Ethical Theory Utilitarianism

Within Canada, HIV and AIDS are both nationally notifiable diseases which includes mandatory reporting of HIV in every province and territory. (Government of Canada, 2017) Nurse’s in Canada are obligated to keep a patient’s medical status confidential without consent, in the case of a patient having HIV a vast majority of circumstances arise. The status of a patient with HIV should not be published to anyone else without the patient’s informed consent, for both legal and ethical reasons but there are some exceptions including, the public health legislation within every province and territory. As well, as a health care provider disclosing a patient’s HIV status in a case to prevent harm to another such as an unaware partner due to possible unprotected

Every ethical action should result in good, and doing good is often based on the role of others, nonetheless, actions to enhance to the overall wellness of a patient and/or protect the third party from harm, which may conflict with the duty of the nurse. The ethical theory Utilitarianism emphasizes the outcome and consequences of actions and weighs the balance of benefits and harm, which identifies the ethical dilemma that the nurse is confronted with. Moreover, the principle based approach that Jacks nurse would need to take to guide her in the decision-making framework by professionally in resolving the conflicting dilemma and still respecting the role in the health care system for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, fidelity and

Rule utilitarianism takes into account the public health legislation and its concern for fairness. Wanting to seek the most beneficial outcome for all parties involved, a rule utilitarian will value justice while including beneficence. Act utilitarianism wants precisely only actions that will benefit all parties involved regardless of their personal feelings or public health laws. (Ethical Theories, 2012) Jack who has expressed to his nurse that he is unwilling to disclose his medical status of being HIV positive to his pregnant wife Aimee, after the nurse has encouraged him to tell Aimee, has put Jack’s nurse in a situation where on one hand the nurse should respect the patients request, therefore not warning his wife and unborn child due to the duty of keeping patient privacy rights. Although, on the other hand, a patient such as Jack not disclosing this medical status makes it inhumane to not let his wife know due to putting her and their unborn child in harm and not giving them a chance to seek prevention and/or treatment. To resolve this ethical dilemma, Jack’s nurse as an utilitarian would need to approach this conflict by reproaching Jack in explaining the dangers of keeping his secret and how much harm he could cause medically to his family and others. If this reproach fails Jack’s nurse has the duty to benefit all involved by taking action and disclosing