ethical issues and nursing

Columnist · Oct 14, 2012

Moved to Nursing Student Assistance forum for more response.

allnurses Guide · Oct 14, 2012

Will it do more harm than good? That might not be the best approach.

I would suggest think instead about how it is decided which patient gets a organ when it becomes available.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2012

Ok I've been trying to work on this project all week and I've had no clear idea on how I can present it to my class....
My ethical issue is cardiac transplants.... I said beneficence because your doing good but can ultimately lead to doing more harm than good because of all the complications and side effects regarding the transplant
Any ideas on how I can do this?? How does my reasoning sound??

But is that an ethical dilemma? I agree with de2013....how is it decided who gets the organ over others. Who decides who is able to be put ion the list. Like this story.....https://www.google.com/search?q=toddler+denied+transplant.&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Amelia Rivera, Mentally Disabled Girl, Denied Kidney Transplant

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2012

I don't think cardiac transplantation in and of itself is an ethical dilemma. There are risks with any and every procedure and the patient is informed of said risks before they consent to the procedure. It's not unethical to proceed just because of the risk of complications. With a transplant, the patient may suffer adverse events- namely, rejection. Without the transplant, the patient will die. (There's a reason they're on the list, remember.) The allocation of organs can represent an ethical dilemma... for example, there is an upper age limit for many institutions and they won't list people above that age limit. (When I was in nursing school doing a cardiothoracic clinical, I recall that it was 65 at that specific institution.) Yet, Dick Cheney was able to get a heart transplant at the age of 71 earlier this year. Who didn't get the transplant when he did? Is that an ethical choice?

BajanCherry · Oct 15, 2012

Thanks everyone for their responses!!!

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Oct 15, 2012

you need an angle from the patient's perspective. What about cardiac transplants could present itself as an ethical dilemma? Finances? Religion? Age? Family input? Look up the parameters used for determining who is eligible for this procedure then determine how someone could be excluded but still really want to have the procedure. Do the "rules" interfere with the patient's wishes?