Professional Practice Topic Portfolio activity Part A Ethical Decision Making (1125 words) Consider an ethical problem you have identified in your work as a nurse. This could be a specific situation...

NURSING
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
TOPIC: PORTFOLIO ACTIVITY PART A
ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Case Study    3
Park’s Six Steps Model    4
Step 1: State an Ethical Issue    4
1) Problem statement as a conflict of ethical values    4
2) Is this an ethical issue? Or, is this a communication problem, a clinician-patient relationship issue, or a legal problem?    4
3) Characteristics of the problem can be assessed to learn your own perception or attitudes    4
Step 2: Collecting additional information to identify the issue and develop solutions    4
Who are actors involved in this issue and what information is needed from each?    4
Who is the ultimate decision maker?    5
Step 3: Developing alternatives for analysis and comparison    5
Alternative 1    5
Step 4: Choosing the best possible alternatives and justification    5
Step 5: Developing diverse, practical strategies to implement ethical decisions and actions    6
Step 6: Evaluating effects and developing of strategies to prevent a similar occu
ence    6
Conclusion    6
References    7
Introduction
Ethics play an important role in both personal and professional life. There is no known profession, which does not have ethics. Ethics can be defined as the approach used by people to analyse the situation and distinguish between wrong and right. Nursing is a profession where nurses meet new people every day. New situations are faced every day, which sometimes develop ethical dilemma. Ethical dilemma can be defined as the situation, in which the person must make decision by choosing between the two ethically co
ect options. The solving of ethical dilemma can be done by applying ethical theories, which act as guide to choose the best.
Case Study
A 40 years’ old man named Mr. Samuel John was admitted to the emergency department. He was a local businessperson who collapsed at home after complaining of shortness of
eath. His wife, who came along with him, told that he is complaining of chest pain from the past three days and reporting dark coloured sputum in his cough, for which he was under medication. After taking medicine, his symptoms relieved but later his cough came back. His wife also told that he was feeling very weak since morning as he had not been eating for three days. His medical history shows that he is a chain smoker and suffers from seasonal allergy. He usually has these symptoms in spring season but gets relief after taking antihistamine medicine.
On analysing his condition, the doctor recommended test to detect cancer and tuberculosis. In medical report, it was found that the patient was suffering from lung cancer. He was shifted to intensive care unit of oncology department where doctor conducted further tested to detect the stage of the disease. On further analysis, the doctor revealed to the wife that her husband is suffering from stage-four lung cancer. His condition was beyond treatment as it was at terminal stage. The doctor also concluded that looking upon his condition; he has maximum 4 to 6 weeks to survive.
After listening to this, Mrs. John with tears in eyes urged the doctor to not to reveal the complete medical condition to her husband as this can demotivate him and he will not be able to live the last few days of his life peacefully. It was also informed by her that he often had suicidal tendencies before when he would be depressed or sad. This might also lead him to committing suicide on getting to know that he has only few days of his life left to live. After regaining consciousness, Mr. John asked about his condition to nurse on duty. This put the nurse in ethical dilemma of whether to reveal the complete medical information to the patient or tell him only vague and selective information about his condition as per the request made by his...