Fostering Dignity and Respect - Case Study

Running Head: DIGNITY AND RESPECT
FOSTERING DIGNITY AND RESPECT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES1
Question 1
Safeguarding the rights of patients in a healthcare organization is the duty and
responsibility of the medical team. Certain ethical concepts are considered in the nursing
profession to provide quality care and to retain the use of power in care. Mrs. Wang in this case
study is the connecting link that will be used to explain the ethical concepts, legislations, and
rights to maintain patient safety and quality. Her freedom, rights, responsibilities and power of
care needs to be considered so that her issues are resolved and positive patient outcome is
achieved. Mrs. Wang is a patient who is suffering from end stage lung cancer and she has a poor
prognosis according to the medical team given her condition (Blanco et al. 2015). She is
admitted in the medical care where I am working, which is known as St Thomas NHS
Foundation Trust. She has symptoms of weight loss, persistent cough, and breathlessness. She is
a Chinese so her first language is Mandarin, which makes her more comfortable to interact in
that language than English. She is able to understand English and speak some it but she prefers
Mandarin for her medical appointments so that she can discuss her health and wellbeing without
hesitating in English. Mrs. Wang has two sons who usually accompany her during the health
appointments and they translate her in Mandarin. Mrs. Wang’s son and extended family has
requested the medical team to hide her medical details and refrain from telling about her
malignant tumor. This incident shows that Mrs. Wang’s rights as a patient is not being
safeguarded, which is an issue of concern. The government of United Kingdom has planned
several legislations and policies for the welfare of the patient and adults who are vulnerable to
violation of basic rights. Some of the acts are The Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards and The Care Act 2014, which are specifically utilized for vulnerable adults such as
Mrs. Wang. The use of core ethical principles are necessary in a healthcare setting because it

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES2
makes a foundation for complex decision making to identify factors and the benefits of a care
process. According to Equalityhumanrights.com (2019), Mrs. Wang is deprived of her right to
life and it obstructs her privilege of human rights act article 2 because she is not being given the
clear information about her health status. In this act it is declared that no one has the right
including the government to end anyone’s life or take away their right to know about their
medical condition. Health organizations that are also public authorities should give importance to
the privilege of right to life when they are making decisions that can influence the treatment of a
patient or can affect the life expectancy. The UK Department of Health expressed that Valuing
People should be an essential component for nurses in practice because it looks after a patient’s
respect, dignity, judgmental abilities, service of care through effective communication skills and
refraining from stereotyping people according to their culture or religion or promoting
beneficence (Baumhauer and Bozic 2016).
There are four ethical principles that are utilized by nurses to achieve optimum care and
safety in patients. They four principles are known as non-maleficence, beneficence, autonomy
and justice, and they aim to safeguard a patient’s rights and freedom that is linked to the power
in care (Chagani 2014). In this case study, Mrs. Wang is in the need of fostering her dignity and
respect so the nurses are refrained from violating her fundamental rights and choices. The
principle of autonomy and justice is violated if Mrs. Wang is not informed about her health
condition as requested by her sons and extended family. The nurses are going to be in ethical
dilemma because the request of her family is against the duties of the medical professionals
because patients are required to give their consent and opinions regarding their treatment. The
ethical principles should be considered for her as it will ensure the safety of her rights and
responsibilities. The roles and responsibilities of a nurse are also effective to safeguard the rights

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES3
of adults such as the duty of care and duty of candour that focuses on caring and being vocal to
patients about their issues and dilemmas. It is necessary for the nurses to inform the patient if
they have any health complication as they should not be kept in the dark about their treatments or
procedure. Instead, they should be supported and guided during their tough times especially in
the case of Mrs. Wang because she is in the end stage of her disease.
The significance of the four ethical principles will be explained such as non-maleficence
means doing no harm and a patient should not be harmed under any circumstances and if such
situation occurs then it should not be validated according to the professional ethical and guidance
of a medical setting. This ethical principle makes any kind of harm such as psychological and
physical to be inappropriate and against the working framework of nurses and medical
practitioners. Evidence based practice and necessary measures and interventions should be taken
by nurses to protect the safety and wellbeing of patients in a healthcare organization. Minimizing
the risk of patients is done by maximizing the effort given by nurses. This principle is not
directly related to Mrs. Wang but it can be used for her because she is unable to know about her
medical condition that might affect her welfare and it is against the ethics of this profession
(Chong et al. 2015). Beneficence is the increase in knowledge and skills of the medical
professionals to ensure the health and safety of the patient, which can be achieved with the help
of advanced training and efficient practice methods with the help of experienced peers and
colleagues. The nurses should be confident enough to know about particular treatments to be
given to people who require it and not something, which is not suitable for them. This ensures
optimum level of satisfaction in patients so that they do not have to complain about the services
they are receiving. The principle of Autonomy is the most appropriate in the case of Mrs. Wang
because she is deprived of her rights to make decisions according to her welfare. Autonomy is