Collaborative Ethical Decision Making | Essay

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Name of student:
Name of University:

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Introduction
The main target of palliative care is towards the improvement of the quality of life for the
patient as well as the family and is appropriate within the stage of serious illness. The
thesis statement of this essay explores the requirement for the collaborative ethical
decision making, personal belief and cultural aspect associated with palliative care of
John. This essay will reflect towards the role of the registered nurse that is me in
making ethical decisions as well as fulfilling the cultural care requirements while caring
for John.
Facilitation of Collaborative Decision Making
Facilitation of collaborative ethical decision making incorporates the interdisciplinary
team of action towards a current status of a patient, and the nurses can work
collaboratively towards ensuring the protection of patient rights (Meeker, McGinley &
Jezewski, 2019). Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and finally justice are the
four major ethical principles on which the interdisciplinary team of action and the patient
and their families work collaboratively to make a final decision. Regarding John, the
nurses should support his option of refusing treatment to help him to decide to go home.
Collaborative decision making among the nurses within the interdisciplinary team
contributes to the autonomy of the patient. .
The ethical decision making within a collaborative approach is one of the crucial
dimensions within the end of life care that furthermore promotes the autonomy of the
patient (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. 2018). Respect for autonomy is a

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principle described as the agreement towards respecting the right of self-determination
of a course of action of an individual as well as supporting the independent decision
making of the patient (Nadin et al., 2018). In this scenario it is difficult to see John to
make the decision of stopping the any for the treatment of dialysis towards his health,
since I personally do not agree with his decision. However as a registered nurse it is my
responsibility to support as well as advocate the right of a patient including the right
towards making decisions (Fruch et al., 2016). And though I do not agree with the
decision, but I should support the decision made by John who wants to spend the rest
of his time with his family for the time he has left and I must respect the wishes and
choice of John towards his own medical care.
Another aspect of collaborative decision making that the clinical team of the hospital
need to consider regarding the current status and the wishes of John includes the
principal of Justice which is the driving principle of social equity (Schill & Caxaj, 2019).
This consists in deciding whether or not someone will obtain a benefit. For healthcare,
benefits must also be balanced by costs in order to decide who is eligible for any form of
treatment. In the Code of Ethics for Nurses, the nurses are committed to patients
irrespective of "social or economic status" (Smithard, Mitchell & Patel, 2019). In
consideration of the case of John, who has been determined to stop his further
treatment, the continuation and keeping John forcefully in the hospital would definitely
be futile since according to the medical professions who reviewed the current status of
John, who has a little or no hope for recovery and he has only three month’s dialysis for
survival. The decision towards enabling John to go to home is just since the
discontinuation of the future treatment towards him will not be based on ethnicity of