Ethical Dilemmas, Leadership Styles, and Patient Advocacy in Nursing

This essay delves into the ethical dilemmas prevalent in healthcare, particularly within the nursing profession. It explores the inevitability of ethical, legal, and moral issues in the healthcare environment, using a case study to illustrate conflicts between patient advocacy and professional standards. The paper introduces the conceptual framework of ethics, highlighting the importance of ethical frameworks like utilitarianism and duty-based reasoning in guiding decision-making. It examines transformational leadership qualities, such as intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, as effective approaches to addressing ethical challenges. The essay emphasizes the need for moral courage, interdisciplinary dialogue, and organizational support to navigate complex ethical situations, ultimately advocating for quality patient care and ethical practice.

Running head: TAKING A STAND 1
Taking a Stand
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation

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Taking a Stand
Introduction
In human life and work environment, issues of law, ethics, and morals are inevitable.
These are evident when people face questions regarding the morality of the justice system in
addressing foreign policy, clinical technologies in prolonging human life, and the rights of
vulnerable members of the society. These issues have defined the headlines in the daily
newspapers and bulletins. In some instances, these cases have compromised the jobs of many
individuals. According to various studies, addressing the moral and ethical challenges has proved
challenging and complex (Downey, Parslow, & Smart, 2011). Despite the many questions
revolving around these issues, one thing is clear that an intensive analysis and incorporating the
opinions of stakeholders should be considered. Different scholars have defined ethics as a system
that embraces moral principles meant to guide the behaviors of individuals (Woods, 2014).
Ethics deals with disciplines that emphasize bad or good behaviors but stresses the moral
obligation and duty.
Ethics encompasses principle systems which can change one’s past decisions, actions, or
thoughts (Downey et al., 2011). Besides, Meyer and O’Brien-Pallas (2010) viewed it as the best
measure that is essential in guiding people actions and protecting society. For anyone to make
ethical decisions in any environment, it is critical for the person to have relevant knowledge
regarding the ethical frameworks and principles. As such, the individual can use a leadership
style that is beyond trial and errors as it emphasizes on the model founded on decision-making.
Without a doubt, many organizations have established moral, ethical, and legal standards to
prevent and control ethical issues. Through this paper, it would be prudent to describe the ethical
dilemma evident in a healthcare environment, introduce the conceptual framework regarding the

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ethical construct of ethics, consider the leadership style as determined by the self-assessment
method thus justify the effectiveness of the style in addressing the ethical issue.
Conceptual Framework
In the healthcare career, especially the nurse, one can never avoid facing multiple
dilemmas. As a nurse, one always experience more dilemma than he/she would admit. To this
effect, the nurse would face difficult situation to make decisions which must demonstrate the
outcomes of patients, with whom the nurse interacts with. Without a doubt, some critical ethical
dilemmas nurses experience is evident in the mental health care. In these situations, the nurse has
to make difficult decisions on privacy and confidentiality, compulsory treatment and patient
independence, the mental illness definition, and the addiction’s moral dimensions. The ethical
framework guides people to find solutions to the ethical dilemma (Downey et al., 2011). The
managers use these ethical frameworks to clarify personal beliefs and values relevant to solving
the problem. According to Meyer and O’Brien-Pallas (2010), the duty-based reasoning,
intuitionism, utilitarianism, and rights-based reasoning are important frameworks used in solving
ethical problems.
The utilitarian approach compels the nurses to apply the method that produces the least
distress and pain because an individual’s action would be viewed as bad or good based on the
level of pain or pleasure. This approach is used in making ethical decisions where the
consequences concern many people. The duty-based reasoning emphasizes on the personal
intention and will in making the ethical decision. In this approach, people view good actions
based on the intention of performing them not consequences. A nurse would perform the
function because he/she has the obligation to perform the work.
Moral dilemma

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Patient advocacy is an important role of nurses because they have to protect and support
patients. Indisputably, patient advocacy exposes nurses to ethical situations which seem to
conflict with their professional and personal morals. For instance, the patients completely trust
the nurse and such a person expect the nurse to have the moral courage to meet his or her needs.
Some of this demonstration exposes one to conflicting loyalties in the conflict situation.
Sometimes, the nurse has to violate the patient’s rights while demonstrating the moral courage
(Lachman et al., 2012). In my case scenario, I face moral distress when the patient advocacy met
resistances as my moral courage was being tested or challenged. For instance, a patient needed
more sedation but I was reluctant to take the sedative orders. Many nursing colleagues are
unhappy with my inability to take moral courage to speak about the issue for fear of adverse
consequences.
Implication
The role of any medical staff is to uphold the ethical standards. I experienced obstacles in
advocating for patients because some nurses would circumvent moral courage. The
organizational culture could be the barrier to demonstrating the moral courage. The culture fails
to indicate how to respond to unethical behavior (Woods, 2014). Without an interdisciplinary
dialogue, resolving unethical behaviors may be difficult. This makes employs to avoid morally
courageous behaviors. Sometimes a medical staff would compromise professional and personal
standards, especially where an employer tolerates the unethical situation.
My role
As an agent of ethical practices in the nursing setting, it is critical to analyze the situation
to determine whether the anticipated moral courage is relevant. Indisputably, the situation where
the patient advocacy compromised my professional standard, consulting with colleagues and the

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management would be prudent. Based on the advice received from my peers and seniors, I would
take the moral courage and obligation for the quality patient care. I understand that making
judgmental communication is dangerous thus giving room for consultation.
Leadership styles
Based on the self-assessment, I have transformational leadership qualities. This is
because, the emergency cases evident in the nursing setting requires collaboration and teamwork
(Smith, 2011). This involves engaging others, especially the followers so that they can raise their
morality and motivation level. Nursing needs hard work, compassion, and integration. For
instance, the intellectual stimulation defines the success of the nurses. Through the intellectual
stimulation, it is possible to encourage the followers to use their critical thinking skills to solve
problems. The intellectual stimulation also motivates them to be creative and innovative in
handling the ethical dilemma. According to Benoliela and Somecha (2014), individualized
considerations would allow me as a nurse to express and recognize the concerns of other team
members based on their needs, strengths, and feelings. This can be achieved by supporting and
mentoring the individual nurses so that they can develop and grow professionally.
As a nurse leader, inspirational motivation is relevant to handling the situation. For
instance, it is necessary for nurses to create the visible and active relationship with staff and
patients. The nurturing relationships would make the medical staff responsive because the leader
encourages them to fulfill their obligations (Doody, & Doody, 2013). Idealized influence is also
necessary for nurse leaders. This involves walking the talk or becoming a positive role model.
The nurse leader has to remain consistent in actions and words so that it becomes possible to
support the organization’s procedures and policies (Phang, 2014). It also involves displaying
positive traits including honesty, enthusiasm, and dependent so that the nurse can achieve quality

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patient care. The transformational leaders appeal to moral values and higher ideas thus allowing
staff to pursue a greater good.

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