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Ethics in Nursing: Deciding What Is Right and Wrong
By Colleen Moore on Tue, May 27, 2014
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ethics in nursingOne of the hardest things for healthcare professionals to accept is the realization that everything we do is not always in the best interest of our patients. For example, some patients would be better off not surviving, as much as we would like them to. How many life and death situations have you been in, where a life was saved only for us to wonder after the fact, “Why?”
This is where ethics in nursing come in.
So how do we know that we are making the right decisions for our patients?
We all know that nursing professionals have the responsibility of being altruistic. This means that we have the ethical obligation to serve others without self-interest. The nurse that is altruistic will make decisions that are in the best interest of the patient. By doing so, they are being a patient advocate and will be practicing good nursing ethics.
Today, with modern technology, we can keep people alive indefinitely. But is that always the best option for the patient or their family? We put patients on life support, hook them up to multiple tubes, and pump them full of nutrients and medication. But will they ever have a chance at a productive life? These are the difficult questions that healthcare providers have to...