Key Terms:
Basic dignity, Decision making, Diagnosis, Dilemma, Disclosure, Ethical principles, Ethical problems, Ethical reasoning, Ethical theory, Integrity, Nonmaleficence, Nursing code of ethics, Personal dignity, Rights, Terminal illness
Introduction: The Ethical Issue
The ethical issue that intrigued me is, disclosing medical conditions. This involves telling truth to a patient or a person whom the patient decides their personal information may be revealed to. Sometimes, a nurse may be confronted with a dilemma; on whether to tell the truth about a patient or be deceptive, based on the patient’s conditions and the outcomes of disclosing the information. However, it is the nurse’s obligation to keep the patient’s health information private and confidential. Patients must indicate their full consent on whom their health information may be disclosed to, in the case of their unconsciousness, by signing in a special form upon admission.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Why Disclosing Medical Conditions Is an Ethical Concern in Nursing
Disclosing medical conditions sometimes poses a big ethical dilemma in the field of nursing. A nurse may be confronted with a scenario in which a patient is terminally ill, say the patient is diagnosed with cancer or HIV/AIDS. In such a case, telling the truth about the patient’s health conditions may worsen the situation; the patient may lose hope in life and react negatively towards treatment. Thus, the family members may request the nurse not to reveal the patient’s medical condition or diagnosis. The big question is whether to tell truth to the patient or to be deceptive (Wood, 2019). It should be noted that patients have the right to know their medical conditions. Furthermore, the nurses should preserve their value of truth telling. At the same time, nurses have obligations to patients and their ethical principles of nonmaleficence and fidelity; meaning the nurse has the obligation not to harm and at the same time remain faithful to their colleagues.
Positive Outcomes of Disclosing Medical Conditions
Disclosure of medical conditions has several positive outcomes. First, it is the right thing to do because it avails both the patient and the family members what went amiss, so as to avoid a repeat of the mistake. Second, it is ethical thing to do as it promotes openness between the patient and the medical practitioner. Disclosure is legal and it strengthens the bond between the patient and the nurse. It promotes the patient’s care through ensuring that the providers pay proper attention to what went wrong. Besides, disclosure makes the healthcare safer, and promotes teamwork in correcting what went wrong with the patient. Disclosure also cultivates ultimate trust of the patient to the provider and makes the patient respond honestly to matters involving the treatment. Finally, disclosure helps the providers mitigate to the mistakes that may occur during the treatment process.
Negative Outcomes of Disclosing Medical Conditions
Medical conditions disclosure sometimes comes with various risks. For instance, it may result into stigmatization. If for example, a child is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, he or she may discuss this with other children and the result is stigmatization to both the child and her parents. This may also lead to isolation, as the victims become associated with irresponsible sexual behaviors. Medical condition disclosure may also be accompanied by negative psychological reputations. The patient may lose hope and become resistance to treatment. The patient may also commit suicide. If a patient is diagnosed with terminal illness like cancer, the family members may consider looking for the patient’s treatment a wastage of resources since after all, the patient may not recover. This results into rejection of the patient and may lead to early death.
Various Viewpoints on Medical Disclosure
Various professionals have expressed different views on whether to disclose medical records of terminally ill patients or to be deceitful. Grassi (2000), a physician in cancer care support argues that, he faces a lot of discomfort in disclosing medical records to his patients ( Sarafis et al., 2013 ). To him, telling the truth in such a case is like taking away the patient’s hope for life. He further adds that, such medical disclosure raises the patient’s emotions which are hard to handle. Mahtani-Chugani (2010), on his side uses the palliative care approach; where he notes that, disclosing fatal prognoses is quite challenging. To him, the person passing the ‘bad news’ ought to be trustworthy to the patient; someone the patient is comfortable with. He notes that, the person telling such a truth should be trained to do so in order to minimize the harm the patient may experience in such a scenario. Mitchell (1998) and Surbone (2004), take this matter from a different approach. To them, while it is necessary to be frank on the patient’s medical conditions, the doctors need to put some factors into consideration. For instance, some societies exhibit strong family bonds, and at such, the nurse has an obligation to withhold the patient’s illness records for the sake of protecting the ill member.
The Selected Viewpoint
In my view, I find the Mitchell and Surbone arguments the most relevant. Their arguments are based on the values emphasized in the doctors Code of Ethics. First, they appreciate that the patients have the right to know their medical conditions; hence defining their wholeness of character. However, prior to disclosing medical conditions of a patient, the doctors need to consider the safety of the patient based on any negative outcome; this defines the integrity of doctors in the performance of their duties. Moreover, in the circumstances where doctors find disclosing the patients’ medical records may lower their personal dignity, the doctors have the duty to keep the information private and confidential. Sometimes, a patient may wish to take euthanasia. Doctors should be careful not to be influenced in committing such actions, because it is against the doctors’ ethos; to save life by all means. By instilling euthanasia to a patient, the doctors lower their basic dignity and lose trust with the community.
Strategies to Enhance Ethical Nursing Practices
Some ethical nursing practices involve skills which can be learned and enhanced with continued nursing actions. Prolonged nursing experience equips the practitioner with knowledge in ethical decision making, ethical principles, ethical theories, and the nursing code of ethics (Berenson, 2011). Therefore, to enhance ethical nursing practices, the nurse should endeavor to learn new ways of do of things on daily matters. Nurses should increase opportunities for dialogue with both the patients and their fellow colleagues in order to foster their skills in ethical decision making. It is also recommended that all nurses attend seminars and workshops which hold tops on ethical nursing practices. Another strategy is the application of research work in the nursing program. Research work can be conducted both in internet based material and in the field work. This helps the nurses to keep updated on new issues concerning the nursing practices. Besides, formation of nursing groups aimed at promoting ethical issues will also help to improve the nursing program. Such groups help in the provision of education program on ethical decision making. The groups also gather the emerging challenges curtailing the nursing problems, as well as provision of solution on the same. Finally, nurses should aspire to act as the patients’ advocates in order to enhance nursing professional standards.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Disclosing medical conditions of a patient is a major ethical issue. It should be addressed delicately owing to the dangers it can pose if not properly done within the law. Every person is entitled to their privacy and confidentiality on matters concerning their personal medical conditions and any disclosure on the same should be done within the confines of their consent. However, disclosure of the patients’ health status is import because it not only enables the patient understand the root cause of their problems, but also equips the providers with enough knowledge on how to best help the patient recover from their condition. It is therefore recommendable that medical condition disclosure should be encouraged, but be done within the requirements of the law.
References
Berenson, LD. (2011). Cultural competencies for nurses. Impact on health and illness 11: 1-362.
Sarafis, P., Tsounis, A., Malliarou, M. & Lahana, E. (2013). Global Journal of Health Science. (Online). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4825228/#ref20
Wood, RN. (2019). 4 Common Nursing Ethics Dilemmas. (Online). Retrieved fro https://www.nursechoice.com/traveler-resources/4-common-nursing-ethics-dilemmas/
