Reference no: EM133273146

Three ethical principles associated to this specific healthcare situation would be autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence.

The principle of autonomy would relate because this elderly patient is self-governing and advocating for their own desires. This patient is making the voluntary decision to stop treatment and assuming she is competent and able to understand the risks of that decision, then that should be respected.

In terms of beneficence, this situation may require a nurse to promote the best case for the patient which may not be the same as they initially desire. For example, in this case the patient wants to stop treatment. The nurse however, may need to advocate for her to push through a little longer in order for a better outcome that may provide more comfort and better quality of life. In this specific scenario we do not know the full health report, but it would be an important principle to at least inform the patient on the facts of what would act in her best interest.

Lastly, the principle of nonmaleficence plays a huge role here. No harm should be done to make things worse. That may very well include no harm on the patient's mental health. If the patient so requests that she is entirely done with treatment- that should be respected. Forcing treatment and all that follows with side effects and weakening of the body can equate to poor quality of life. The end goal is to do right by the patient and cause her no more harm, so ultimately her decision needs to be respected fully.

In addition to these principles, the code of ethics also relates to this scenario. "The Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (the Code) establishes the ethical standard for the profession and provides a guide for nurses to use in ethical analysis and decision-making." (American Nurses Association, 2015). Provision 1 plays a role here by acting with compassion and hearing out how the patient is actually feeling. Provision 2 states that the nurses commitment is to the patient, in this case although the husband is effected it is ultimately the patient's final decision. Provision 3 also related because the nurse needs to promote and protect the desire of the patient in this case. Provision 4 is also important here because the nurse needs to promote health and the best care possible for this patient, including the comfort care necessary for this patient. While all of these ethical codes are largely related to this one situation, provision 5 is extremely important. This nurse owes the same respect to themselves as to the patients- while this is an emotional situation the nurse needs to preserve their character and act with integrity by doing what is best for the patient and handling the situation with as much care as we would want for ourselves.

These principles and ethics are so universal there is a relation to any situation that occurs and it is important to learn and understand the impact they will undoubtably have in our futures.