nursing dilemmas ethical principles vs personal values

november17, ASN, RN · Sep 9, 2007

I started typing a nice response to this, then I remembered what it was like being in school. Think it out, it will make perfect sense.

Nurse1966 · Sep 9, 2007

Here's a scenerio that might help...two patients arrive in the ER after a domestic dispute. The wife is transferred out to have reconstructive surgery because the husband has ripped her ear off and rearranged her face. Now, the husband develops chest pain and is admitted to you. Ethically, you are repulsed by his behavior but he is your patient. How do you care for this patient?

Good luck on your paper!

fizzgigger · Sep 9, 2007

hehe, im not asking neone to do it for me, lol. it just seems everything i think of comes in to play with everyone elses words they have to do. for instance : you walk into the room and realize it's someone u went to school with and they were rude and mean to you in school. You treat them rude back in their face and dont' give them the same treatment and rub it in their face ur the nurse and they are noone, (again i would never do this, but then again lol, j/k) that goes to beneficence - doing what is good not respect

Another one I had is that you realized that a woman had an abortion and you don't want to treat her because that goes agains your morals. even after you find out it was the devil's seed you still don't want to, so you abandon the patient that is nonmalfience. To me respect is all of these in a way, respecting the patient not to do any harm and work with their culture beliefs.

I'm just tired of my group, everytime i come up with an idea, they tell me oh that would be in mine so u can't do it. So I thought I'd ask you guys.

Sorry If i upset neone, i don't want you to do my homework, just to talk with me in a way that will help me understand it.

heathIam, RN · Sep 9, 2007

if respect is a part of your personal values then it will not conflict with the ethical dilemmas. You could try that approach.

When you are writing a paper consider your audience - a bunch of know-it-all, opinionated, classmates!

So you say that you think you should respect everyone, regardless. yes?

So take some sennarios and explain to the class how you use your personal value of respect in your respnse to 3 situations where others may see a dilemma.

a 16 year old is brought in after having been beaten severely. He has a head injury, is unconscious and is intubated. As the recieving nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit you are getting report from the ER nurse who tells you that the patient was brought in by EMS after he was beaten by the family and friends of the 4 year old girl he raped.

How does respect play out in that sennario?

A family has been in your unit for 8 months with their child who has recieved his 3rd liver transplant. The child is clearly dying, and the family remains hopeful of a miracle. They have been challenging during their stay - demanding that nursing staff follow their wishes on how things are to be done, assisting in the multiple dressing changes, compalining about staff not washing thier hands, telling the doctors when they want blood products given and when not. One day you are in the room and the patient's heart rate starts to drop. You and the respiratory therapist are right there suctioning and giving oxygen, yet the mum is yelling at you and telling you that you are incompetent and you are killing her child and shouting at you to get someone who knows what they are doing.

How does respect play in this sennario?

You are caring for a baby who was flown into your country because it needed open heart surgery. The family comes from a destitute 3rd world country where the child would have died. your country provides health care to anyone in need. The heart surgery this baby needs is complex, expensive and will require multiple surgeries over the next 3-5 years. The family has no means of support and the father has just arrived with the est of the family, 4 older children. They have nowhere to live, have no support and the social working is arranging services for them. They will need to remain in the country for the next several years to be close to the health care services your centre has offered. You know this means you will be supporting this family for the next several years at least.

How does your respect play into this sennario?

oh and one more thing...drop the chat speak. it isn't very professional and it gives the impression that you are young and not very serious

purplemania, BSN, RN · Sep 9, 2007

respect for others like yourself only? Aged? Weird? Drunk? Dirty? Co-workers? Look in a thesaurus for words that help define the concept of respect. What behaviors indicate you have respect for someone else?

leslie :-D · Sep 9, 2007

how will your actions as a nurse, demonstrate respect, to those patients you are morally repulsed by?

for instance, if you find abortion immoral, how are you going to treat the 18 yr old female, who comes in for her 4th abortion?

how are you going to treat the father of a 5 yr old, who beat his daughter to a pulp?

how are you going to treat a prostitute who comes in to be treated for her 18th std?

you will likely encounter several situations that you do not understand or agree with.

how will your respect play into these dilemmas?

leslie

loricatus · Sep 9, 2007

Why don't you try and break down respect into different components of respect,( rather than look it as a whole,) and then take on each one differently. For example: respect for one's educational level-doctors, peers, PAs..., respect for one's status-management, housekeepers, ceo..., respect for the elderly, respect for anothers' character or lack thereof.... This way might make our task more manageable.

fizzgigger · Sep 10, 2007

Ah I see. That helps me now. I didn't know really which way to go with it. But now I understand. I looked it up and didn't get very much examples from it and we only have two paragraphs about it in our book. Thanks a lot guys! I was just having trouble getting started and just needed a push. First assignment and i'm stumped. Geez that's scary . hehe.

What is chat speak? Is that just talking to people and explaining? Because I have a habit of that. Why would that make me look young and not serious? I personally don't think it does. (my personal values) I have a totally different persona at school and work than I do at home. doesn't everyone almost?

Sisukas · Sep 10, 2007

Your chatspeak was the "lol's" and spelling anyone "neone".

fizzgigger · Sep 10, 2007

ah, well it's a long habit i have on the internet. I'm fine everywhere else but chatting sorry.