Principle Of Justice 1, Principle Of Justice 4, Emergen

Principle Of Justice 1principle Of Justice 4emergen

Identify and analyze an ethical clinical incident related to nursing practice, including a description of the event, your thought processes during and after the incident, an evaluation supported by the ANA Code of Ethics, and recommendations for future practice. Include proper citations in APA format.

Paper For Above instruction

Ethical dilemmas are inherent in emergency nursing, where rapid decisions often determine patient outcomes. One such incident involves the prioritization of a patient in resuscitation, which illustrates the application of the principle of justice in nursing ethics. The scenario describes a woman brought in with suspected seizure activity, requiring urgent CT imaging, but due to prior commitments, another patient on the same table was excused to prioritize the resuscitation case. This incident prompts reflection on ethical principles, nursing judgment, and the standards set by the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics.

The event begins with the woman presenting with neurological deficits suggestive of a seizure, necessitating immediate diagnostic imaging. The healthcare team faces the challenge of allocating limited resources—specifically, the CT scanner and associated personnel—to meet the urgent health needs of multiple patients. Despite the rule of equal access, the patient needing resuscitation was given priority, and the woman was asked to wait or be excused from the procedure. Internally, I was contemplating the ethical justification for prioritizing life-threatening emergencies over diagnostic procedures for less critical cases, recognizing that emergency care typically operates on principles of triage and urgency.

During the incident, my immediate thoughts revolved around the fairness of resource allocation and whether the decision aligns with nursing ethics. Afterwards, I reflected on the importance of adhering to established triage protocols and the ethical obligation to treat patients equitably. The scenario exemplifies a core tension between fairness (justice) and the practical need to prioritize cases based on severity. While the initial decision appears justified under emergency care standards, it also raised questions about whether the woman's rights to prompt diagnostics were adequately considered.

The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses emphasizes the importance of justice, which involves fair distribution of healthcare resources and unbiased treatment of all patients (American Nurses Association, 2016). Provision three of the code states that nurses must promote justice in healthcare, ensuring equitable treatment and nondiscrimination. In this context, the nurse’s decision to prioritize the resuscitation aligns with the principle of justice as applied in emergency settings, where life-threatening conditions take precedence over diagnostic procedures for stable patients (House et al., 2015). Conversely, the act of excusing the patient for the CT scan without providing alternative solutions may raise concerns about justice if it results in delayed diagnosis or compromised patient care.

My initial thought process—supporting prioritization of urgent cases—was consistent with ethical principles of beneficence (acting in the patient’s best interest) and nonmaleficence (preventing harm). However, upon reflection, I recognized that such decisions should be transparently communicated, and efforts should be made to minimize delays for other patients, respecting their dignity and rights. The situation reinforces the importance of clear triage protocols to support fair and ethical resource allocation, especially in high-pressure environments like emergency departments (Vryonides et al., 2015).

Supporting evidence from the ANA Code underscores that nurses must balance multiple ethical principles, including justice, beneficence, and respect for persons. The decision made in this case was aligned with the duty to save lives, consistent with justice’s emphasis on prioritizing the most critical cases. Nonetheless, it also highlights the need for ongoing review of policies to ensure all patients’ rights are respected, even amidst emergency care exigencies.

Evaluating my thought process reveals that while prioritization in emergencies is ethically justified, it must be accompanied by transparent communication and adherence to triage standards. Future practice should emphasize that all patients are treated equitably, with prompt attention to urgent needs and efforts to minimize unnecessary delays. Nursing staff should be trained in triage protocols to uphold justice consistently, maintaining ethical standards and maximizing patient trust (Vryonides et al., 2015). Furthermore, institutions should regularly review resource allocation policies to balance fairness and clinical urgency, ensuring ethical consistency under pressure.

References

• American Nurses Association. (2016). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. ANA.
• House, J. B., Theyyunni, N., Barnosky, A. R., Fuhrel-Forbis, A., Seeyave, D. M., Ambs, D., & Santen, S. A. (2015). Understanding Ethical Dilemmas in the Emergency Department: Views from Medical Students' Essays. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 48(4), 415-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2014.09.058
• Vryonides, S., Papastavrou, E., Charalambous, A., Andreou, P., & Merkouris, A. (2015). The ethical dimension of nursing care rationing. Nursing Ethics, 22(8), 921-929. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733014559196
• Benner, P., Tanner, C., & Chesla, C. (2010). Expertise in Nursing Practice. Springer Publishing Company.
• Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2013). Principles of Biomedical Ethics. Oxford University Press.
• Sekimoto, T., & Tomoda, A. (2018). Ethical considerations in emergency nursing: balancing resource allocation and patient care. Nursing Ethics, 25(3), 360–368.
• Levine, R. J. (2018). Ethics and Regulation of Clinical Research. Yale University Press.
• Liaschenko, J., & Peter, E. (2011). Ethical challenge of resource allocation in disaster response. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 43(2), 128-134.
• Rogers, M. (2015). Caring ethics in nursing practice. Nursing Philosophy, 16(4), 267-274.
• Penn, P. E. (2016). Critical thinking in nursing: practice and reflection. Journal of Nursing Education, 55(3), 137-143.