In the care of a nurse - Essay Example

The case “In the Care of a Nurse” falls more on the problem of practicing nursing ethics. Ethics may be defined as a of morals of a person, religion, group or profession. The term is sometimes interchanged with morals. Ethics constitutes the reason of the action, more so than if the action is right or wrong (Thompson and Thompson, 1985, para. 3). Morals are the distinction between right and wrong based on custom. Morals become the “should and should not” of our actions. The terms ethical and moral should be understood as being identical in meaning, and ethics a general term referring to both morality and ethical theory.

Caring has been advocated as integral to nursing ethics, and much theorizing has suggested that it may be a partial or the entire foundation for nursings ethic. As human beings we normally care and don’t want to see people suffering from an illness, especially if we see that all hopes were gone. On a personal level, Janet was an advocate of Mrs. Jordan with respect to the permission of the family and wish of her patient that “she is ready to go” given her agony. However, on the professional side, nurses are responsible for the welfare of their patients and must be able to deliver health care based on the judgment of the doctor and her own learned duties as a nurse.

With what Janet did, he never advocated her patient’s right to live based on professional judgment of the doctor. The doctor may have lately ordered NFR when Janet reported the patient’s failing condition, as a result of her not giving dopamine, which is not the advice of the doctor given the uncertainty of the disease. But still, the case did not support Yarling and McElmurry (1986) argument that “an NFR decision is not a medical decision per se, and neither is it a legal or nursing decision.

Rather, they contend, the NFR decision is a moral decision, since it is based primarily on moral values, such as those concerning the meaning, sanctity, and quality of life". Even if all of the failing human conditions of Mrs. Jordan deserve a NFR order as the case presents it, the doctor initially still never gave the command. The case wants to show that if nurses are authorized to write NFR orders, it may be a venue for abuse and easy exit on the part of health professionals in times of disease uncertainties.

Normally, nurses are already being left to carry a disproportionate burden in moral, legal, professional and personal terms in following NFR orders, much more if they are already the ones writing them. There will be a lot of instances where morally undesirable outcomes may occur, including patients rights and interests being unjustly violated. This case shows that Doctors still knows best what to do with the patient, without any deviant acts from medical practitioners. The professional nurse is expected to act within the code of ethics at all times.

While recognizing the inevitability that some patients suffer profoundly and the existence of medical problems and a sense of powerlessness to alter these facts, nurses should not conclude that assisted suicide is the right response. Janet’s main participation in the assisted suicide/killing of Mrs. Jordan is illegal. It is a violation of the social law opposing the murder of another human being. Resulting to eroding of trust, transgressing of the moral mandates of nursing practice, and undermines the integrity of individual practitioners and the care they render.

Nurses, on behalf of the patients entrusted to their care, must advocate the delivery of dignified and humane care at the end of life and protect the integrity of professional practice. As stated in the article, " Thinking Ethically: A Framework for Moral Decision-making" (1996) the utilitarian approach deals with consequences; it tries both to increase the good done and to reduce the harm done (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks & Meyer, 1996). Doctor ordered intravenous dopamine to maintain a blood pressure of Mrs.

Jordan high enough to circulate the blood would be good for sustaining her life. Janet’s action of not administering prescribed levels of dopamine is unethical and immoral. Such approach if accidentally discovered would cause Janet losing her license. I would feel ethically correct to give the patient more medications. As a nurse, it is illegal to practice nursing outside of doctor’s orders. An ethical action a nurse can do to help the patient is to ask the doctor if medications can be administered more frequently.

Recent position statements developed by the American Nurses Association (1994) and endorsed by other nursing organizations, hold that nurses should not participate in assisted suicide. Both statements affirm the indispensable role of nurses in the delivery of appropriate care at the end of life and their primary obligation to provide respectful, competent, supportive, and compassionate care. Nurses are frequently caught in the middle as they attempt to comply with medical directives and simultaneously protect patients and act as their advocates.

Reference ListsAmerican Nurses Association Position statement on assisted suicide. Washington, D.C.: American Nurses Association, 1994.  Thompson, J. and Thompson, H. (1985). Bioethical Decision Making for Nurses. Connecticut: Appleton - Century - Crofts. web site: http://members.tripod.com/~dgholgate/NFR.htmlVelasquez, M., Andre, C. Shanks, T. & Meyer, M.J. (1996). Thinking Ethically: A Framework for Moral Decision Making. Issues in Ethics V7 N1. April 3, 2008, from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html