Nursing Ethics and Domestic Violence: A Detailed Case Study Analysis

This case study examines the ethical dilemmas faced by a registered nurse (RN) in a community mental health clinic when dealing with a patient named Sarah who is experiencing domestic violence. The analysis focuses on the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, confidentiality, and justice. Sarah, a linguist, is hesitant to seek help or report her abusive partner, Justin, due to fear for her and her children's safety and financial dependence. The RN grapples with balancing Sarah's wishes for confidentiality with the ethical obligation to ensure her safety and well-being, leading to a violation of the beneficence principle while trying to uphold non-maleficence. The case highlights the complexities of ethical decision-making in situations involving domestic violence and the challenges healthcare professionals face in protecting vulnerable individuals while respecting their autonomy. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and solved assignments for students.

Running head: NURSING ETHICS
ETHICAL CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR NOTE

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Answer
Ethical principles are the set of values which are developed by the healthcare
professionals that are working in the healthcare facilities so that people, their families and the
community could be provided with quality care and presence of any mistakes or ethical
concerns could be eliminated (Houghton 2015). This case study discusses about Justin and
Sarah and in this case study the domestic violence related condition was observed. While
closely observing the complications mentioned in the case study, it was seen that there are
several ethical principles that are compromised in the case study analysis, which will be
discussed below.
Autonomy: it was mentioned in the case study that Sarah is a linguist and teaches
language in private tuitions. She wants to separate from Justin as he is abusive towards her
and her two children. However, due to Justin’s aggressive and violent behaviour towards her
as well as two children, she is unable to leave Justin. Autonomy is the ethical condition that
helps people with to take their own decision and empowers them for their future steps
(Bender 2017). Despite this, in the case study, due to the fear of her and her children’s future
she is unable to take her decision as she is dependent financially on the work of Justin.
Hence, this ethical principle is challenged.
Beneficence and non-maleficence: these ethical principles are associated with the
actions that are taken by the people who know the complications of the patient. In the case
study, she has shared her concerns with me (RN) and hence, my actions should benefit her
health condition (Beneficence) and do not harm her in any way (non-maleficence)
(Moulding, Buchanan and Wendt 2015). In the case study it was mentioned that Sarah does
not want me to discuss this concern to anyone as it could harm her and her two children.
Despite that I observe brushing to her throat and her neck and hence, I was unable to take

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action for her beneficence, as per which I should have discussed it with police or other legal
organisations. Hence, which protecting her non-maleficence related ethical right, I violated
the beneficence principle.
Confidentiality and justice: In the case study, Sarah wants me to keep her and
Justin’s concerns secret and do not report this to police as it would be harmful for her and her
children. Hence by complying with this request of Sarah, I complied with her confidentiality
ethics. However, in this condition, justice related ethics violated as she did not receive any
legal help for her domestic violence related concerns (Devries et al. 2015). Hence these are
the ethical concerns, identified form the case study.

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References
Bender, A.K., 2017. Ethics, methods, and measures in intimate partner violence research: the
current state of the field. Violence against women, 23(11), pp.1382-1413.
Devries, K.M., Child, J.C., Elbourne, D., Naker, D. and Heise, L., 2015. “I never expected
that it would happen, coming to ask me such questions”: Ethical aspects of asking children
about violence in resource poor settings. Trials, 16(1), p.516.
Houghton, C., 2015. Young people's perspectives on participatory ethics: Agency, power and
impact in domestic abuse research and policy‐making. Child abuse review, 24(4), pp.235-
248.
Moulding, N.T., Buchanan, F. and Wendt, S., 2015. Untangling Self‐Blame and Mother‐
Blame in Women's and Children's Perspectives on Maternal Protectiveness in Domestic
Violence: Implications for Practice. Child abuse review, 24(4), pp.249-260.