Nurses experiences of ethical dilemmas

Running head: PRACTICAL NURSING
PRACTICAL NURSING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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PRACTICAL NURSING
Ethical dilemma:
The science of rational reasoning is Ethics. The nurses are confronted daily with ethical
dilemmas. Several factors determine ethical conduct. How one person sees as ethical may be
very different from an individual who views a circumstance from a different perspective. In the
provision of patient care, nurses are accountable for using ethical principles. Ethical definitions
include fair, right and moral treatment. There must be opportunities for patients to express their
freedom of choice in providing services and to determine how they are to be treated. In a clinical
nurse profession, there are 4 main principles that are important. They are respect for patient
autonomy, the obligation to act with beneficence, no maleficence and justice (Haahr et al., 2019).
Example:
I am a RN in the local hospital and I was looking after a patient who was admitted in the
emergency department for sharp chest pain. After assessing him and collecting all subjective and
objective data including vital signs, I recommended giving GTN spray for reducing his chest
pain. Despite administration of the GTN spray, he was suffering from persistent chest pain;
therefore, I decided to give him opioid to reduce his pain. However, the patient denied accepting
the treatment approach I chose for him and stated that he does not want to take it. I tried to
provide him with all the necessary information as to why it is important, but the patient
disagreed. I was in an ethical dilemma that whether I should consider and respect the patient’s
autonomy or I should follow the principle of beneficence as a RN.
Nurse’s role in promoting health equity:
Health equity ensures all have a just and equal chance to be as healthy as possible. This requires
removing health barriers, including impotence and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay,