Module 4 DQ 1 And DQ 2 Tutor Must Have A Good Command Of The

Module 4 Dq 1 And Dq 2tutor Must Have A Good Command Of The English La

Describe a recent or current ethical issue you have faced in nursing practice or which has attained national attention. Discuss the application of ethical theories or principles to the issue. Support the application with sound reasoning.

Consider yourself in a role in which you are accountable for allocation of scarce health care resources for a given situation. Discuss how ethical principles, virtues, and values affect your decision making. Describe your process for ethical decision making. How might a resolution cause conflicts between personal values and beliefs and the perspective of the community or organization?

Paper For Above instruction

Ethical dilemmas are inherent in nursing practice, often challenging healthcare professionals to balance compassion, fairness, and legal obligations. A recent ethical issue that gained national attention involved the allocation of ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to a surge of critically ill patients, healthcare providers were faced with the difficult task of deciding how to allocate limited ventilator resources ethically.

Applying ethical principles, particularly justice and beneficence, was essential in addressing this dilemma. The principle of justice dictates that resources should be distributed fairly and without bias, ensuring that all patients have equitable access based on need and likelihood of benefit. Beneficence emphasizes acting in the best interest of the patient, which sometimes conflicts with justice when not all patients can receive the same level of care due to scarcity. For example, triage protocols that prioritize patients with higher survival probabilities exemplify utilitarian reasoning—aimed at maximizing overall benefits while trying to uphold fairness (Persad et al., 2009).

Similarly, the bioethical principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, and justice come into play. Autonomy may be limited in this context, as decisions mandated by protocols override individual patient preferences. Nonmaleficence, the obligation to do no harm, is challenged when denying treatment could lead to harm, raising questions about the fairness of resource allocation decisions. The application of ethical theories such as utilitarianism and deontology provides a framework to guide such ethically fraught decisions, emphasizing outcomes and duties respectively (Beauchamp & Childress, 2013).

In terms of decision-making processes, transparency and inclusiveness are vital. Nurses and healthcare teams often participate in multidisciplinary discussions to determine allocation strategies, ensuring that decisions are consistent with institutional policies and ethical standards. Reflective practice and ethical committees are instrumental in providing guidance and reducing moral distress among clinicians (Chinn & Kramer, 2018).

Ethical decision-making can, however, lead to conflicts between personal values and organizational policies. For instance, a nurse who personally believes in patient autonomy may struggle with protocols that prioritize utilitarian outcomes over individual preferences. When community or organizational perspectives emphasize fairness and resource conservation, healthcare professionals may experience moral tension, potentially impacting morale and job satisfaction.

In conclusion, navigating ethical issues in nursing requires a nuanced understanding of ethical principles combined with transparent and ethically grounded processes. Balancing individual moral beliefs with the collective good remains a complex but essential aspect of ethical nursing care during resource scarcity scenarios.

References

• Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2013). Principles of Biomedical Ethics (7th ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Chinn, P. L., & Kramer, M. K. (2018). Integrated Theory and Knowledge Development in Nursing (9th ed.). Elsevier.
• Persad, G., et al. (2009). Principles for allocation of scarce medical interventions. JAMA, 303(12), 1185–1190.
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2020). Ethical considerations in resource allocation during COVID-19. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.
• Jonsen, A., Siegler, M., & Winslade, W. (2010). Clinical Ethics: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
• Gillon, R. (2015). Ethics in nursing practice. Nursing Ethics, 22(2), 133–144.
• Kaplan, K., et al. (2012). Ethical decision making in nursing practice. Nursing Ethics, 19(4), 469–479.
• American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. ANA.
• Schmidt, N. A., et al. (2020). Ethical challenges in the allocation of scarce resources during a pandemic. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 52(3), 256–264.
• Daniel, J. (2020). Moral distress and ethical decision-making during COVID-19. Nursing Ethics, 27(6), 1421–1426.