Almost all healthcare personnel have encountered an ethical dilemmawhile on duty and if not, they are more likely to experience onesooner. As a result, most clinicians receive training that concerndilemma responsiveness and decision-making mechanisms when found insuch circumstances. These difficulties affect the psychologicalfunctions of the clinicians as they are left confused by theunexpected situations and the decisions they are forced to take. Onthe other hand, nurses are expected to abide by the key conceptsbestowed upon them which are the duty to act with beneficence,respect for patient autonomy, justice and no maleficence (Bratianu,2015). Therefore, nurses possess a higher degree of involvement andadherence to their calling. However, regardless of keeping all theseconcepts, nurses and clinicians are still faced with ethical dilemmasrequiring their inputs.
One of my recent encounters involved a patient who requestedadministration of the opioid drug. It is known globally that opioidis a pain reliever but when overused and abused can be very addictivedue to its depressant functions. The patient had initially beenprescribed with the drug and it worked, but the brain cancer hadincreased pain to the patient’s body. My little knowledge in opioidas an addictive drug sent me into dilemma not knowing whether toadminister the drug to ease pain or not to as the patient showedsigns of opioid dependence.
Uustal 1993 model involves nine-step model into decision making.First is the objective I wished to achieve, and that was to relievethe patient’s pain. The second step is to conduct a preliminarysurvey of my options either to administer the drug or call on thephysician. The third step is to assess the values at stake, and themost significant were to act in a non-maleficence manner while tryingto help the patient. The next step is determining how importantcalling on the physician is to the well-being of the patient. Thefifth step involves budgeting my time and energy to make thedecision. Step six involves the selection of a decision-makingstrategy. How will I make the decision concerning the patient’splea. Steps seven includes identifying my options and determine thedifferent values they route for in the decision. Next step involvesevaluation of options and will need an additional individual beforemaking the decision. The final step is making the final decision onbudget and time (Welch, 2001). It is conducted by looking at the maindilemma and adhering to the core values.
Reference
Bratianu, P. (2015). Nursing Ethics – Ethical Dilemmas Faced ByNurses Everydayhttp://www.nursingexplorer.com/blog/nursing-ethics-ethical-dilemmas-faced-by-nurses-everyday-47
Welch A. David (2001) Decisions, Decisions: The Art ofeffective decision making