Ethical dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical dilemma - Essay Example However, a nurse’s past experiences, values, and beliefs may influence this solution. In addition, one ethical dilemma can be solved in a variety of ways. In this paper, I will give a case of an ethical dilemma in nursing, and discuss how this can be resolved using the 2009 Ethical Decision-making algorithm by Catalano. Ethical issues vary and may involve legal issues, pro-life issues, deception versus truth telling, quantity versus quality of life, control versus freedom, among others. A nurse will react differently to each of these ethical dilemmas (Lipe & Beasley, 2003). My case of ethical dilemma is a pro-life versus pro-choice situation, experienced some time ago by a friend who is a practicing nurse. This involved a fifty-year old woman in the ICU. She had been in the ICU for over one year, and shows no probability of getting better; instead, she gets worse each day. The patient wants her life to be terminated to save her the pain. However, her family does not agree with her wish, and advise the nurses to keep her. She undergoes multiple painful surgeries for her sustenance. The hospital knows that if they prolonged her life, it will be of low quality and full of pain. They however cannot perform anesthesia on her as the family threatened to sue the hospital if they took that step. On the other hand, the patient is bitter that her wish of ending her life has not been granted. This is a perfect example of an ethical dilemma. All the parties involved express different wishes and interests. The patient wants her life terminated to escape the pain; her family wants the nurse to prolong her life, while the nurse wants to save her patient much pain by performing mercy killing. Each party faces obstacles in fulfilling their desires. The patient’s family is the main obstacle as they threaten the nurse with suing if she terminates the patient’s life. Now, the nurse is to come up with a decision that will be neutral on side of the patient as we ll as that of her family. If the nurse prolongs the patient’s life, she will be prolonging her suffering, thus causing her harm. On the other hand, if the nurse complies with her patient’s wish, she may get in trouble with the patient’s family, and so cause a strained relationship, which sounds unethical. Catalino’s ethical decision-making algorithm would have come in handy in directing the nurse to the most appropriate decision (Denier et al., 2010). According to Catalino’s ethical decision-making algorithm, decision-making starts with assessment. This involves determining the party that will be most affected by the decision. Enough facts, including the potential risks of the patient, are gathered to arrive at this. The second step is to collect, analyze and interpret data. Here, the nurse makes use of the information they have to determine possible outcomes. Thirdly, the dilemma is identified and stated. In this case, the identified dilemma is to grant the patient her wish or to listen to her family (Deshpande, 2009). Next is to decide if the nurse can resolve the dilemma or not. If no, the nurse should not take any action, if yes, the possible solutions to the dilemma should be stated. Acceptable and unacceptable consequences are then identified. If the consequences are acceptable, an ethical decision can be taken, if they are unacceptable, no action is to be taken. If ethical decision is