Nursing Ethics: Applying Ethics To Nursing

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Recommended: The four principles of medical ethics

Cassie Flores
Jamey Hancock
HUM105ZA
4 March 2015
Applying Ethics to Nursing By enrolling in this ethics course I have learned some of the different principals and theories that will help with knowing the right thing to do during the decision-making process. By applying ethics and its principles to my life, I will have the qualities needed to become a nurse who is able to focus on the needs of others. As a nurse I will be facing a world of ethical difficulties on a daily basis. These ethical decisions can have a huge impact on myself and the patient I am caring for. This decision-making becomes difficult because there is no right or wrong choice. Ethics require a person to do the right thing and at the same time causing no harm. The
Nurses face difficult situations where our sense to do the right thing is often challenged by the beliefs of other healthcare professionals. It is important to practice moral courage so that we can discuss the ethical issue and take action if doing the right thing proves to be a difficult choice. It will also be important for me to use my voice and speak up so I can do what is right while others may be trying to persuade me to act in another way. Nurses act as advocates in a patient’s care, making moral courage a necessity in the work environment. As a nurse I will be knowledgeable in ethical principles and models which will help me to be a major influence in patient care decision-making. By choosing to become a nurse I am making a moral decision to provide care to all patients. I will have a moral obligation to serve others without thinking of myself first. As a nursing professional I will need to be altruistic. While working as a nurse, I will also need to take into consideration the values and cultural beliefs of others when providing care. For example, if a patient refuses to receive a life-saving blood transfusion because of their religious beliefs, I should respect that even though I know it could save their
Nurses often spend more time with a patient than their own families and caregivers. It is very important to build a truthful patient-health professional relationship. The patient’s family members will be seeing me the most during the care of a loved one and will be asking me questions regarding care. It will be important for me to recognize the situation and to use the correct ethical decision when faced with a difficult choice of who should tell the patient the truth about an illness and when the truth needs to be told. Truth telling can prove to be detrimental to the patient or the family. By using good ethical decision-making, the patient and family will be able to prepare for the future and no what steps to take next. Justice is another principle that can be applied to my career in nursing. Justice is a principle that is based on equal and fair distribution of resources that are available to the community. For an example, if the hospital or clinic that I am working in decides to offer a no-cost medical service to the community, justice would require that a fair and unbiased method for choosing who receives the benefits be used. By learning about this principle, I will be able to help other health care professionals with the decision-making

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