What are the various principles in the Code of Ethics?
Consider this situation: A teenager has been brought into the ED unconscious and with shallow breathing. The doctors and nurses stabilize the teen and transfer the teen to the ICU where she is put on a ventilator as she is unable to breathe on her own, she remains unconscious. A week later, there is no change, the teen remains on the vent, unconscious, and has no other signs of life other than diminished brain activity. You are in the teen’s room and you are re-positioning her and doing passive range of motion exercises. The mother is in the room, she looks exhausted and has been crying. You have received report earlier and know the teen no longer has any brain activity and is being kept alive only by the ventilator. The mother very tentatively asks” Is my daughter dead? She hasn’t moved or opened her eyes. I know they did a test on her about her brain activity but no one can tell me the results. Can you?” What do you do? What principle in the Code of Ethics did you rely on for your answer? What are the various principles in the Code of Ethics?
Support your response with a reference. Respond to two peers on their decision.
Student 1
· Such a scenario is very likely to happen, and it is common in medical field and nursing practice. The nurse in this situation will be under stress and nervous tension and should be calm and relaxed before answering the mother. This situation brings a complicated ethical issue, and the nurse must respond wisely and should use the code of ethics as a guide for the correct and the appropriate response for questions in situation like this. Parents have the full rights to understand everything about their children who are in acute severe conditions, unconscious, and parents unable to communicate with them and don’t know their health conditions. I will try my best to be supportive when responding to the mother’ question and I will tell the truth and tell her that her daughter’s brain activity is diminished. It is her right to know the truth about her daughter’s condition and I should tell her that and not withhold any information about that. I will try to stay quiet and silent after answering her question even she continues to cry and yell angrily. Regardless of how she will react to that truth about her daughter, I will be there to support her. I will try to choose my words carefully and not to lie and not to answer unasked questions, but I will be ready to answer if she asks for anything. as nurse, I will try to provide a safe and secured environment for the mother at that moment to keep her safe and avoid any injury and I will stay with the client and provide privacy for her. It is particularly important for nurses in this case to address feelings, and show concern, empathy, and support with environment that is as close to being like home as possible. I will respect the mother’s decision regarding care of her daughter (Holman, et all, 2019).
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The provision of code of ethics that I will rely on is provision 2 which is about the “the patient as nursing’s foundational commitment” (Fowler, 2015, p. 25), where the nursing primary commitment and focusing is to the patient and the plan of care that the nurse use must reflect the uniqueness of the client’s condition. This provision also includes the relationship with families and parents and this provision stated that the patient can be an individual, family, community, or population (Fowler, 2015). The nurse should provide the nursing care and services with respect to the mother and the nurse should deal with compassion especially during the dying process. During this difficult time for the mother, the nurse should support her and stay with her and then educate her about the dying process, and what they can expect to happen during this time and the nurse must address other related issues, answer all questions, and respect mother’s concerns, practice active listening and provide emotional support. What are the various principles in the Code of Ethics?
Student 2 -ls
As future nurses this is a situation that we might face more commonly than we think. It is very important to be honest with the mother about her daughter and what is going on. First I would ask what she knows about the current situation and then answer based off of her answer. Instead of going right into explaining what it means to not have any brain activity, I think it would help by assessing her knowledge of what is happening first. When answering her questions, it is important to acknowledge her feelings as well. This is not an easy conversation to have with a family member, but she has every right to know exactly what is happening. If there is other questions that she might have after you explain what is going on, it is important to have the doctors come answer any remaining questions that you cannot answer. During this time it is critical that the nurse is supportive towards the mother and any other concerns that she has.
Principle 2 in the Code of Ethics states “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, community, or population,” (Fowler, 2015). In this specific situation the nurse has a priority to discuss the daughter and her health with the mother. It is the nurses job to be there for the mother and educate her on anything that she does not know about. Her mother has had a lot to take in, in a short amount of time. Acknowledging the mother’s feelings and providing her with answers is the nurses job, but it is also important for the nurse to support her during this time and through the process. What are the various principles in the Code of Ethics?
