NURS 521 - Ethical Issues in Nursing: Article Summary and Review Essay

This essay examines the ethical issues faced by nurses in the oncology department, based on the article by Park (2009). It highlights legal and ethical dilemmas, including challenges related to informed consent and patient autonomy. The essay discusses strategies for addressing these issues, such as developing training programs to better prepare nurses to handle ethical conflicts and the importance of staying updated on changes in laws and technologies. The author emphasizes the need for healthcare facilities to be more responsive to the needs of both patients and nurses, aiming to ensure quality of life and a healthy environment within the hospital setting. References to additional articles by McLennon et al. (2013), Judkins et al. (2013), and Pavlish et al. (2014) are also included to support the discussion on ethical issues and strategies in oncology nursing.

Running Head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING
ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING
Introduction
According to the author the article describes the various ethical issues that is being
faced by all the nurses who work in the oncology department. According to Park (2009) the
legal issues faced by the nurses of the oncology ward include various dilemmas that they go
through while addressing the needs and demands of the patients. The ethical concerns of the
nurses include the protection of the patients and also to protect their interests without
disrespecting their autonomy (Pavlish et al., 2014). They also face a number of potential
threats while providing care to all the patients in order to maintain healthy environment for
the family and the parents.
Discussion
Oncology is an area that is facing continuous ethical challenges both by the nurses as
well as the patients. These situations arise due to the fact that there is lack of informed
consent among the patients for providing the therapeutic treatment to the patients and also
before starting the treatment process for the cancer patients (Park, 2009). The ethical
dilemmas also arise due to the use of technologies on the patients who do not respond to the
treatment process anymore (Pavlish et al., 2014). The various legal rights that are hampered
in healthcare involve various rights of the patients who are not aware of the various situations
that can arise due to the lack of the knowledge of the health education (McLennon et al.,
2013).
The nurses should thus develop certain strategies that has to be developed for properly
acknowledging the various ethical issues. These strategies can be developed in such a manner
so that the patients as well as the nurses do not face any ethical dilemma during the entire
course of treatment (Judkins et al., 2013). The healthcare facilities in the oncology centre

2ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING
should be thus, much more thoughtful and should be able to fulfil the demands of the patients
and the nurses as well.
These dilemmas can be resolved by the effective confrontation of the various ethical
issues that are experienced by the oncology nurses. There is also a need to invest in the
training programs of these nurses in order to prepare them in a manner so that they can act in
a more ethical and human way while dealing with patients who are suffering from cancer
(McLennon et al., 2013). As there is continuous changes in the federal and state laws, court
decisions, advent of new technologies the various legal and ethical issues will be encountered
by the oncology nurses at different point of time. Thus, it will be beneficial for them to
continue the learning process in order to reduce their legal liabilities and also to deliver
quality care (Judkins et al., 2013).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that there are several ethical issues in the oncology ward
faced by the nurses that has to be addressed for the proper diagnosis of the admitted patients
that will impact their quality of life and will also give them the required respect and give
them healthy environment at the hospital.

3ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING
References
Park, M. (2009). Ethical issues in nursing practice. Journal of Nursing Law, 13(3), 68-
77. doi:10.1891/1073-7472.13.3.68
McLennon, S. M., Uhrich, M., Lasiter, S., Chamness, A. R., & Helft, P. R. (2013). Oncology
nurses’ narratives about ethical dilemmas and prognosis-related communication in
advanced cancer patients. Cancer nursing, 36(2), 114-121.
Judkins-Cohn, T. M., Kielwasser-Withrow, K., Owen, M., & Ward, J. (2013). Ethical
principles of informed consent: Exploring nurses’ dual role of care provider and
researcher. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 45(1), 35-42.
Pavlish, C., Brown-Saltzman, K., Jakel, P., & Fine, A. (2014, March). The nature of ethical
conflicts and the meaning of moral community in oncology practice. In Oncology
nursing forum (Vol. 41, No. 2).