Chelissa Biegen-Szymanowski, Veracity, or truth telling, “engenders respect, open communication, trust, and shared responsibility. It is promoted in all professional codes of nursing ethics” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 73). In order to effectively illustrate veracity in the workplace, a nurse must openly communicate with their patient, deleting any barriers that exist. In the case study, Jackson assumed that her patient abused pain medication, which prompted her to offer a placebo in its place. Upholding the nursing ethics, I agree with you that the nurse obtains an obligation to speak the truth, when questioned on procedures, treatments, and diagnoses. According to the ANA Code of Ethics (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 2), provision …show more content…
Through placebo use, a nurse can test the veracity of a patient’s claim. Just as a healthcare provider should not deceive their patients, patients should also not deceive their doctors, by requesting unnecessary diagnostic tests and treatments. Deception comes common in the health care setting, as patients tend to exaggerate or hide their pain, in an attempt to either receive additional or minimal treatment. To test deceitful claims, a placebo rests highly effective. Similarly to your claim, I agree that the use of a placebo stand ethically justifiable, as it does not cause harm. The placebo itself does not cause harm to Mrs. J, but it could prolong her pain, if the pain exists. In provision 1.3 (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 2), it states, “Nurses are leaders who actively participate in assuring the responsible and appropriate use of interventions in order to optimize the health and well-being of those in their care.” In order to assure that Mrs. J is not requesting an unnecessary pain medication, a placebo acts a way to diminish unwarranted medical care. While I agree with you that using a placebo rest ethically justifiable, I disagree that the placebo caught Mrs. J’s behavior before the damage occurred, or that writing a prescription for pain medication would get Mrs. J in trouble. Pain is subjective; a pain an individual feels cannot be felt by others, but must rather be trusted. While the nurse may not have believed that the patient suffered pain, it did was not guaranteed. As a nurse, the patient stands as the primary concern, and their signs and symptoms must be noted. It is not ethically justifiable to falsely advertise a medication to a patient. In trials where placebos do get used, the patient consents, whereas in this case study, the patient did not receive information. The nurse assumed an action of a patient and altered her medication, which not only stands
Because there would be no way to to prove that the patient was in pain or not because pain is not what something others can feel too since one pain for one person can feel almost like nothing while it is the worst pain for someone else. The next question that arose was what if the patient was truly in pain, but the doctors neglected to give him the medication necessary because he was black and seemed like he was a drug addict. If medications were not given to the patient while they were truly in pain, Dr. Davis would have been sued. When Dr. Davis thought these, it completely slipped my mind that patients are able to come to hospitals constantly because of their disorder to get drugs even if they fake the
Then, I would have gave them all the information about the medication and let them decide if they wanted to be treated or not. I would not have let anyone go untreated just for an experimental purpose unless they fully knew all their options and chose to go through with the study on their own accord. Patients deserve to know all the information, good or bad, and all of their options; full disclosure is essential to maintaining all ethical and moral principles in the health care
During the 1960s patients were often untold they were being used for research. “Like many doctors of this era TeLinde often used patients from the public wards for research without their knowledge.” (Skloot, 2010, p. 29). The doctors believed that since the patients were being treated for free they had the right to use them as subjects in research. However in today’s society while informed consent is a common practice there are still injustices where patient’s samples are being bought and sold without their knowledge.
Bridgett Beuckens How sad it is that nursing leaders allow, much less participate in such acts. The stress and responsibilities this author was subjected to are not fair nor safe. The ANA Code of Ethics addresses occurrences as in this scenario. Provision 4.1 states nurses are responsible and accountable for the nursing care
A care ethics approach would emphasize and prioritize the agency and empowerment of their patients. This could be done by educating and informing the participants of their condition, their human rights, and the arrangement of possible available treatments to them. Furthermore, the researchers must inform the participants of the purpose of the study and be transparent with them. The second major violation in the study was the lack of beneficence.
B. Informed Consent and Truth-Telling Hippocrates advocated “concealing most things from the patient while you are attending to him…revealing nothing of the patient’s future or present condition.” This attitude would undoubtedly be troublesome today. Competent adult patients have a moral and legal right not to be subjected to medical interventions without their informed and voluntary consent, but to seeking appropriate treatment for their autonomy also. Lying or withholding information from patients can seriously undermine their ability to make informed decisions about life-altering treatments. In order to give their informed consent and exercise their right of self-determination, patients must have access to all relevant information.
Covert use of medication can be seen as dishonest as the NMC code (2015) states respect the level to which people receiving care want to be involved in decisions about their own health, wellbeing and care; the code of practice also states act with honesty and integrity at all times, treating people fairly. In contrast however, Beauchamp and Childress (2009) highlights non disclosure, limited discolour, deception or lying may be considered when veracity and the principle of autonomy is thought to conflict with other ethical obligation. Jean was given the opportunity to understand and evaluate what was being asked and was provided with all relevant information to support their decision making process.
A moral dilemma that arises in a doctor-patient relationship is whether or not the doctor should always tell their patient the truth about their health. Although withholding information was a common practice in the past, in today’s world, patient autonomy is more important than paternalism. Many still are asking if it is ever morally permissible for a doctor to lie to a patient, though. David C. Thomasma writes that truth-telling is important as a right, a utility, and a kindness, but other values may be more important in certain instances. The truth is a right because respect for the person demands it.
This patient was not treated with the ethical respectany patient should receive when seeking help/treatment. It is very alarming that a physician whose job is to take care of other humans would disregard giving a proper
These principles also help the nurse decide the best treatment for the patient. The first principle autonomy according to Finkelman and Kenner (2016) is the right a patient has to make informed decision about his/her care and treatment. This means that only the patient has the right to make decisions about their healthcare having received information on the benefits and risks from the Physician. In order words, pain treatment is part of the informed decisions the patient has a right to make. For a nurse to diligently perform his/her duty, pain relief should be provided to the patient how and when prescribed by the Physician irrespective of the nurse’s bias or prejudice (Finkelman and Kenner, 2016).
Another example of clinical practice that raises legal, moral and ethical conflict when a PWD refuse to take prescribed medication is ‘therapeutic lying’. Therapeutic lying is the practice of deliberately deceiving patients by giving false information for intentions considered to be in the best interest of the patient. Considerably, research revealed that in RACF, almost 96% of all staff acknowledges lying to a PWD. Additionally, 66% of psychiatrist evaluated had sanctioned the use of therapeutic lying with a PWD by carers (Culley et al., 2013; Sprinks, 2013). Factors that contribute to the propagation of this deceptive practice include: (1) medication compliance; (2) ease the PWD and family stress; (3) improve compliance; (4) to save time;
It It f It frustrates me what Dr. Anna Pou had to go through with the lawsuits of the Memorial Medical Center incident. As Healthcare professionals, being sued for making the rightful decision for the patient and the hospital is unjust. Healthcare professionals like Dr. Pou, have taken the Hippocratic oath, and one of the promises made within that oath is “first, do no harm”. Hospital’s should not be so quick to make such an important decision of pressing charges to their faculty; more trust should be placed in them. In addition, she made it clear her intentions were just to ‘‘help’’ patients ‘‘through their pain,’’ on national television.
(2014, June 6). Retrieved from ANA American Nurses Association: http://nursingworld.org/DocumentVault/Ethics-1/Code/Code-Provision-1.pdf Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements Provision 2. (2014, June 6). Retrieved from ANA American Nurses Association: http://nursingworld.org/DocumentVault/Ethics-1/Code/Code-Provision-4.pdf Kangasniemi, M. P. (2014). Professional Ethics in Nursing:
All nurses and healthcare professionals are obligated to help patients and to follow through on the desire to good and not harm them. The doctors and nurses in the study did not hold up their obligation to give the participants in the study the best treatment for their disease. Since penicillin was being used for the treatment of penicillin in the 1940s, the doctors and nurses should have given the participants of the study the penicillin according to the ethical principle of beneficence. Instead of giving the participants the penicillin, the doctors and nurses continued with the original ‘treatment’ even though they knew it would not cure the participants’
A clinical example where the nurse would be able to exemplify safe and effective care would be teaching a patient about Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) pumps. In this situation the nurse must teach the patient about they are the only ones who are allowed to control the pump based on their level of pain and need for medication. The PCA pump is intended to provide fast acting relief for patients who need consistent pain medication. If the nurse does not stress the importance of the patient being the only person allowed to release the analgesic, family members could feel obligated to help control the medication administration. This could lead to an unnecessary need for pain medication that can decrease the patients respiratory drive if given too much and is also unethical.