Ethical concerns arise when the health professionals take care of the patients. The legal aspect of bioethics occurs when the healthcare employees have to decide the right thing they should carry out. The health workers encounter many dilemmas, but they have to make sure that their decisions are subject to the legal and ethical considerations of the patients. The decisions can be challenging to make, but the nurses have to comply with the interests of the patients. Nurses play the role of providing support, care, administering treatment, and understanding the concerns of the patients.
Bioethics Issue
Summary of the Article
Many ethical dilemmas occur in the nursing department. The article focuses on the difficulties that nurses’ encounter while administering care to the young children. The article uses a hypothetical case to illustrate the challenges that nurses undergo to make concrete decisions. The case involves a young child, Jack, who is suffering from trisomy syndrome. The life expectancy of the child is less than two weeks. The healthcare professionals perceive that administering treatment to the child was not his wish. The main aim of the identification of the disease is to give the parents time to outside the hospital. The interest of Jack’s parents is to administer treatment to the infant. The healthcare providers should make the ethical and legal decisions based on the best interests of the patients. In this case, the child is not aware of their concerns, but the parents can determine the appropriate action that the health professionals can take (Hagger et al, 2016) .
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Ethical Action for Nurse
The nurse who provides care for the child perceives that they can support the interests of the patient. Nurses are educated to administer treatment that will increase the life expectancy of individuals. The ethical dilemma arises when the nurses are forced to withdraw support from the patients. The nurse is responsible for taking care of the patient but keeps in mind that the interests of the family will be given priority when making decisions on the type of treatment that should be carried out. The family trusts the nurse on providing support to the patient because he or she is the person that can give care and treatment that will help in the patient's recovery process (Hagger et al, 2016) . The relationship between the nurse and the patients can be healthy which can lead to the interests of the family being ignored. The nurse should avoid close relations with the families of the patients which might affect the decision-making process.
Legal Action for the Nurse
In the legal aspect, the law provides that the nurse should take responsibility for the patient’s well-being. The health provider should make sure that the rule is adhered to when making decisions. In case the parents want a treatment to be carried out that is against the law, the nurse will advise on the matter. The agreement that is made by the parents on the procedure must be written and signed for it to be legalized (Hagger et al, 2016) .
Case Study Presentation
Ethical and Legal Issues
The 89-year-old patient has arrived at the emergency room with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The patient lost his wife a week ago and felt that he cannot continue living alone. He left a note that expressed his grievances. The neurosurgeon did some examinations and saw it was not fit for the patient to undergo surgery. The patient’s blood pressure was 60/45, the saturation was 93 %, and the HR was 121. The neurosurgeon explains to the family of the impossibility of carrying out a surgery, but they insist that it should be done (Blais and Hayes, 2016).
The surgeon is faced with legal issues and ethical dilemmas. The surgeon perceives that the patient is not fit for surgery due to his critical condition, but he must respect the decision of the family per provisions of the law. Concerning the ethical aspect, the nurse and the surgeon are aware that the condition of the patient is severe and they are taking into account the quality of life (Blais and Hayes, 2016). Most of the health providers provide care for patients because they aim at improving their quality of life. The family cares about increasing the life-span of their patients rather than the adverse effects on the mode of treatment (Hyzy, 2017).
Concerning the law, the surgeon and the nurse must adhere to the interests of the family. The law does not prohibit carrying out a surgery, and this supports the wishes of the family. The patient will be prepared for the operation. The health professionals will make sure that the agreement made on the operation should be put into writing and signed (Blais and Hayes, 2016).
Does the Do Not Resuscitate Order Changes of Things
In case the patient signs the Do Not Resuscitate document before the surgery is carried out, the nurse in charge should take legal action on stopping and giving notice to the surgeon. Concerning the ethical and legal perspective, the patient has addressed his or her interests that should be informed to the family. The family and the healthcare professionals should have a meeting to discuss the legal factors for making decisions on the patient’s treatment (Furlong, 2015) .
Firstly, the health providers should analyze to determine the mental status of the patient when he or she was signing the Do Not Resuscitate document. The 89-year-old patient had lost his wife over the past one week, and frustration could have pushed him to sign the DNR document. Some patients remain sober after encountering tragedies. The healthcare professionals should assess the medical history of the patient to identify if he has a mental problem for them to determine his state when facing stressful situations (Furlong, 2015) .
Secondly, in case the nurse and surgeon will not get the medical background of the patient or any other evidence that gives information on mental incapacity, they will respect the wishes addressed in the DNR script. The family will be upset because their interests have not been taken into account, but they must comply with the patient's wishes. The surgeon and nurse will be legally protected after all parties sign the consent documents. The health providers should oblige to the requests of the patients, and the hospitals must have the Do Not Resuscitate records for the victim's well-being (Furlong, 2015) .
Conclusion
Nurses in all division encounter ethical dilemmas and legal issues. The nurses must have the knowledge of handling moral along with legal matters. Nurses should not be judgmental and emotional towards patients. The relationship between the nurses and patients should not affect the decisions that will be made. The health professionals should respect the wishes of the family concerning the legal provisions. In case the DNS document is signed by the patient, his or her interest should be respect.
References
Blais, K. K. & Hayes, J. S. (2016). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives (6th). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Furlong, B. (2015). Right or wrong: Policy, legal, and ethical issues and decision-making. Decision-making in nursing: Thoughtful approaches for leadership , 33-50.
Hagger, V., Ellis, C., & Strumidlo, L. (2016). Legal and ethical issues in neonatal nursing: a case study. Nursing Standard (2014+) , 30 (44), 48.Retrieved May 13, 2018 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353936
Hyzy, R. C. (2017). Evidence-based critical care: A case study approach .
