Nursing Case Study

Your patient is an elderly woman with dementia who lives home alone and has caregivers that come to help her on a daily basis. Her family would like all measures taken to save her life when the time comes. You as her nurse understand the repercussions of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and are unsure if you agree with their decision. Other family members believe that is not what the patient would want and argue that their loved one should be a DNR and die peacefully in her home. Conflicting ideas of what should be done exist; so how do we, as nurses, approach a situation that goes against what we may believe? In the medical realm, there are many different types of people with different values, backgrounds and views of acceptable behaviors. From

It is imperative to gather information relevant to the case using as many sources as possible. According to Clement, N (2013) significant resources include family, patient and social perspectives. In this particular situation you may perhaps want to know what the family’s values and beliefs are and find out their concerns. Furthermore, we need to know if the patient has an advance directive in place. In addition, knowing about the patient’s diagnoses is useful and assist’s in decision making. According to Ellis, J & Hartley, C. (2012) the difference in what solutions remain possible is derived from the facts of the circumstances. Therefore gathering information relevant to the situation is a crucial part to resolving an ethical

An ethics committee may come together at this time to discuss all options and possible outcomes for those options. Potter, P. (2013) says “Any person involved in an ethical dilemma, including nurses, physicians, health care providers, patients, and family members, can request access to an ethics committee. (p.292) This meeting may occur at the bedside or in a conference room. It is important that the nurse keeps an open mind to others opinions and to also have a point of view of their own. Potter, P. (2013) states “Wherever negotiations occur, the nurse has an obligation to articulate a personal point of view. “. It is also vital that the nurse and those involved address the situation based on the principles of autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. According to Ellis, J., & Hartley, C. (2012), all of those involved may find making a decision difficult and sometimes painful but at some point a decision must be made. I feel as nurses we should anticipate a reaction to each solution and be prepared to deal with emotions that may come with the final