Nursing Ethics through the Life Span - Essay Example

? Ethical Issue Ethical Issue Nurses encounter ethical dilemmas on a day to day basis irrespective of where they practice (Bandman, 2002). Regardless of where nurses work in their wide-ranging roles, they encounter ethical decisions, which can impact them along with their patients. Scholars have argued that there is no “right” answer to an ethical dilemma. Therefore, what is an ethical dilemma or issue? It is a predicament without a satisfactory answer. The consequence of an ethical issue lays in the truth that very diverse ethical choices concerning the same ethical issue can be made resulting in neither decision being a right or wrong choice (Henderson, 2009). The meaning of ethical issues is dealing with or regarding the principles or morals of morality (MacNair, 2003). Ethical issues are concerning the rights and wrongs in conduct, expressing or involving moral approval, in reference to principles of conduct, which are regarded correct, particularly those of a given group or profession for instance nursing. Basic values of saving life, as well as alleviating suffering, is shared by a member of the nursing and medical professions (Bandman, 2002). Codes of honesty, confidentiality and colleagueship, are also anticipated in these groups. Nevertheless, the spirit of obedience and servitude, questioned by Mitchell (2008), but influenced by a majority of nurses, has led to numerous differences in the manner in which dilemmas are tackled and the context in which doctors and nurses regard their professional ethics. This paper will give a comprehensive overview of an ethical issue and its relationship to the ethical and legal aspects of nursing or other health care professions. It will include an exploration of the pro and con sides of the ethical issue and take a stand on the issue and also critically evaluate the current impact of the ethical issue. Finally, it will include recommendations and implications for education and practice, which impact ethical decision making in nursing and health care. The ethical issue that will be discussed in this paper is regarding pro-choice versus pro-life; a dilemma, which nearly all nurses have encountered at least once in their profession. Nurses are affected by this issue personally. A majority of the stands nurses presume in this dilemma are persuaded by their own values and beliefs (Bandman, 2002). The consequences, at times, are harsh to both the nurse and the patient. Therefore, how does a nurse provide her services to a patient who has gone through an abortion, when the nurse regards abortion as murder? Should the nurse, with very different values, support the patient’s right to decide her autonomy? Pro Side of the Issue The most frequent reasons why women consider abortion are: Unable to care or support for the child. Birth control failure. Nearly half of all women who have gone through an abortion made use of a contraceptive technique in the month they got pregnant (MacNair, 2003). To stop the birth of a child with harsh medical problems or birth defects. Such defects are frequently unidentified until routine second-trimester assessments are carried out. To terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Mental or physical conditions, which jeopardize the pregnant woman’s health when the pregnancy is continued. Pregnancy resulting from incest or rape. All these are strong reasons why abortion is considered (Bandman, 2002). I also think that a pregnant woman ought to have access to a harmless, legal abortion if she requires one. I endorse a pregnant woman's right to harmless, legal abortion since centuries of history tells us that women are going to make the final decision regarding abortions whether they are legal and safe, or not. Furthermore, when the act is not safe and legal, these women might die terribly or be damaged permanently meaning that they might become barren (MacNair, 2003). Therefore, the pro side of this issue is that it saves women the possibility of going through an unsafe and illegal abortion. In my dream utopia, there would certainly be no abortion (Henderson, 2009). There would be contraception gladly available and there would be education bent towards preventing unnecessary pregnancies. Adoption would be easier than it is now, but this is not that utopia. Women will do all they can to get an abortion if they want to even if it puts their lives in danger. This issues, therefore, saves health practitioners of any legal matter that might arise following the abortion. Maybe the medical procedure might not be successful, but the patient would have been informed before it is conducted. Finally, the pro side of this issue is that it hears a woman’s right to terminate the pregnancy (Bandman, 2002). Con Side of this Issue It is known that carrying out abortions has certain psychological consequences on the nurses and other medical staff (MacNair, 2003). This is known as a variant of Post-Abortion Syndrome. Due to the enhanced number of prostaglandin abortions (PGTOPS) being performed, nursing staff are declining to assist. They discover that they cannot deal with these PGTOPS, especially when carried out for non-health grounds. A PGTOPS concerns a doctor first murdering the baby through infusing urea (an organic compound) into the womb. PGTOPS chemicals stimulate labor, which can use about 12 to 36 hours (Bandman, 2002). Clinical staffs have to help the patient through the closing stages of labor where she brings forth an integral dead baby and then administer its disposal. Abortion is perceived as a deadly, assembly-line, slightly reputable occupation, which requires little from the medical staff, ethically or technically, but this is not the case on the ground (Mitchell, 2008). There are fresh opportunities and challenges, such as obstetrics and foetology, which draw scholars away from abortion. A United States study proved that nearly all professionals concerned in abortion, reacted with relatively negative feelings (Bandman, 2002). This is because it frequently leads to intense psychological pain, as well as stress. Abortion is basically murder. Therefore, a nurse who is requested to care for a patient who has gone through an abortion can decline since they resent the act of killing (MacNair, 2003). The act is surgically an unchallenging work, which hardly fits in the classic aspirations and bounds of young nurses in training (Henderson, 2009). Students in obstetrical training courses have made it aware to their instructors that they would rather not waste their precious training time performing a destructive practice, which is now largely restricted to the vague fringes of medical practice. This means that nurses who are performing procedure are aging or moving towards retirement. Therefore, in the near future, there will be no nurses who want to look after patients who have had an abortion. This is because it goes against their values and beliefs (Bandman, 2002). Individual Stand on the Issue I believe that those who choose abortions are often young women or minors with inadequate life experience to comprehend fully what they are involving themselves in. For this reason, a majority of the women who carry out abortions have lifelong regrets afterwards. I have two stands on this issue; it should be endorsed for the right reasons and banned for the wrong reasons. I support it because, at times, the act can be justified. For instance, a pregnancy might have dire consequences to a woman’s health and the health of the fetus, as well (Wilson-Barnett, 2012). Therefore, if this is the case, then the procedure can follow. As stated earlier in this paper, women will mostly go for an abortion if they decided to even though they are persuaded not to. Therefore, in order to save them from the prospect of losing their lives or being barren in their future, it is vital for the key players in this sector to think about incorporating safe and legal means of going through an abortion (Bandman, 2002). As a nurse, I can only care for a patient who has justified her reason for abortion. I strongly regard the act as murder and believe that only God has the right to take life away and not any other human. In the case of incest and rape, proper medical procedure can make sure that the victim will not get pregnant (Wilson-Barnett, 2012). Abortion penalizes the unborn child who has done nothing wrong, but the perpetrator is the one who ought to be punished. A nurse should be granted permission to decide whether they want to care for a patient who has undergone an abortion because someone’s values and beliefs should not be easily breeched (Bandman, 2002). God is the creator of life, and; therefore, a life is not created by chance but by purpose. Every life has a purpose, and God is the one who decides when that life cannot continue with its purpose on earth, not humans. Relevance of the Dilemma to Nursing Practice With the above information, policymakers in the nursing field these days are coming up with improved means carried for our concerned patients, which will reduce any issues that might arise in the future. This dictates a nurse’s freedom to access information relevant to a pregnant woman’s welfare, proposing ways of coping with the issue, as well as choosing priorities of action for the patient who is seeking for an abortion (MacNair, 2003). Critics have argued that the effects of something cannot be known until that matter is tried (Henderson, 2009). Therefore, a patient who wishes to carry out an abortion cannot know the consequences until the procedure is performed. Therefore, this issue lets other women who want to carry out an abortion know the dire consequences that might be involved after. It might make them at least think twice about the act before they make their final decision (Bandman, 2002). Since caring for a patient who has opted to murder a child, a nurse now has the option to decide whether they want to care for the patient who has committed the act if it goes against the values and beliefs or not. Also, this issue has led to the creation of safe and legal ways of carrying out abortions. Nurses can carry out procedures to look after patients safely following the procedure. They can know whether the procedure was conducted for the right purpose or not. Also, this dilemma has dictated that ethical issues be seen in the context of a growing professional conscience. Nurses now hold it as a subordinate task (Mitchell, 2008). This is because their sole purpose is to help the patient recover. Fresh developments in the nursing profession echoed increased knowledge of efficient care and the shifting needs of women who want to do abortion. Nurses are now being forced to bend their profession in order to become more complimentary to abortion nurses because some abortion cases can be justified. This extends to all areas of need for the patient (Bandman, 2002). Recommendation for the Future of the Nursing Profession The recent climate of change in health care offers a perfect chance for clinical nurses to shape the method in which abortion services are offered in the future (MacNair, 2003). The growth of a designated resource to attain this (for instance, a clinical nurse specialist, a consultant nurse, as well as a nurse practitioner roles) should be successful in determining national, regional and local nursing practice in looking after for women who will undergo an abortion (Bandman, 2002). Every nurse has a chance to lead from a clinical viewpoint and should be empowered to persuade change in practice development and service provision, making sure improved services for women will undertake an abortion in the legal framework. Nurses should be aware that it is their duty to take care of any person who is regarded as a patient. At times, when providing their care, nurses make decisions with regards to their beliefs or values. A person’s values and beliefs are extremely influential since that is what made the person a nurse in the first place. Therefore, legal and safe ways for carrying out abortions should be created in order to allow nurses whose beliefs and values are against abortion to carry out their duties ethically (Bandman, 2002). Also, health practitioners should accept to perform an abortion on a pregnant woman not unless the pregnancy might harm the life of the woman of the child itself. Finally, as a word of advice, a majority of the doctors who opted to stop doing abortions have clarified that the memories of ending someone’s life has haunted them since then. They testify that if they had an option to reverse their decision, then they would do that without hesitation (Henderson, 2009). This is to show that the act is morally wrong and that, if the act is made legal, for all the right reasons, then is would save both nurses and other practitioners from the psychological pains that follow after caring for a patient with abortion. References Bandman, E. (2002). Nursing ethics through the life span (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Henderson, V. (2009). The concept of nursing. Journal of Medical Ethics, 3(5), 78-82. MacNair, R. (2003). The effects of abortion on doctors and medical staff. Retrieved from http://www.life.org.nz/abortion/abortionmedicalkeyissues/abortionclinicstaff1/ Mitchell, J. R. (2008). The role of nurses in abortion services. Retrieved from http://www.reproductivereview.org/index.php/site/article/467/ Wilson-Barnett J. (2012). Interventions to alleviate patients' stress: a review. Journal of Psychosom Response, 28(1), 63-72. Read More