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Ethical Dilemmas In Nursing

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Ethical Dilemma:
Disclosure of confidential information and a duty to protect
The job of a nurse is multifaceted. They are leaders, they are teachers, and they provide therapeutic nurse-client relationships. According to a recent poll conducted by Gallup (Newpart, 2012, para. 1), it should come as no surprise that the nursing profession is viewed as the most trusted profession where honesty and ethical standards are concerned. Nursing, like many other professional industries, have standards of practice in which to guide their decisions by providing frameworks for resolving issues. However, according to Walton (2013), with the growing complexity of ethical dilemmas now facing our health care system, nurses are often left asking: “what should we do, [rather than,] what can we do” (as cited in Black, 2014). What is certain is that ethical and …show more content…
372). The main theory of consequentialism is based on what Hussey (2012) describes as, “the goodness or badness” (p. 7) of a particular action or outcome, with an aim to maximize positive outcomes while reducing negative ones (McIntyre, 2014, p. 373). Based on this principle, Jack’s nurse would somehow have to know what the outcome would be prior to making a decision of whether or not to disclose confidential information. Furthermore, according to the College of Nurses of Ontario, nurses must be “able to identify the potential outcome […. and] have the authority and competence to manage the outcomes” (CNO, 2014a, p. 9). Therefore, the consequentialism theory cannot be appropriately applied in this case for two reasons: Outcomes are hard to predict making it inadequate, and the “goodness or badness” of an outcome is in the eye of the beholder (McIntyre, 2014, p.

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