Ethics and Values - Case Study Example

Confidentiality is an imperative standard in nursing ethics; however it might be overruled in certain situations. Generally, revelation of confidential information with the consent of the patient is not deemed to be a violation of confidentiality. However, the quandaries of safeguarding confidentially occur in those circumstances when the patient does not provide the approval to disclose. In such cases, the ethics of confidentiality clashes with a rationale of harm prevention (Badzek, Mitchell, Marra, & Bower, 1998).

Case in Question: Application of Ethical Theories and Principles The case under discussion presents a quandary in terms of maintenance of confidentiality and prevention of harm to the patient. In such a situation, on one hand the physician owes the obligation of confidentiality and on the other he has to shelter the patient from harm. Since the patient belongs to a culture where the males make the decisions regarding health care, the physician should try to persuade the patient about the necessity of disclosure of her disease to her family.

If in case, the patient does not agree for the disclosure, the physician would have no other option than to disclose the matter to the patient’s family. . The ethical theories and decision-making models attempt to characterize the boundaries of morally satisfactory actions and clarify the guiding principles for making resolutions within those boundaries. The two most common approaches in the process of ethical decision making are the utilitarianism theory and the deontological theory. The utilitarianism theory also known as the ‘consequentialism’ was formulated by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

This theory characterizes the ethical goodness of acts by their outcomes (Jamieson, Smart, and Williams, 1973). The utilitarianism theory differentiates between good and bad act on the basis of the contentment produced by the outcomes of the acts. According to this theory those acts are considered to be correct that generate maximum contentment for the utmost number of people. Thus, the utilitarianism theory prescribes that, once in a while, certain good be forgone for the overall good of larger number of people.

The deontological theory is often referred to as the theory of duties and was formulated by Immanuel Kant. This theory differentiates between right and wrong by accentuating on the observance of duty as the chief indicator of moral rightness (Frankena, 1973). The actions and behaviors are considered to be right or wrong on the basis of the intentions behind those actions and not by the end results. Thus, as opposed to exploring the outcomes of actions as in the case of utilitarianism theory, as per the deontological theory the selection of the act is examined.

The belief of respect for another individual is intensely entrenched in the deontological theory, which results in the notion