Unethicaland Legal Experience in Telemetry
Unethicaland Legal Experience in Telemetry
Telemetryis a nursing practice that involves the use of technology in handlingpatients who require special monitoring after being discharged fromthe intensive care unit(Jacksonville University, 2016).Telemetry nurses are expected to detect any potential danger ordistress in the telemetry unit through careful review of data andequipment. However, this kind of nursing practice comes with ethicaldilemmas because it involves dealing with high-risk patients. Aperfect example of an ethical dilemma is when a telemetry nurse isexpected to deactivate a cardiac pacemaker (Hosmer-Cernava, 2013).Such an action is legal when there is consent from immediate familymembers but ending a person’s life deliberately appears to beunethical.
Anexample of such a scenario is a case I was handling in the telemetryunit where a patient had a cardiac pacemaker after being ill for manyyears. The patient was at the point of death and had been living withcongestive heart failure, blindness, painful neuropathy, anddiabetes. The patient’s siblings and wife had consulted and decidedthat it was time for the pacemaker to be disabled to save theirpatient from endless suffering. The physician in charge gave thefinal order for the pacemaker to be disabled and I was the oneexpected to carry out the task. Although it was not the first timefor such an action to take place at the facility, it was my firstexperience, and I found myself in a great ethical dilemma. As anurse, I have a duty to ensure that I do not cause any harm topatients and by accelerating death or causing death directly throughdeactivation of the pacemaker. In this case, I was left feelingguilty despite the fact that the action was not illegal. This actionwas unethical but legal.
References
Hosmer-Cernava,H. (2013). Ethics: Deactivating a cardiac pacemaker: Is it ethical?"OJIN:The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing,18(3). Retrieved on 31 May 2016 fromhttp://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-18-2013/No3-Sept-2013/Deactivating-Pacemaker.html
JacksonvilleUniversity, (2016). TelemetryNurse Job Description and Salary.Retrieved on 31 May 2016 fromhttp://www.jacksonvilleu.com/resources/career/telemetry-nurse-job-description-salary/