The “You Decide” tab to the left presents a difficult and painful dilemma to you in an imagined professional role. Go through the You Decide presentation, make the decision it calls for, and write your weekly paper to make your decision and explain, in the given format, your reasoning and justification for it.

Your dilemma is that you have to make a painful medical decision and to explain, in writing, who benefits from what you decided, who gets denied a needed benefit, and why. The document is to be in the form of an official memorandum that will be kept for the record and could be potentially read by not only your Peer Review Committee, but also possibly those involved in charitable fundraising to support hospital development and others with financial interests in the choice made.

You will see in the You Decide tab that there is time pressure in the simulated situation to make your decision, so remember that you would not have the luxury to dawdle in the decision-making process, and as the decision-maker, you would not have the luxury of consulting others. It all falls on YOU!

Include in the document the utilitarian ethical philosophy of John Stuart Mill (from the lecture and audio for this week) and ONE OTHER ETHICAL PHILOSOPHER of your choice that we have studied to date, and use both of those philosophies to bolster your decision. This paper will be at least two double spaced pages but limited to three pages. Remember both professional written form and potential audience, as well as tone when writing this sensitive paper.

You may want to wait until at least Thursday to begin working on this assignment so you can include the information we are learning in the threads and in our readings in your thought processes.

Write your answer and save it in a Word document, entitled, “YourLastnameEthicsWeek5.docx.”

For example, Dr. Christian Barnard, who performed the first heart transplant surgery, would turn in a document named “BarnardEthicsWeek5.docx.”

This problem may take more than a few paragraphs to answer. I would think that about two pages should cover this. You may include a reference to up to two outside sources, if properly documented. Outside sources are NOT required. Principles of Ethics Nursing Essays.

ADDITIONALL INFO 

Principles of Nursing Ethics

Introduction

The principles of nursing ethics are a set of core beliefs that guide the professional practice of nursing. They were developed by the American Nurses Association (ANA) and represent the ethical basis for all nurses, regardless of specialty or setting. The seven principles are:

Principle 1: Autonomy

• Autonomy is the ability to make decisions about your own care, including the right to refuse treatment. It is a fundamental human right that should never be violated without a good reason.

• The principle of autonomy requires patients and their families to have access to information about health care options and their benefits, so they can make informed choices about what type of treatment will best meet their needs at any given time in life (1). This includes the right for patients not only with respect to physical well-being but also emotional well-being or spiritual growth; religious beliefs; gender identity; sexual orientation; cultural background; socioeconomic status (SES); age groupings such as children vs adults vs seniors etc…

• Within this framework we must keep in mind two important factors: firstly having access means being able physically attend appointments/meetings etc., secondly having access means having easy communication channels open during times when things aren’t going well – this could be phone calls back home whenever possible

Principle 2: Beneficence

Principle 2: Beneficence

The second principle of nursing ethics is that health professionals must always act in the best interest of the patient. This means that you should never do more harm than good, and you should always try to keep yourself as safe as possible while helping others. For example, if a patient calls 911 asking for help with an emergency like chest pain or shortness of breath, they may want you to take over their care while they wait for an ambulance or other medical personnel. In this case, it would be unethical for you to assume responsibility for their treatment even though your role as nurse allows it—this could lead them down a path toward greater injury or death once they’re transported away from home by paramedics!

Principle 3: Nonmaleficence

• Nonmaleficence is a principle that states that the nurse should never do harm to any person, animal or environment. This includes doing no harm to yourself.

• The goal of nonmaleficence is to keep patients safe by avoiding physical injuries and infections. It also means you won’t cause mental distress in patients who are unwell or at risk of being harmed by your actions (for example, if they are depressed).

• If you need to take medications while working as a nurse, do so only under supervision from another healthcare professional who knows how much medication has been taken already.

Principle 4: Justice

Principle 4: Justice

Justice is about treating people fairly and equally. It’s about ensuring that everyone has access to the same benefits, opportunities and resources. It’s also about ensuring that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

Some of these principles may seem obvious – like fairness – but they can be hard-won. We need to make sure our institutions are fair across all levels of society (not just rich, powerful men). We need to be aware of the power imbalance between genders or races when making decisions on behalf of patients or clients; for example ‘women should not be expected not only perform tasks which require strength but also those involving delicate touch.’

Principle 5: Fidelity

Principle 5 states that fidelity is the duty to act in the best interests of a patient. It means acting in accordance with their expressed wishes and beliefs, respecting their legal rights, and providing treatment and care consistent with their values. In other words, it means treating people like they want to be treated—not how you think they should be treated.

This principle can be broken down into two parts: firstly, fidelity involves ensuring that patients receive what they want or need; secondly (and more importantly), fidelity involves respecting those same individuals’ beliefs about themselves as individuals rather than just seeing them as “patients.” For example: if a patient says he wants to die at home rather than go into hospice care because he doesn’t want “that stuff” around him while he’s dying or has been diagnosed with terminal cancer; or if he feels strongly about never having children because there wasn’t enough time left on earth before she died herself; then these requests should be honored by practitioners who take care of them so long as doing so does not harm others involved (such as family members).

Principle 6: Veracity

Principle 6: Veracity

V: Truthful and honest

T: Integrity

H: Honesty/Integrity/Honesty (to the best of your ability)

A: Authenticity, accuracy and truthfulness in communication.

Principle 7 : Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a key principle of nursing ethics. It protects the patient’s right to privacy, and it also protects the nurse from being sued for breaching confidentiality by making unauthorized disclosures to others.

For example, if you were working with a patient who was having difficulty breathing and you knew that he had recently been diagnosed with cancer, you would be obligated not to tell anyone else about his condition without his consent. In addition, if other nurses came into contact with this information (for example when taking care of him), they would also need written approval from their supervisor before sharing any type of information about him—even if those items were only known by them alone within their department or unit.

Health professionals must always keep these principles in mind when making decisions about the care of their patients

Principle 1: Autonomy

This principle states that a patient has the right to be treated in accordance with his or her own wishes, unless there is an indication for another course of action. According to this principle, patients have the right to make decisions about their own care and treatment; they do not need your permission before deciding what kind of health care they want. In some cases, however, it may be appropriate for you or other caregivers at times to override autonomy if doing so would help protect someone else from harm (e.g., when giving an injection). You should also consider whether overriding autonomy would be harmful in any way—for example if it causes unnecessary anxiety on the part of your patient or caregiver(s).

Principle 2: Beneficence

This principle requires that we act only according to our knowledge and expertise without harming others unnecessarily; this means we should not do something for someone else just because we might like them better but without having first assessed whether such behavior would truly benefit either party involved here! It also means being honest with ourselves about how much time and energy needs must go into making sure our actions meet these criteria – again so as not leave anyone feeling short changed later down road when things don’t turn out quite as hoped!”

Conclusion

The first five principles of nursing ethics are about the autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice and fidelity of health professionals. These principles all relate to how they should treat their patients and other stakeholders in the healthcare system.