Well I don't have an ethical issue but I need to discuss one !

[aphi~gn]

For my Internship class we have to come up with and discuss a controversial issue/topic that is pertinent to current nursing practice or health care and discuss pros and cons and how the issue has or will impact the nursing profession. . .I'm stuck I can't think of any issues that I really want to discuss. . . .so I'm hoping to get some ideas, I would appreciate any help I can get.

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

How about treating patients without insurance, or better yet foreigners without insurance. How much should be spent? Should their lives be saved by organ transplants, chemotherapy or surgery if no one will pay the bill? You'd be surprised the answers you will get from different healthcare professionals-Just read the threads.

Maisy

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

We got to choose to defend the folks involved in the Terri Schiavo case.

Either Terri, her parents, her husband, or Jeb Bush.

steph

[nsginmo]

I did one on nurses involved in capital punishment....can you believe my state actually had an LPN admistering lethal injection, and has recently passed a law protecting nurses from any criminal prosecution or from any reprimands by the state board? Pretty interesting....in fact I still have lots of journal writings etc.....

[aphi~gn]

Wow. . .so many great ideas. . .I'm probably gonna take some of these and try to find research and see which one pans out. . .thank you all for the great ideas :yeah:I have until the middle of July before I present so I have plenty of time to really research some of these topics. . .If anyone thinks of anymore lemme know. . Thanks again !

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

I just thought of something I think could be a great ethical issue discussion. We talk about it on this board all the time, in fact.

The "customer service" vs "patient care" focus that so many facilities have now can, I believe, be seen as an ethical issue. Many facilities are focusing on how happy "customers" are with things like how fast someone brings their sodas but there's not a lot of apparent concern with having their actual medical and nursing care needs met. Facilities are spending money on cosmetic improvements but not on having sufficient ancillary and nursing staff. Now the AMA is even considering medical "secret shoppers" to evaluate the "care" that they get.

You could limit the discussion to the issue of "secret shoppers" or you could expand it to the whole "customer service vs. patient care" issue, but I don't think putting it into terms of ethics would be difficult at all.

[58flyer]

Well, as recent events on this forum have shown, male medical modesty seemed controversial enough and generated some lively debate.

[Turtle in scrubs]

I loved studying ethics in school and find value in studying the "big" issues. Ironically now that I'm working I realize that the ethical issues I make on a regular basis are a bit different than I imagined. Sure studying Terri Shiavo helped me deal with the family that made their loved one comfort care, but it was not my decision to make really. I only had to decide how best to give care, as unbiased as I could. On the other hand here are 2 day -to- day ethical issues.

1. Working vs. calling in when sick. Although it varies from place to place it is safe to say that this is a big dilemma for nurses who often get mixed messages from management and co-workers. Ahhh... this is a tough one that I never had a very hard time in my previous, more traditional job.

2. Witnessing other nurse's waste medication. Not sure how it is done in other places, but on my unit we are suppose to witness other nurses as they waste medication and verify with our finger print. As a student I saw most nurses run up swipe their finger and leave - not witnessing the waste or even asking what med it was. Everyone said "do as I say, not as I do". As the idealistic nursing student I swore that wouldn't be me. A year later guess what - it's me. I can rationalize it up one side and down the other, but either way it is wrong and I'm putting myself at risk.

Not so glamorous but these are the real life ethical dilemmas I have had to deal with in my first year.

[I love my cat!]

In my class there was almost a fist-fight over one topic:

Mandatory Sterilization.

(Women who rely on the system to pay for everything as they continue to have children that they cannot afford).

I thought it was a fascinating discussion.

[husker_rn, RN]

Abortion administered to teenage girl with/without parent consent; to murky the waters, what if the girl's father has a violent nature ? What if he's the baby's father ? That subject really got us all fired up in school.