Assignment:
Please respond to the following statements in 100 to 250 words.
Question 1. In addition to principles, we must also consider ethical decision making models on individual ethics and professional decision making
a) Utilitarianism
b) Rights-based
c) Duty-based
d) Virtue-based
Can you discuss any of these models in the context of a real life ethical dilemma? Support with references.
Question 2. Nurses today face many ethical issues regarding the "rightness" or "wrongness" of medical treatment. This results in moral distress, which causes psychological and physical problems. Moral distress, as described in the article by Ulrich, Hamric, & Grady, is defined as the inability of a person to act according to their own values and perceived obligations due to internal and external constraints (2010). Furthermore, circumstances of recurrent moral distress are indicative of underlying issues in health care delivery such as poor communication, perceived powerlessness, and inadequate collaboration. One of the ways that the article suggests to reduce moral distress is to identify effective ways for health care providers to receive additional support from others when they are experiencing moral distress. One suggestion in the article is for nurses to be able to have pastoral support or a "listening ear" for nurses to talk to who are experiencing moral distress.
Question 3. Autonomy
a) Do you respect the right of others to make their own choices?
b) How do your individual actions affect the autonomy of others?
c) Do others such as health care consumers consent to your actions?
d) How do you respond when others choose differently than you do? Do your responses preserve autonomy?
e) What are ways you can promote the autonomy of others through your actions?