Ethical Legal Dilemma Advanced Practice Nursing



Ethical Legal Dilemma Advanced Practice Nursing

Introduction

Nursing can be stated as one of the predominant and important field of healthcare and medicine. The wellness and recovery of patients are highly dependent upon the nursing care they receive in the hospitals.The profession of nursing stand at the front lines of curing diseases and rendering medical services, however, nurses face serious ethical dilemma when it comes to their job roles in the era of today. Most of these issues pertain to the violation of social or legal code of ethics. They have to choose between two unpleasant choices leading to serious consequences pertaining to their own career, as well as, the health and wellness of the patient.

Nurse face ethical dilemma on a daily basis while performing their job duties. They are faced with serious choices between their own career and professional duties, as well as, the desire and wellness of the patient. Ethical dilemmas are mostly the choices between the right and wrong of a profession. In case of nursing, it is a more serious concept since it directly affects the life and survival of the patient. These issues emerge due to direct interaction of nurses with the patients, where the ethical principles and practices of the profession of nursing directly clash with the choices and ideas of the patients. These ethical dilemmas could be categorized as under;

Pro-choice versus pro-life

Truth versus deception

Freedom versus control

Evidence versus personal belief

Distribution of resources (Butts, n.d.).

Ethical dilemma in nursing practices

Most of the cases of ethical dilemma pertain to medical malpractices in nursing; however, the malpractices pertain to voluntary exercise of the right or authority to violate the practices. Ethical dilemmas are often categorized as involuntary or voluntary malpractices leading to the violation of ethical, as well as, legal implications. It ...