Ethical theories describe the foundation upon which individuals seek reference when making ethical decisions. There are basically four major ethical theories. These include deontology, utilitarianism, rights and virtue. Each theory describes different ethical considerations taken by individuals in solving the various ethical dilemmas. The goal this paper is to elaborate how the different ethical theories were used to solve specific dilemmas in the field of healthcare and nursing.
Assisted dying, conscientious objection (CO), and abortion are some of the frequent controversies in health care. Conscientious objection refers to the condition where a health profession may refuse to conduct abortion due to moral and religious reasons. Referrals can be made in such cases to doctors who are comfortable with the procedures. This issue had however been subjected to debate in 2012. Doctors were since not allowed to give referrals. From the debate, we could argue that the theory put in place was the deontology theory. This theory explains that upholding one’s duty is ethically correct and that one should follow their obligations in work.
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Patients have the right to decide how they would wish their lives to end. End-of –life dilemmas have proved difficult to solve whenever patients opinions are not accepted. Case study of an unconscious patient who was admitted to Florida hospital with a tattoo that stated “do not resuscitate. It was difficult for the team to decide whether to follow the instructions as per the tattoo or to save the life of the patient. Saving the life of the patient if in case the tattoo was the instructions given by the patient would mean interference with the patient’s confidentiality (Elzweig, B. 2018). Most of the doctors agreed on following the rights theory and the patient to be left alone. Following this theory, the patient’s autonomy had to be respected. As a result the patient could not be helped.
The question to whether certain decisions made in low income settings are ethical or unethical arouses controversies in most cases. A national survey conducted in Ethiopia in 2019 showed that 50% of the physicians faced ethically challenging situations (Miljeteig et al 2019). In these low income settings, resource distribution is the most frequent challenge reported. An example of this challenge is the lack of enough beds with high population therefore poor distribution of beds. In such a situation the theory of utilitarianism would be the most appropriate. Since in utilitarianism possible outcomes can be predicted, the physician can predict the most likely effect of admitting more patients into a facility with less people.
In some other cases, doctors have to deal with cases of negative attitudes and accusations. Take an example of a 61-year-old army veteran who was taken into the homeless care clinic. He blamed the doctors there for the death of his wife and son. The doctor there had diagnosed him depression but despite all the accusations had to put up with him. In this case, the doctor uses the virtue theory to help in deciding whether it was ethical to help this person who was laying false accusations against him.
In conclusion, the ethical theories mentioned above are key tools to help in ethical decision making. Situations at times might be compromising and some guidelines need to be followed. For all the cases mentioned, the theories that were applied were all relevant and for that reason the ethical conclusions were made.
References
Elzweig, B. (2018). Do Not Resuscitate Tattoos: Adequate Evidence of a Patient's Intent to Die. Or. L. Rev. , 97 , 277.
Kushel, M. B., & Miaskowski, C. (2006). End-of-life care for homeless patients:“she says she is there to help me in any situation”. JAMA , 296 (24), 2959-2966.
Miljeteig, I., Defaye, F., Desalegn, D., & Danis, M. (2019). Clinical ethics dilemmas in a low Income setting-a national survey among physicians in Ethiopia. BMC medical ethics , 20 (1), 1-13.
