Ethical Issue in Nursing

Name: Jackson vrail Class: NR 504 Professor: Dr. Gre Date: 06/02/2012 School: CCN THE ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING Ethics can be defined as a moral decision of what it is, and what it ought to be. Ethical issues in nursing have been dramatic and political due to different ideologies and rising technology in healthcare. The American Association of Nursing has provided guiding principles where nurses base their decisions. These principles include; “Autonomy, nonmaleficence, Beneficence,, Justice, Veracity, Confidentiality, and Fidelity”( American Nursing Association, 2001). All these doctrines act as a foundation for nurses when making decisions pertaining the fate of patient’s life. The major ethical issue commonly seen and which invoke controversies either in our communities, or in courts of laws, is the issue of “do not resuscitate”. DNR can be explained as termination of life support if a patient is critically ill and permitting patient to die instead of continuing to suffer with no promise for recovery. This is decided by the patient when he/she is still capable, family, or surrogate. Despite the fact that nurses strive to help patients, family members, and responsible parties to make a valuable decision, controversies and confusions do exist daily in hospitals. It is our obligation as nurses to come up with concrete strategies in order to make a smooth end of life to our terminally ill patients and to prevent conflicts and confusions in the process. One of the strategy should focus on information transporting. Nurses should provide all