Nursing Ethics: Principles and Challenges

This assignment delves into the critical role of ethics in nursing. It examines the core principles of ethical practice, emphasizing confidentiality, patient autonomy, and non-discrimination. The text highlights the ethical challenges nurses encounter daily, such as balancing patient wishes with medical best practices and navigating complex situations where right and wrong are not always clear-cut. It stresses the importance of developing ethical decision-making skills for nurses to ensure quality and compassionate care.

Nursing Ethics
Nursing ethics is a term related to nursing representative and the person who
is under care. In this assessment, we will talk about how nursing ethics is important and
mandatory in the field of medical sciences. Nursing is caring about the person who is
undergoing a medical treatment and who requires mental and emotional support to recover
from his or her illness. Ethics in nursing means following basic practices of ethics with the
person who is under care. Ethics should be strictly followed while dealing with the person.
The medical information as well as the personal information should remain confidential
between the nurses and the doctors. There are various situations in which the patient has to go
through during illness. Nursing is a profession where the nurses bond a relationship between
themselves and the patient. Many a times the patient is unable to take their own decision and
they take help of the nurses to make certain decisions of their life. Many patients even get
demotivated, it becomes duty and the responsibility of the nurse to ensure that they do not
stress themselves and gain positivity in their minds. The information about the patient should
be shared only with the concerned person where the doctors and the patient family members
find the need to share the patient information. Nurses face the ethical pressure on daily basis.
The ethical issues with the patient put the nurses in ethical dilemma and they
fail to solve this issue. Nurses take the oath of serving the patients who are undergoing
treatment of illness and are mentally disturbed. The ethics of nursing teaches and follows that
the nurses must remain confidential about the discussion and the information that are shred
with them about the patient (Childress, 2009). . They face many emotional challenged with
the patients and follow the ethical practices that are essential while nursing the patient. Many
a times nurses are in a situation where they are forced to agree with the patient decision even
if they are willing to support them. When the patient decides wrong for himself the nurses
must respect their decision and cannot go against their willingness. Hence the nurses have to
take wrong decisions when it comes to patient’s willingness and taking his mental condition
in mind. If the patient is not willing to take medicines on time and the nurses are aware of the
consequences of not taking medicines, the nurses face the ethical dilemma. Here, it becomes
duty of the nurses to make the patient understand the consequences and motivate the patient
to continue the medication.
The nurses also must justify themselves with the clients. They must give
equal care and equal time to each client without any discrimination. The nurses should have

equally friendly nature with all the clients and should have equal respect for each one. The
nurses should also have to justify the patient with the treatment that the patient should
undergo. If the doctor decides certain therapies and treatment for the patient, the nurses
should ensure that the patient get that treatment and proves to be beneficial for the patient.
Ethics in nursing become difficult to choose between right and wrong. Many
times, it becomes challenging for the nurses to choose the right. It is important for the nurses
to develop the skills of ethics when it comes to their profession. Hospitals hire experienced
nurses because they are confident and possess the skills to handle complex patients or clients.
The nurses must be professional enough to handle difficult clients and patients. They should
have the techniques to convince the clients for the treatments that the doctors decides for the
clients. The treatment should possess all ethical considerations and should ensure that no
personal information about the client is disclosed to third party. The nurses are also not
allowed to discuss the patients or the client’s case with any other person who is not related to
the client’s treatment directly or indirectly. People viz. the doctors, nurses and the family
members are only allowed to discuss about the client’s treatment and the recovering that the
patient undergoes. The principles and the moral values should be defined and executed during
the nurses profession.
References: -
American Nurses Association. (1926). A suggested code. American Journal of Nursing 26(8):
599-601.
Beauchamp, T.L. & Childress, J.F. (2009). Principles of biomedical ethics, 6th ed. New York:
Oxford University Press.