ETHICS & HEALTHCARE PRACTICES

Ethics & Healthcare Practices - The Influence, Role & Relevance of Nursing in Ethical Conflicts



Ethics & Healthcare Practices - The Influence, Role & Relevance of Nursing in Ethical Conflicts

The role and relevance of ethics in nursing practice is undeniable when considered against the backdrop of the diverse healthcare settings in which care has to be provided. It is because of the same reason that the development and implementation of regulatory framework has become common in order to ensure that ethical guidelines are clear and present at all times. In addition, decision making in nursing tends to have multilateral implications, making adherence to ethical consideration all the more imperative. It is essential for ethical guidelines to influence nursing practices so that the rights values and beliefs form the rationale behind the actions and decisions taken by nurses.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the significant areas that take influence from the presence of ethical guidelines in the nursing profession. This makes it imperative to come to terms with the role and relevance of the nursing profession; in addition to the development of an adequate understanding of the numerous ways in which nurses contribute to the delivery of care in diverse healthcare settings.

Ethical Theory with Relation to Nursing

The purpose of ethics is to ensure that decision making is based on morally correct principles and beliefs. Since decision making in nursing can have consequences that make all the difference between life and death, the nursing profession often looks towards ethical considerations for reliable guidelines (Preston, 1996). In essence, ethics help practitioners determine the right answer to questions that fall victim to grey areas. In the healthcare setting, practitioners need to make decisions about options and alternatives for treatments that may be life saving. Providing healthcare is a complicated business that can quickly spiral out of control if approached with anything but a comprehensive understanding of the requirements, the responses and their implications. It is precisely this area that Medical Ethics seeks to resolve. However, it merits highlighting that the goal of medical ethics (at all times), is to ensure the safety and recovery of the patient. Since there are rarely obvious solutions in diverse healthcare settings, the importance of ethics increases all the more. In this regard, it is important to note that the mere presence of an ethical regulatory framework is not sufficient - the nursing staff needs to be well educated and trained about the role and relevance of ethics in their professional practice. For this reason, a practicing nurse needs to be fully aware of the manner in which ethical guidelines influence decision making in tasks; may they be major or minor. As a result, ethical practices in nursing tend to positively influence in the moral and personal development of nursing practice.

Utilitarianism

The roots of modern day Utilitarianism date back to 19th century Britain when research and development in healthcare practices were focused almost entirely on the outcome. The process of recovery was justified if the objective ...