress. Many of these cases are not "everyday" cases, but they are ones that we will probably see at least once or twice during our career.

Another example: End of life issues when there is no living will, POA, and there are many others, christian science in peds cases, etc, etc.

So many gray areas, but we just need to act in the patient's best interest. Even small things, like: is it ethical for me to give this PRN ativan/benzos or PRN sleep aids? I always think to myself: am I giving this for my convenience or is this in the patient's best interest? If it's in their best interest, they get the med. Withdrawal patient at risk of seizure? Then, yes, they get the PRN med. Dementia patient who just might be a lot to handle and is calling me every 10 minutes? Then, no, they really don't need the med (well, they may need a sleep aid if they've been up for 24 hours straight lol, but you get the drift).

Any other ethical issues anyone cares to debate or ones that they've heard about that would be interesting to discuss?

Have a good day, AN!