StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare - Article Example

Cite this document
Summary
The article "Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare" focuses on the critical analysis of the major issues in ethical dilemmas in healthcare. Health experts face various ethical dilemmas in their line of duty. Some of the dilemmas are risky discharge, limitations of resources, and poor standards of care…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.8% of users find it useful
Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare"

Download file to see previous pages

An ethical dilemma is a state in which nurses make choices between the options and the choices they have at their disposal (Fry, Veatch, & Taylor, 2006, pp. 53-54). For that reason, nurses should possess the knowledge and the autonomy necessary in interacting with patients (Davis, Fowler, & Arosker, 2010). Timby Kuhn (2008) contends that nurses often face various ethical dilemmas, such as risky discharge of patients, limitations of resources, and poor standards of care when dealing with patients (Barnett, 2013, pp.197-198). In that case, this treatise seeks to explain a nursing ethical dilemma that I experienced, the persons involved, strategies followed to resolve the problem, and ways in which the situation could have been resolved effectively.

When a medical error causes a patient to lose her eyesight, the medical staff ends up being put in a complex situation. In case they publicly admit the mistake, they end up losing the trust of the people as well as their aptitude to practice medicine. However, by failing to admit their mistake, they end up lying and endangering the lives of other patients as well as bleaching their duty of care.

In 2010, I accompanied my aunt to Trinidad Hospital to get a cataract removed from her right eye. Although the entire procedure was meant to be painless and simple, immediately the surgeon injected some substance which was labeled lidocaine, and my aunt started moaning and shaking her head in pain and discomfort. The nurses realized that something was amiss since they could smell formaldehyde, and had also realized that the bottle had been mislabeled. Consequently, my aunt lost sight in her right eye.

The people who were involved in the entire mishap were my aunt, the surgeon who was to remove the cataract, and the staff who later came following my aunt’s continuous moaning.

Initially, the procedure seemed to be going on as planned until my aunt started screaming and shaking in pain. It was noted that though two nurses and the surgeon had checked as well as verified that indeed the bottle was filled with lidocaine, the surgeon mistakenly injected her with formaldehyde. If the government had come to discover the malpractice, they would have ended up ending their practice and leaving most of the natives without proper healthcare. Consequently, the doctors decided not to inform us of their actions, leaving us to believe that a poisonous fly had hurt my aunt’s eye.

The nurses in this case failed to follow an ethical process as they were not careful enough to ensure that all medicines were labeled appropriately. Additionally, Lipe and Beasley (2004, pp. 233-234) assert that nurses owe their patients a duty of care and the truth regarding their health, but in this case, they failed. For this reason, we had to seek a different opinion from another hospital where it was reported that indeed the surgeon had administered the wrong drugs, causing blindness. What followed were lawsuits, whereby, the hospital was sued for negligence and incompetence and the nurses as well as the surgeon ended up losing their practicing licenses. The court ordered the defendant to compensate the complainant and ordered the closure of the hospital. Although compensation did not solve the health problem, it acted as a warning to other health professionals who are bound to make similar mistakes.

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Ethical Dilemma Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Ethical Dilemma Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/nursing/1479994-ethical-dilemma
(Ethical Dilemma Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
Ethical Dilemma Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1479994-ethical-dilemma.
“Ethical Dilemma Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1479994-ethical-dilemma.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare

Ethical Dilemmas in Pediatrics

This paper presents the clinical case, clearly outlining the ethical dilemma basing on virtue ethical theory and principles that are applicable to this situation.... Background The case study presents an ethical dilemma faced by healthcare providers in the course of their duty, especially when treating and caring for Jehovah Witnesses placed in a critical situation owing to medical life-threatening situations.... An ethical dilemma refers to the quandary in which people find themselves in circumstances where they have to choose the manner of acting that might aid another individual and, which is the correct thing to do, regardless of whether it might contradict their own self-interest....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Ethical Dilemma on Case Manager

From the paper "ethical dilemma on Case Manager " it is clear that the ability of a patient to pay, details about the insurance cover, and the expectations of the nurses or doctors play a critical role in the process of dealing with ethical dilemmas.... The increasing pressure in the nursing profession demands that healthcare professionals get acquainted with the growing pressure in the nursing field.... Nurse Managers are faced with the dilemma of balancing patients' care and supervisory roles....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Ethics in Healthcare: Formulating the Dilemma

The paper "Ethics in healthcare: Formulating the Dilemma" explains that Health care ethics is a vital subject in the health care system as it evaluates the processes of making good choices that are based on beliefs and values regarding various aspects of life.... An ethical dilemma is a stance which involves a person to choose between two courses of action amongst which both are ethically adequate.... This ethical dilemma has various sides to be analyzed by Melissa as her professional values verify that she, rather follow and hunt down the case while along with her personal values....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Ethics in Healthcare: Formulating the Dilemma and Deciphering It

This essay "Ethics in healthcare: Formulating the Dilemma and Deciphering It" presents the healthcare sector where a large number of difficult decisions need to be made regarding medical situations; this stance is most of the time faced by patients, families, and also by healthcare professionals.... An ethical dilemma can be defined as a stance that involves a person choosing between two courses of action amongst which both are ethically adequate.... It has been evaluated by Fulford, Dickenson, and Murray the introduction of health care ethics has been considered important for the preservation of ethical values as they are implemented in our society (1)....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing

This Running Head: ethical dilemma in Nursing ethical dilemma in Nursing s Introduction Healthcare providers have thetop priority to safeguard the health of patients by providing effective and timely treatment but in cases the patients may not agree to take the type of recommended treatment as a matter of conflict with the cultural, social or religious norms and beliefs.... This paper will analyse such a dilemma in a particular case of Juana, a pregnant lady who refused blood transfusion due to religious beliefs and eventually died....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Moral Dilemmas in Nursing

An ethical or moral dilemma is a situation that presents two options, and a choice has to be made between them, neither of the choices serves to resolve the situation or dilemma in an ethically acceptable way.... Ethics Ethics Ethical or moral dilemma is a situation that presents two options, and a choice has to be made between them, neither of the choices serves to resolve the situation or dilemma in an ethically acceptable way.... healthcare Management Forum, 28(3), 121-123....
1 Pages (250 words) Coursework

Ethical Dilemmas in the Correctional System

The problems are whether punishment or rehabilitation should be upheld, the issue of food that is eaten in prison, whether the inmates should be granted a right to conjugal right, the prison healthcare systems and quality and if videographers should be present during execution.... Another dilemma is on food that is eaten in prison.... nother dilemma exists in the conjugal visits.... This essay "ethical Dilemmas in the Correctional System" looks at the different ethical dilemmas in the correctional system and how they occur....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Leadership Ethics Issues

thical issues in the healthcare sector may also culminate in legal matters.... Ethical judgments need to be made in the healthcare sector since the decisions made have an impact on the health and well-being of people in the society.... The main aim of healthcare is to promote the well-being of people in society and it thus follows that judgments made should be ethical.... thical dilemmas in the healthcare profession occur from time to time to time....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us