Ethical Issues in Mr. J’s Case Study

Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN MR. J’S CASE STUDY 1
Ethical Issues in Mr. J’s Case Study
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

ETHICAL ISSUES IN MR. J’S CASE STUDY 2
1. Autonomy of Mr. J
Autonomy is an ethical principle that requires the respect of an individual's opinion on all
matters concerning them (Parahoo, 2014). The hospital disregards the independence of Mr. J.
The hospital should not overmedicate him. There are two treatment options available, the
narcotic and non-narcotic treatment. The physicians should allow the wife to choose one of the
two. However, the doctors are overmedicating him contrary to his wish.
2. Involving family members in clinical decision making
It is challenging to include family members in decision making in Mr. J's situation. The
brother visits but feels that Mr. J is destined to die. The children do not visit regularly leaving the
wife to be the only consistent visitor. Therefore, bringing the relatives together in a roundtable to
make critical decisions is a challenge. The doctors can only involve the wife who complains
about how the health facility is treating the husband. The hospital doctors should listen to the
wife's views on the kind of care towards the husband. Additionally, the hospital should employ
patient-centered care and evidence-based practice in their treatment administration (Parahoo,
2014).
3. Legal issues in the ethical decision making in the case study.
The hospital is legally wrong on imposing the non-narcotic treatment on Mr. J. The wife is
against it, and Mr. J groans because of the treatment method. The wife can sue the health facility
for not respecting the autonomy of Mr. J. The brother is legally wrong in legally wrong for
thinking that the brother should die in peace. Every US citizen has the right to proper healthcare.
Assisted death is illegal in the USA (Cowen, & Moorhead, 2014).
4. The moral responsibility of the nurses in the case