Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing: Applying Beauchamp & Childress Principles

This essay examines the application of the Beauchamp and Childress principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice within the context of a nursing case study. The essay focuses on a 14-year-old diabetic patient named Taylah who exhibits risky behaviors including binge drinking, unprotected sex, and body image issues. The analysis explores how nurses should address Taylah's ethical needs, emphasizing the importance of patient autonomy by respecting her choices while also promoting beneficence through interventions that prioritize her well-being. The essay highlights the need for nonmaleficence by avoiding actions that could harm her mental health and the principle of justice by treating her equitably. It underscores the nurse's role in providing counseling, offering contraceptive advice, and educating Taylah about the dangers of her behaviors, aligning these actions with ethical principles to ensure proper patient care and promote Taylah's overall health and safety. The essay concludes by stressing the significance of a positive nurse-patient relationship built on clear communication and ethical considerations.

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Essay School of Nursing, Midwifery & Healthcare
The Beauchamp and Childress mainly believe in the four basic principles that are subjected to
autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, which comes from the core part of the
common value of morality. There are different complex ethics that are being solved through such
biomedical ethics. In this aspect, it can be said that Taylah is a diabetic patient and also possess
certain kinds of self-esteem and issues with body images. These are generally evidenced by the
behavior of taking risk related to sexual activity, and she is also involved with partying and kinds
of binge drinking. Taylah looks older than 14 years from her original age. This, at times, leads to
different kinds of expectation from older people or boys around her. She also recently had sexual
intercourse with the two random boys with whom she met at the parties while she was at binge
drinking. There are different ethical considerations that are expected and changes related to the
biomedicine therapies that are detailed properly.
The body dissatisfaction generally denotes an individual's negative feelings or the unfavorable
opinions that are related to an individual body. The body image distortion occurs when there is
an individual belief within the individual about different classifications related to weight and
other dynamics that are associated with the body. There is also self-esteem that is the experience
of being capable of meeting the challenges of life and also worthy of happiness. Improvement in
women's health requires an understanding of the specific determinants of diseases. The kind of
functioning and the well being in the capacity of the intervention is the connections that are
related to the communities. Thus it can be said that addressing common determinants of the
multiple diseases that increases with the potential for an overall experience of the influence in
the health of women. There are different issues that arise when women in diabetic, and there
should be certain restrictions that should be followed by her while eating or doing any other
activities. There is some detailed approach of the nursing care that should be done according to
an ethical approach to reciprocate good vibes to the patient that is opposite to her (Lake,
Germack & Viscardi, 2016).
Tyalah is a girl that has a character of self-esteem and body image issues. She is also
hyperactive in sexual activity and has lost the self-control or self-governing the system.
According to the first dynamics of Beauchamp and Childress, autonomy or self-governance is
the actual part that is to be maintained by someone in a positive balance. This will keep a proper
self-understanding and control within the specific person. In such a situation, it has been seen
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Essay School of Nursing, Midwifery & Healthcare
that Tyalah lost self-control after binge drinking. Therefore she was engaged in sexual activity.
Now that when she feels normal, she asks for contraceptive. These kinds of safety should be
taken by her at first only. But due to drinking, the entire narcotic has lost its control and made
Tyalah do such activity without taking any precaution. The most important aspect in this is that
having sex with two unknown boys without precaution can transfer different diseases like HIV
and other harmful diseases. Therefore Tyalah should stop drinking as she is a diabetic so much
so that she remains in healthy condition and can take decision effectively (Legato, Johnson &
Manson, 2016).
According to the second dynamics of Beauchamp and Childress, beneficence, is an ethical
principle that addresses the idea and concept of doing well by the actions of the nurse. This is a
concept of providing good attitudes to the patient. In the case of Tyalah, she needs good behavior
and an attitude to substantiate the problems she is facing. This will create an understanding of the
illegal activity that is committed by her when she has been engaged in doing intercourse.
Therefore it is the duties of the nurse to handle the auctioning such a way, that Tyalah naturally
grows within her an understanding of the danger that could be brought with such activities. The
action of a nurse here will be the suggestion and the use of contraceptive whenever Tyalah will
have an urge or a feeling of having sex with any person. This is because it should be known by
Tyalah that she looks fourteen years more that her actual age. Therefore both younger boys and
elder boys get attracted towards her. Tyalah should be careful about such incidence in a perfect
way. This will make her a responsible woman. It will also create in her a feeling or an
understanding that she should not drink much, this is because it can lose her self control and she
can face huge issues regarding it in the future (Kodack et al. 2017).
The next dynamics of Beauchamp and Childress addresses the nonmaleficence. The
nonmaleficence generally deals with the no harming or inflicting the least harm possible in the
reaching of a beneficial outcome. In such an aspect, harm and its effect are generally considered
as a part of the ethical decision-making process in the NICU. This is considered as the short term
and long term harm, through different kinds of unintentional and often accompanying the life-
saving treatment offered by NICU. Therefore in aspect to the case study, it can be said that it is
the duty of the nurse not to harm the mental health of the patient that is Tyalah, and suggest some
good activities. It is the duty of the nurse to make Tyalah understand the ill effects of having
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Essay School of Nursing, Midwifery & Healthcare
binge drinking and also having unsafe sex. This is because there are different kinds of dangers
associated with having such drinking habits, where the whole body balance losses, and people
get involved in unnecessarily dangerous action (Yehia et al. 2015). The nurse should also
approach the benefits of having contraceptive before sex and the ways it protects women. This
will not harm a person's instinct as well as will produce clear understandings of having safe
activities in further go. It is the duty of the nurse to provide and plan for proper counseling to the
patient first. This will make a rough understanding of the problems that have been faced by them.
Such understanding will make the medical professional in the creation of a proper and an ethical
approach towards the care plan of the patient in a proper way (Kamen, Gorayeb, & Blumberg
2018).
According to Beauchamp and Childress, the next dynamics deals with the principle of justice.
The principle of justice generally deals with the moral obligation to the act based on fair
adjudication that is done between the competing claims in a perfect go. This is linked with
fairness, entitlement, and the equality that is considered. Therefore it can be said that it is the
duty of the nurse, not to judge a patient based on the characters. This is because a nurse should
have an equal eye for every patient she deals with. This will make a proper justification based on
the performance done by a nurse. It can be said here, that Tyalah should be treated equally like
another patient (Parikh et al. 2017). She should not be judged based on the character like binge
drunker, sexually active, self-esteemed, body imaging issues, and so on. This should not be the
basis of the judgment. It can also be said that a person should not be judged by the mistakes she
did. This is because when committing mistakes, there are some aspects that lead a person or
affect to commit mistakes. Therefore the nurse should equally treat Tyalah for the current
problems she is facing. If the patients are judged by other constraints, other than only treatment,
then it can mislead a patient from getting to an ultimate solution (Hoenigl et al. 2018).
The issues that are described are being generally faced by Taylah. In such an aspect, it has been
seen that Taylah, did not have any consciousness when she was in the mood of binge drinking
and the intercourse that has been done by her with two unknown bases. There are different kinds
of problems like unwanted pregnancy could have taken place. This is because, at the time of
intercourse, no safety precaution like condoms or contraceptive tablet is being taken by Tyalah.
Such engagement can provide a slight enjoyment, but the consequence can be harmful. This is
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Essay School of Nursing, Midwifery & Healthcare
because still unwanted pregnancy can be stopped by abortion else or taking contraceptives within
72 hours of the intercourse. But harmful diseases like HIV Aids can lead to death. Therefore this
is the basic duty of the nurse to consider and identify the characters of the patient first. This is
because every patient cannot be treated in the same way. There are different approaches that are
to be taken in making a patient comfortable of sharing the current problems he or she is facing
and also to take proper medication to prevent it (Gould et al. 2017).
Therefore the essay persists on the approach of the nursing care that is needed to understand the
ethical approach that is required for following proper patient care. This is because it is the nurse
who can make patient comfortable based on the treatment and the care plan. Therefore a clear
approach should be produced to the patient on the activities that have been performed by the
patient (Nantsupawat et al. 2016). This will only provide awareness to the patient, and Tyalah
can be able to have a concern about the issues of her body. Therefore it can be said that there is a
positive approach that is necessary for the nurse and any other medical professional to make the
patients comfortable. This will make a proper creation of the relationship between the patient and
the caregiver. This is because of a proper approach of detailed clarification required to be
explained by the patient to have a clear understanding of the problems faced by them. This is the
essential parts for receiving a proper care plan form the end of the medical professionals
(Aldridge et al. 2018).
It can be said that there is a specific ethical consideration that is required to take up by the nurse
to treat Tyalah like other patients. This will also make Taylah clear about the dos and do not
while having binge drinking and sex. She will try to be much more careful about her health
issues in the future. This is because unwanted pregnancy is not only the outcome of doing
intercourse with two unknown boys, but harmful diseases can also be transferred to Taylah and
recovery from such diseases is quite impossible. Therefore, it is the duty of the nurse where
Tyalah came for asking about contraceptive, that she maintains all the four ethical principles of
Beauchamp and Childress that mainly believes in the four basic principles that are subjected to
autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice which comes from the core part of the
common value of morality. This is the basic principles which are subjected to be used by the
nurse to highlight every aspect before Tyalah in a wider perspective. There are different issues
highlighted in the paragraphs that are described in detail. The solutions are also made
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Essay School of Nursing, Midwifery & Healthcare
accordingly to the needs and requirements. The issues are being highlighted according to the
ethical principles of Beauchamp and Childress in such a way that it makes a proper care plan.
This is the basic ethics that has been extracted from the ethical principles which has been stated
by Beauchamp and Childress and associated with the case study.
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