Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing for Social Injustice - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theEthical Dilemmas in Nursing for Social Injustice. Answer: Introduction The Ethics is the essential section of the core foundation of the nursing practice. The nursing role has got a clear history for its concern on the ill, the injured, the vulnerable and against the social injustice. All these concerns got embodied in the dire offering of nursing to the individuals and the immediate community. Usually, nursing incorporates the prevention of sickness, the ending of patient suffering, patient protection and the restoration of the patients health. The ethical conflict arises amongst the nurse and other health professionals or with the family members or the patients(McLean, 2016). In the case study of Patrick Le, just an infant of eighteen months only, two ethical dilemmas develop concerning his admission to the small community hospital instead of being at the tertiary hospital to continue receiving the nursing care. Following the case scenario of the infant, the nurse on duty is against the transfer of the child to the ward and insist that the baby should get taken back to the tertiary hospital, but the emergency physician and the pediatric registrar insists that he should remain at the word(Jonsen, Siegler, Winslade, 2015). Out of the case study, in the essay, I would discuss on the two ethical conflicts, the moral theory applicable, the professional code of conduct and ethics, and the national and international charter. The Ethical Conflicts In the case scenario which involves an infant, Patrick Le, his mother, nurse on duty, the emergency physician and the pediatric registrar, there emerge disagreements regarding the patients transfer. An ethical conflict of the patient consent versus the professional duty of care develops. The patients mother, Sally, had asked the paramedics to take her child direct to the tertiary hospital but they declined, stating that they got a direction to take the infant to the nearest hospital(Hemberg, Nyman, Hemberg, 2017). In this situation, the patient consent got not observed since the babys mother had given an okay for her child to receive treatment at the tertiary hospital but all that happened was contrary to her decision. The infants mother had given informed consent for the child to continue receiving nursing care at the tertiary hospital but the paramedics did the contrary by objecting the decision and taking the baby to the closest community hospital. On admitting the child, the diagnosis got done without the patients consent. The emergency physician and the pediatric registrar hurriedly attended the child without having time to consult her mother about the childs medical history(Pera, 2011). The paramedics who had gone to pick the child were professionally insulted since they were not given an opportunity to make any other decision regarding the patient but were to follow the instructions. It got clearly shown that the paramedics would not make any other decision regarding where to drop the patient for admission. The paramedics were denied the right to make their decisions but to solely rely on the instructions from the top management, and this resulted to the dilemma. Similarly, the conflict arose when the nurse on duty decided to hit on the truth after doing the nursing assessment on the infant. During the patients records assessment, the nurse discovered that the infant had a very long medical history which had not been exposed by her mother. The medical history shed light that the patient had earlier on received admission at the tertiary hospital and was on receiving nursing care(Herring, 2014). This made the nurse on duty in the community to raise objections and sought that the patient gets transferred immediately to the tertiary before his condition deteriorates. In the process of the nurse telling the truth about the patients medical history, she forgot the nursing practice standards and exposed the confidential information of the patient. The release of the patients privacy and sensitive information is against the professional code of conduct, and, the nursing and midwifery board of Australia nursing practice standards. As a nurse, she/he was first to offer the necessary nursing care services then privately discuss the matter with the appropriate professionals but not to disagree before the patient's mother publicly(Cook, Mavroudis, Jacobs, Mavroudis, 2015). Such an act totally showed that the nurse had a quite little concern on the patient though what she/he fought for was appropriate for the patient. According to the community nurse, he/she made the right decision though she/he told the truth using inappropriate means. Regardless of the matter of facts brought forward by the nurse on duty, the emergency physician and the pediatric registrar were reluctant to absorb it and instead chose to ignore. The paramedics declined to have the infant transferred since they also felt that they have a duty to care for the child as the health providers medically. Their decision was entirely contradictory to the nurses decision based on the medical history of the patient(Doherty Purtilo, 2015). It was outright wrong to offer nursing care to a patient who had initially not completed the care he was receiving in another hospital. Such raised more concerns to the nurse as to why the infant did not continue receiving the nursing care at the tertiary hospital. The nurse remained firm with the facts until the truth got viewed by the childs mother. The mother showed some sense in the nurses objections and made a decision out of the fact brought forward by the nurse, and she chose to the take her child to the tertiary ho spital. The step adopted by the infants mother seemed to solve the truth-telling versus the confidentiality conflict amongst the nurse and the paramedics. Ethical Theory For the health care providers, the moral ethics employed for the primary practice underscores the key sections of the ethics difficulty vital towards their practice and results in the crucial morally remedy creation as per the principles of the ethical values involved. There exist four broad classes of the moral theory which incorporates the deontology, the utilitarianism, the rights, and the virtue-based ethics. In the case study, the deontology theory would apply well(Beauchamp, 2016). The deontological category of moral values expresses that individuals ought to hold fast to their commitments and obligations when occupied with necessary leadership when morals are in play. Such indicates that a health care provider should commit him/herself to the duties assigned to him/her in assisting the patient or giving back to the immediate community. For example, the deontologist would opt to remain truthful in performing his/her duties. The health care provider that clings to the deontological assumptions would create an exceptionally predictable informed decision because it shall get based on the formulated objectives. In the case scenario, it gets evident that the community nurse declines to take on the duty of another nurse and maintained that the infant should get transferred to the tertiary hospital to continue receiving the nursing care(Kerkoff Hanson, 2015). The nurse believed that it was wrong for her/him to caring for the patient after discovering from the patients medical that the infant care was under someone initially. The nurse stood by the truth and objected since she understood the dire consequences that would arise if the patients health condition deteriorates more than when she was in the tertiary(Rincon Lee, 2015). Although, the nurse had a duty to play in caring for the child the nursing standards and profes sional code of conduct fail to honor admissions that do not follow the right channel like having a referral. Human Dignity and Human Rights Based on the moral codes, the human dignity serves both as a duty and as the human right. The human dignity refers to the due respect that an individual gets accorded and treated as a very special person. It should get well understood that the respect for the human dignity happens to be a necessity for both patients and all the other people(Varcoe, Browne, Cender, 2014). The human dignity is equally a significant aspect that the nurses should consider during the provision of quality nursing care. The delivery of dignity in the health facilities incorporates respect, the compassion, and the sensitivity aspects. In the case study, it seems that the patients dignity gets lowered through the actions of the nurse. At first, the emergency department responds appropriately and fast but later on the nurse worsens things. On discovery that the infant was still under the nursing care of the tertiary hospital, the nurse fails to show any compassion and feeling for the pain that the child would be going but just withdrew her/his services(Organization, 2014). Upon withdrawal of the nursing care to the patient, the nurse stood firm that the patient should get transferred to the tertiary hospital to continue receiving care. In this case, the infant gets denied the right to the access of quality health care services as it gets outlined in the national and the international charters. The Principles of Beneficence, Non-maleficence, Respect for the Patient Autonomy and Social Justice Beneficence involves the action that gets done with the aim of benefiting other people. In the case study, the emergency physician and the pediatric registrar plays their role so as to help the infant but the nurse does the contrary to the principle. The emergency physicians are relied upon to forgo bringing about damage, yet they likewise have a commitment to assist their patients(Spratt, et al., 2015). The ethicists regularly differentiate between the obligatory and the ideal beneficence. The typical value contains extraordinary demonstrations of liberality or endeavors to profit others on every single conceivable event. The principle of non-maleficence requires that the doctors should avoid doing more harm to the patients but instead offer effective treatment without malice practice. As per the case study, the infant fails to get the efficient care from the nurse even after getting admission and undergoing diagnosis. According to this rule, such an act by the nurse seems unfair and not credible though the nurse was subject to the nursing standards of practice(Johnstone Hutchinson, 2015). The nursing rules would not allow her/him to care for a patient who still receives care at another hospital without referral to guarantee permission. Specialists may choose not to offer effective treatment to their clients since for such treatments that have doubts in would lead to hazardous effect. What's more, the emergency physicians and the pediatric registrar in the case scenario involving Patrick Le, they should not hurriedly offer medication without having a consideration on the pharmacological outcome. The principle of the respect for the patient autonomy does not mostly apply in the case study given that the client is very young unable to speak out his mind(Furrow, Greanev, Johnson, Jost, Schwartz, 2014). Furthermore, the tribunals for justice would require that the infant receives the necessary care if possible anywhere regardless of the medical history. National and International Charters The laws enacted both in the national and the international levels all outlines clearly that any person has the guarantee to better health care regardless of the age, race, industrial classification or any other form of discrimination(Moaddab, et al., 2015). In the case study, the laws for the provision of health care to all gets conflicted in that the infant gets denied the right to better nursing care. Conclusion Following the above discussion on Patrick Les case, it is evident that the healthcare provision standards needs to be adhered to strictly. The infant was to receive the equality nursing care as per the national and international charters provision for the right to quality care, but there existed a contradiction in which health facility was responsible. The nurse exposes the privacy and the confidential medical information of the patient and uses it to hit hard on the truth of the matter seeking the transfer of the infant to the tertiary hospital. In the case study, there erupt ethical conflicts amongst the paramedics, nurse, and Sally. Some of the ethical issues include the truth-telling versus the confidentiality and the patient consent versus the professional duty of care. The deontology applies in the circumstantial case as the ethical theory. Finally, there are principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, and social justice applicable in the case scenario. References McLean, S. A. (Ed.). (2016).First do no harm: Law, ethics and healthcare. Routledge. Hemberg, J., Nyman, H., Hemberg, H. (2017). 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