Nursing Ethics

Nursing Ethics

A. Introduction

Nursing is not only related to clinical and practice based care, it also covers several ethical considerations that need to be followed. This paper covers the area of nurses and doctors being ethically responsible for the dissemination of information without the consent of the patients. This paper mainly discusses the elements of the principle of confidentiality and situations in which confidentiality has to be broken for the best interest of the patient. The rationale of breaking confidentiality is also discussed along with the steps of decision making that need to be followed in order to make decisions regarding the maintenance of confidentiality.

B. Importance of Ethical Theory

Utilitarianism

It is an ethical theory that deals with the right or wrong outcomes by choosing one action over other actions. It does not deal with the interest of an individual rather; it deals with the interest in a larger perspective. While applying to nursing, it deals with the recognition of pain and pleasure in human live and, also approves or disapproves by considering the amount of pain and pleasure (Weinstein, 1995). When applying utilitarianism to medical and nursing, nurses should be sure to keep their promises, not to cheat, steal and obey all the law, they also need to ensure that the happiness of the patient is maintained.

The importance of theory can be judged from the fact that it provides an objective approach towards the solution of any type of ethical issue. With the help of this theory, medical practitioners can focus on adopting ethical principles whereby the sentiments of patients may be controlled (Hodge et al, 1999).

Deontology

Deontology is also an ethical subject that deals with the moral rules and duties. In order to make correct choices, nurses have to understand what their duties are and, how they are implemented according to the regulations. Deontological moral systems in hospitals typically describe the reason certain actions are followed. This ethical system considers the rules to be superior to the emotions and consequences. It is helpful in situations where medical practitioners have to make decisions that are complicated due to their nature (Badzek et al, 1999).

Ethical issues can arise when something is prohibited but that same thing can be beneficial. In these cases, it becomes confusing and difficult to decide the best approach. Here, deontology can be used since it focuses on the rules and not on the outcomes of a decision. According to this ethical system, if there is a rule of restriction, it has to be followed irrespective of the outcome. Thus this theory makes it easy to make ethical decisions (Gilliga,1977).

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics as it name describes deals with the virtue of the individual and, it focuses on different concepts such as telling the truth, trust worthiness, honesty and kindness. Virtue ethics in nursing describes the nursing of good character helping the patients in a right way (Beauchamp & Childress, 2001).

Virtue ethics considers the benefits of a decision more important than following the rules. For instance, if there is ...