Ethical Dilemmas

The main ethical predicament faced by a nurse is if she should resuscitate someone or not. First there is the matter if the nurse is given clear instructions by the attending physician, to no resuscitate the patient, Matt, as all attempts to keep his brain and heart functioning have been unsuccessful. Secondly the supervisor agrees with the attending physician and also agrees that the nurse should listen to the doctor and not resuscitate the patient. Lastly the nurse herself has a previous disgust for resuscitating drug addicts. The patient’s family makes things more difficult as they still maintain against a DNR order, even when the patient did not leave any orders of what should be done. The American Nurses Association has conditions that

These guide nurses and are very helpful when a nurse has to make important decisions. These values are a must have in any practicing nurse (Creasia &Parker, 2001). In this particular scenario, it is apparent that the nurse does not know what to do because the core values and ethics are not imbedded in her. Nurses need to implement these values into their profession not just know them. If it was up to her she would not resuscitate the patient because of her opinion on drug abuse patients. This means absence of professionalism and flaunts the core ethical values (Mantley, 2000).

Bioethical issues are a portion of a nurse’s daily routine. Nurses are part of a team and do not work alone. Nurses seek the advice the team in which he/she is a member particularly when faced with unfamiliar or difficult situations for instance, in the DNR scenario. It is of great significance the fact that nursing morals and medical ethics compose share bioethics (Fry Veatch &Taylor,

The first principle, states that the nurse’s obligation is to the patient alone and no one else, because of this the physician’s opinion does not matter. The patient has rights and in this scenario Matt’s family does not want to order a DNR and since Matt did not leave one, Matt needs to be saved as it is assumed that Matt, would want to be saved. Matt’s family members are representing his opinion as they are the closest to him (Creasia & Parker, B. 2001).

The nurse has a personal problem with the patient because he is a drug abuse patient. The American Nurses Association states that “the nurse in all professional relationships, practices both compassion and respect for the inherent dignity worth and uniqueness of every individual unrestricted by consideration of social or economic status, personal attribute or the nature of health problems,” (Butts; Kare; Rich,2012). Nurses need to be professionals and put all opinions aside and only worry about caring properly for their