How Nurses Talk About Ethics, Essay Example

What were your thoughts/impressions?

My thoughts and impressions gained from viewing these two videos as was outlined by the producers ethics, moral and law are complicated issues nurses will have to encounter in their course of duty daily. As nursing becomes more specialized ethical decisions are more complicated. However, nurses function within a cultural environment, which is diverse. As such, in order to make the most appropriate decisions cultural competence is a marked requirement (How nurses talk about ethics, 2012).

Contemporary nursing ethics is consequential meaning that the end justifies the means since in this case there is no distinct right or wrong decisions. Utilitarianism is a strategy consequentialists adapt in justifying decisions made during duty. Importantly, consequences of the decisions taken are irrelevant. The producer cited Tuskegee trial as a typical example of consequential ethical decision making strategies. However, he admitted that is a dangerous situation and could violate the rights of individuals and nurses could be asked to deferent their decisions in the court of law, but ethics are executed with cultural competence then health care providers could become less liable for their decisions in ethical dilemmas  (How nurses talk about ethics, 2012).

Compare and contrast concepts from the readings.

A number of concepts were used and briefly defined. A major clarification was made initially among ethics, moral and law. Ethics is philosophical and while it is often interpreted as moral the producers made clarifications showingthat in fact they could beinterpreted a set of morals, but ethics extends over disciplines as in health care, whereas morals function from an individual premise. Importantly, it in health care nurses are placed in a very difficult situation when executing ethical conduct during the decision making process. Two major difficulties occur regarding beneficence and non- maleficence being great ethical challenges in nursing. Here is where the author highlighted virtue ethics becoming the prevailing feature in the decision making process (Culture matters, 2011).

Virtue ethics emerges from a normative theoretical approach and is advocated in health care for safe decision making limiting liability incidences because it describes the character of a moral agent; the moral agent being the nurse who applies code of ethics in his/her decision making. This is the reason for the nurse being culturally competent. If a nurse knows what is right and wrong from a premise of the patient’s culture thenethics is demonstrated based on virtue being character of the moral agent. Essentially nurses ought to function with autonomy and make decisions in the bestinterest of the patient exercise beneficence and non-maleficence (How nurses talk about ethics, 2012).

How present is ethical conduct in your daily practice?

Therefore, in the present health care setting balancing treatment benefits against risksalong with costs involved in a health system drowning in deficits is both a moral and ethical dilemma in delivery of care.Avoiding harm such medication errors is non-maleficent. With the current rationing of  health care under managed care and limited health care for the uninsured and underinsured nurses have a daily task of practicing ethics based on  moral character; cultural competence and with beneficence. America does have an imbalance health care delivery system which forges elements of immoral yet ethical practices because these decisions are covered within the disciplinary code.

References

How nurses talk about ethics (2012) Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2NbNGIhvqw

Culture matters: Indigenous perspective on behavioral Health care (2011). Video.