Nursing Ethics - Some Themes in Nursing Ethics

Some Themes in Nursing Ethics

Nurses seek to defend the dignity of those in their care. In terms of standard ethical theory, this is aligned with having a respect for people and their autonomous choices. People are then enabled to make decisions about their own treatment. Amongst other things this grounds the practice of informed consent that should be respected by the nurse. Although much of the debate lies in the discussion of cases where people are unable to make choices about their own treatment due to being incapacitated or having a mental illness that affects their judgement. A way to maintain autonomy is for the person to write an advance directive, outlining how they wish to be treated in the event of them not being able to make an informed choice, thus avoiding unwarranted paternalism.

Another theme is confidentiality and this is an important principle in many nursing ethical codes. This is where information about the person is only shared with others after permission of the person, unless it is felt that the information must be shared to comply with a higher duty such as preserving life..

Also related to information giving is the debate relating to truth telling in interactions with the person in care. There is a balance between people having the information required to make an autonomous decision and, on the other hand, not being unnecessarily distressed by the truth. Generally the balance is in favour of truth telling due to respect for autonomy, but sometimes people will ask not to be told, or may lack the capacity to understand the implications.

By observing the principles above, the nurse can act in a way that respects the dignity of the individual in their care. Unfortunately,this key outcome in nursing practice is sometimes challenged by resource, policy or environmental constraints in the practice area.