Ethics in nursing essay

ETHICS IN NURSING 3

Question one

HIV and Aids is a primary global health issue whose impact has beenimmense. Since 1999, the world health organization has estimated thatthere have been over 35 million people worldwide infected with thedisease. The impact has largely been regarding resources used inresearch, prevention and treatment of the disease (Aids 2014, 2014).There have been numerous deaths across the world and numerouschildren have been orphaned as a result of the disease. One of themajor ethical issues associated with HIV and Aids is the element ofprivacy. The nurses have the responsibility of maintaining theconfidentiality of the HIV status of their patients. If the ethicalconcern is not addressed and HIV and Aids patients are exposed, itwill be tough for the patients to access medication due to the stigmaand sensitivity associated with the disease. Prevention of HIV andAids through awareness campaigns is only the way that this concerncan be addressed.

Question two

One the ethical dilemma in nursing that I dread to face is whetherto care for abortion patients or not. It is essential to state thataccording to my faith, abortion is equal to murder, and therefore Ido not support it. It would, therefore, be tough for me to treat apatient who has undergone an abortion as this would be against myfaith. However, it is important to state that nurses are supposed tooffer care to every patient, regardless of the patient’s sexualorientation, beliefs, race, religion, gender or country of origin.Nurses must provide quality and similar care to all patients withoutdiscrimination. I have learned through this course that it isessential to respect every person’s beliefs and, therefore, offerquality care without considering the person`s personal aspects. Theapplication of the lessons learned in the course will provide asolution to the dilemma.

Reference

Aids 2014. (2014). Global Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS. 20thInternational Aids conference, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.aids2014.org/webcontent/file/AIDS2014_Global_Factsheet_April_2014.pdf