An Ethical Issue, Essay Example

Introduction

Ethical dilemmas require individuals to make important decisions that may ultimately impact their lives in different ways. It is important to address an ethical issue with an open mind and to reflect upon the best interests of the individuals who are involved, as this will support the development of a probable solution that will lead to favorable outcomes. In the healthcare community, ethical dilemmas arise on a daily basis and require further examination in order to make decisions that will lead to negative minimal impact. This process requires the involved parties to take note of the circumstances and to recognize how their contributions might have a positive influence. A situation involving a patient and an error in dispensing medication will now be addressed and will consider the ethical dilemma, the complications that arose, and the outcomes that occurred.

Analysis

On a recent shift, a patient was administered the incorrect dosage of pain medication that did not cause any direct harm to the patient. However, this was an error that required reporting and the appropriate documentation because the patient was put in a position where she incurred unnecessary risk that required further evaluation. Since the patient did not experience any harm, one option was to not report the incident at all, for which other nurses and the management team would not have realized that there were any issues with the patient and the situation that took place. This would have been an option that would have serious and potentially permanent ethical implications for the nurse because it is not a true representation of the facts of the patient’s case. Therefore, this was not a feasible option and would not benefit any of the involved parties under any circumstances. In this cases, it was necessary to fully disclose the facts of the situation and to address the consequences accordingly.

In this case, in spite of the patient not facing any additional risk, it was inappropriate to allow the situation to be ignored or forgotten because this would be an ethically irresponsible way of managing the actions that took place. Nurses are trained to maintain a high standard of ethics at all times; therefore, they must adhere to a specific set of rules and regulations that possess ethically appropriate outcomes. In this context, it is important to identify the specific challenges that might have occurred if the nurse did not disclose the activities that took place with the patient, including likely disciplinary action in the future if the situation were to be discovered at a later date, along with the impact of having the situation on the nurse’s conscience. This is not a favorable situation to be in, nor does it provide any real benefit to the parties involved directly in the case or others with an indirect impact. Therefore, it was in the best interests of the nurse, the patient, the nursing unit, and the entire nursing profession to have full disclosure and to share information with the management team so that the case could be properly addressed in a timely manner.

In this case, the nurse was required to fully disclose the circumstances of the situation in order to ensure that others might learn from the situation and so that any disciplinary action would be taken accordingly as deserved. Although this was an error and was purely accidental in nature, it was the responsibility of the nurse to share the information and the facts from her perspective in order to promote full disclosure and to be recognized as an honest and truthful nurse in all of her activities. This was an essential step for the nurse to take in order to accomplish the required objectives and to demonstrate a clear understanding of her role as a professional nurse and her responsibility to be an effective communicator and to share her experiences with others, even if they might have negative consequences. It is important to address all ethical issues that involve patients or that compromise their care in different ways because they support an honest and truthful approach to nursing practice that will demonstrate a high level of ethical responsibility and support for other nurses, patients, and the profession as a whole. These efforts require nurses to be proactive in addressing concerns and issues that occur on the nursing unit and to provide others with less experience with an example to follow.

Nursing ethics encompasses a number of situations that require constant attention and focus because there are significant issues that may arise that may impact patient care and treatment in different ways. From this perspective, nurses who find themselves in an ethical dilemma must be able to understand the perspective of the nursing unit, the patient, and any other parties who might be impacted by the case and the decisions that are made. From this perspective, nurses must be able to recognize the value of full disclosure and in sharing the circumstances surrounding a situation that could pose risk or harm to other persons. This is a critical component of nursing practice and requires nurses to maintain honestly and truthfulness so that they are able to address their own actions and their consequences openly and honestly to have a positive impact on others and to acquire a new learning experience in the process.

This experience provides a number of learning tools and opportunities because it demonstrates that nurses are not infallible and that different actions may occur even under unintentional circumstances that have a significant impact on individual nurses and the unit as a whole. In addition, depending on the circumstances, these actions may have a direct impact on patients, and this is a challenging scenario that requires further consideration and evaluation because it may have lasting complications for nurses. Nonetheless, the art of truthfulness and full disclosure must be considered because it will serve the best interests of the nurse, her patients, and her colleagues over the long term. This process encourages nurses to be proactive in addressing ethical dilemmas and in considering the complications that may arise and that will contribute to other challenges for nurses. These situations are positive learning experiences for nurses because they support a culture of ethical responsibility and greater attention to the activities that are performed. This is also an important reminder of the challenges related to nursing practice that require nurses to pay close attention to all actions that they take so that they do not compromise the lives of their patients at any time. This is an important reminder that nurses are essential contributors to high quality care and treatment for all patients, and they serve as an example of the necessity for nurses who possess a high level of integrity and ethical responsibility for their actions at all times. This approach supports the growth of the practice setting and the opportunity to examine new ideas to improve outcomes for all nurses and their patients.

Conclusion

In the example provided, the nurse who committed a medication error had a responsibility to bring this matter to the attention of her manager in order to address any possible disciplinary action that was required. In addition, this situation serves as a learna role in ing experience for others on the unit so that they are aware of possible issues that may arise when they face similar actions and their ethical implications. Most importantly, it is the responsibility of the nurse to tell the truth and to fully disclose the circumstances of the case so that she is able to support her profession and to be aware that some actions, even if accidental, may lead to consequences that must be accepted. This set of circumstances is critical to a nurse’s personal and professional growth and her ability to be an effective nurse in administering high quality care to her patients. Therefore, this learning experience requires a high level of ethical responsibility and an examination of the different requirements that might play a role in shaping outcomes for individuals and in supporting an ethically appropriate workplace environment.