Patients who are violent towards hospital staff should be refused treatment Nurses should adopt the ethical principle of deontology and promote good, not harm. There is a binding duty for nurses based on morality. Moreover, there is a strong emphasis of the moral importance of cultivating virtuous character traits such as empathy and compassion in nurses. As virtue ethics are inculcated in medical and nursing students, they ought to have an ethic of care, without biasness, when carrying out treatment plan for all patients (Staunton & Chiarella, 2017). Hospital staff should embrace the ethical principle of beneficence - to actively do ‘good’ to all patients. The action should bring about the well-being of all patients. There is a professional …show more content…
There is a professional standards of practice to guide them in preventing harm. Hospital staff should sensibly ensure that no harm comes to a patient under their care. To withhold necessary treatments from violent patients simply imply that there is an intention to cause harm, perhaps, indirectly (Staunton & Chiarella, 2017). In law, there are three elements that constitute a negligent action - the duty of care is owed to the patient, the duty of care has been breached through inaction, and through this inaction, physical or financial harm has been caused. The negligence demonstrated in withholding treatment shows that the hospital staff’s inaction is below the expected standard. It may also cause the patient’s condition deteriorate (Hope, Savulescu, & Hendrick, …show more content…
Furthermore, the pervasive stigma against them leads to increased cost and poorer health outcomes. Instead of looking at a patient’s violent behavior on the superficial level, one should take into account the patient’s diagnosis and past experience. For instance, violent behavior is prevalent in patients with schizophrenia and it is also the most common reason for the admission to a psychiatric inpatient unit (Krakowski, Czobor, Citrome, Bark, & Cooper, 2006). Many are also under-diagnosed and under-treated, resulting in wide treatment gaps. Most of them require psychoanalytic treatment to cope with their violent behavior. There is a need to educate hospital staff in order to improve care outcomes of these patients (Minne,