Ethical Dilemma Principles and Theories Order Instructions: Case Study is mentioned below.
• APA Referencing
• At least 10 genuine references from 2010 to 2016 study based,
• 90 % references has to be research based Journal article AND books
• Australian and New Zealand based study articles are preferable.
• Please have a look Rubric guideline for given topic, I need good grades in this assignment so please do me a favour and try to make a good reflection using Case Study: — Norma Ellis is a 76 year old widow, who recently had a fall at the nursing home she has lived in for the past 7 years and fractured her hip. She has subsequently has a hip replacement and has been rehabilitating well and is now due for discharge back to the nursing home. Norma has an extensive medical history including postural hypotension, rheumatoid arthritis, and impaired mobility. She mobilised within the nursing home using a walker. Her son is demanding that his mother be kept in the ward as an inpatient as he feels that the nursing home staff were negligent and wants his mother to be placed elsewhere bus has not arranged this yet. The treating team consist of the doctor, physiotherapist, nurse unit manager of the rehabilitation unit, social worker, and nurse unit manager of the Norma’s ward at nursing home, where she was in prior to the fall. You are the designated team leader. The doctor feels that there is no need to have Mrs. Ellis on the ward as he feels that her rehabilitation has been maximised, this is an opinion shared by the physiotherapist. Norma wants to go back to the nursing home as she has made many friends there and feels at home there.
Discuss the following question with rationales,
Question: – what were the key issues in this dilemma?
Question: – How would you deal with Norma’s son?
Question :-Are his objection warranted?
Ethical Dilemma Principles and Theories Sample Answer
Ethical Dilemma
An ethical dilemma results when there are two alternatives and neither is right or wrong. The decision which would have maximum benefit to the patient depends on the circumstances during the occurrence of the ethical dilemma (Wilson, 2012). During the occurrence of an ethical dilemma, the nurse has to make the most appropriate choice between two options. In some situations, an ethical dilemma seems to have been solved. However, there are some questions which still remain unanswered and as a result, this ambiguity possesses a challenge to the person who makes the decision (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2012).
Therefore, a nurse has to make a decision basing on ethical principles and theories. To reason ethically, the nurse must think critically of what should be done in an orderly and systematic manner to provide a rationale of actions based on the ethical principles (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2012). However, it should be clear to the nurse involved that the decision to be made should not entirely be based on intuitions and emotions.
Once the ethical dilemma is identified, the nurse should determine the main issues in the dilemma to be able to come up with the best resolution. Some of the factors that should be considered include ethical theories and principle, the party to be affected and the consequences of the alternatives. For a nurse to be able to resolve an ethical dilemma, it is important to make her decisions in a systematic manner.
The key issues that have come out from Norma’s case include: the son wants her mother to be retained in the ward since he feels the mother got the fracture from the negligence of the staff working in the nursing home. However, it is not justified that she indeed got the fracture as a result of negligence. Another issue that comes out clearly is that Norma wants to go back to the nursing home due to the friends that she had made at the nursing home.
One of the ethical principles in nursing is autonomy. The patient has a right to make decisions regarding her treatment. However, the nurse is obliged to intervene if at all she feels it is not the best decision the patient has made. Also, the principle of beneficence stipulates that nurses are obliged to do good and no harm. Therefore, as a nurse-in-charge of the ward, I would weigh the two options so as to be able to make a decision that would most benefit Norma.
In this case, as the team leader in the management of Mrs. Noma’s case, I would explain to the son that her mother had a right to be allowed to make decisions regarding her treatment (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2013). In addition, I would explain that old age is one of the risk factors for fractures due to reduced calcification.
Mrs. Noma’s son’s objections are not warranted. This is because there is no clear evidence that the team in the rehabilitation center played a role in the fracture that Norma sustained during her stay in the Nursing home. Therefore, there was no clear reason as to why the patient could not be taken to the nursing home. From the issues raised above, it is so clear that some ethical issues have come out openly. Therefore the nurse responsible for handling the issues should be in a position to apply the relevant moral knowledge to be in a position to make the most beneficial decision for the patient (Berman et al.).
Ethical Dilemma Principles and Theories References
Berman, A., Snyder, S.J., Kozier, B., Erb, G., Levett-Jones T., Dwyer, T., Hales, M., Harvey, N., & Stanley, D. (2013). Kozier and erb’s fundamentals of nursing (2nd ed.). Vol 2, NSW: Pearson Sydney Australia.
Burkhardt, M. A., & Nathaniel, A. (2013). Ethics and issues in contemporary nursing. Cengage Learning..
DeKeyser Ganz, F., & Berkovitz, K. (2012). Nurses’ perceptions of ethical dilemmas, moral distress and quality of care. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(7), 1516-1525.
Faden, R. R., Beauchamp, T. L., & Kass, N. E. (2014). Informed consent, comparative effectiveness, and learning health care. N Engl J Med, 370(8), 766-768.
González-Pachón, J., & Romero, C. (2016). Bentham, Marx and Rawls ethical principles: In search for a compromise. Omega, 62, 47-51.
Hunt, L., Ramjan, L., McDonald, G., Koch, J., Baird, D., & Salamonson, Y. (2015). Nursing students’ perspectives of the health and healthcare issues of Australian Indigenous people. Nurse education today, 35(3), 461-467.
Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., & Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing: an integrative review. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(8), 1744-1757.
Lee, J. Y., & Divaris, K. (2014). The ethical imperative of addressing health disparities in a unifying framework. Journal of dental research, 93(3), 224-230.
Myers, M. D., & Venable, J. R. (2014). A set of ethical principles for design science research in information systems. Information & Management, 51(6), 801-809.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2013). Nursing and national competency standards for Registered nurse. .
Wilson, R. (2012). Legal, ethical and professional concepts with in the operating department. National Institute of Health, 22(3),81-5.
