Dilemma in Nursing Practice
One of the most troubling ethical dilemmas in nursing involves having to determine if you should allow your personal belief(s) to interfere with patients’ care. Nurses have a right to refuse to take part in the care process of patients if they feel that it contradicts their religious beliefs (e.g., abortion, blood donation, and transfusion). Still, they are not allowed to refuse to deliver patient care on the basis of discrimination or dislike (for instance, an alcoholic or a drug abuser, a prisoner in a correctional facility, etc.) (Masters, 2018). It is extremely challenging to provide care to certain patients subject to moral or personal beliefs by nurses. However, a nurse must provide the kind of care to such patients as they would to any other patient.
In case of a conflicting morality issue, nurses should verbalize their concerns to the relevant authorities so that assignments of that kind can be switched to other staff or replacements are found. However, if possible, nurses should practice care in which they will be less likely to be faced with such dilemmas. Similarly, personal beliefs may also affect how a nurse approaches patient education, posing challenges when the nurse does not believe or believes in specific treatments (Masters, 2018). Such dilemmas arise in relation to certain medications, vaccines, invasive surgeries or procedures, and blood transfusions. While it is rightly acceptable for anyone to hold certain beliefs and convictions, nurses should provide accurate, evidence-based health education to patients that is in line with the current nursing care and practice standards and not what they believe. In other words, nurses should always practice informed consent when delivering care regardless of their personal beliefs.
Reference
Masters, K. (2018). Role Development Professional Nursing Practice. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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Question
Dilemma in Nursing Practice
Nursing research is used to study a dilemma or a problem in nursing. Examine a problem you have seen in nursing. Provide an overview of the problem and discuss why the problem should be studied. Provide rationale and support for your answer.
