Ethical Dilemma Essay Moral Courage

The management of these dilemmas can also be very stressful for the nurse and their patients. A Master’s prepared nurse should be able to take into consideration ethical principles to come up with best decisions. The purpose of this paper will be to recognize one of the ethical topics from the American Nurses Associations. Second, a research question will be constructed based on this dilemma. Third, a position on the dilemma will be formulated. One example is practitioner’s collaborating doctor ordering a test or a medication can harm the patient more than helping their disease and the nurse knows that this may harm the patient more than benefiting them. For this reason, advanced nurses must know how to handle these problems so that they don’t put themselves in unethical situations.

Impact on Patients Advanced nurses share a significant role in their patient’s outcomes. This role also requires that they show courage and bravery which leads to becoming an advocate for the patient by protecting them from harm. Additionally, moral courage is necessary to make the best patient care decisions. More importantly, violating ethical codes may leave the nurse feeling guilty and feeling morally distressed. Esposito (2017) demonstrated that nurses who respond to moral conflicts by withdrawing and silencing themselves may end up feeling powerless. Last, not knowing how to handle these ethical dilemmas can cause the nurse to have moral distress, may also lead to lawsuits and loss of their licensure. Impact on Research The Belmont Report is very significant to the nursing practice and the advancement of research.

This report ensures that nurses that are conducting research are treating the patients equally, with dignity and respect. Patients that have had a bad outcome due to the risky procedure will also be compared to patients that have had suitable outcomes. The research question will try to investigate if the nurse performed any courageous interventions before the patients had the procedure and or before they were put at risk. Position on Ethical Dilemma Not resolving an ethical dilemma can have many legal consequences. Not having the moral courage to stand up and speak out for the patient can lead to the patient being injured and or complicating their health condition. When this occurs, the nurse may end up feeling inadequate and others may not trust their judgment and capabilities.

The use of technology can help them improve the nurses’ moral courage and can prevent the patient from being put at risk of injury. Disadvantages of Technology There are some disadvantages to the use of technology. The potential risk of breaking ethical codes can be due to patient’s information being exposed for others to see that are not medical professionals. Furthermore, Physicians may rely on the use of technology and not feel the need to thoroughly assess the patients before they have a procedure done. Studies on ethics and technology have demonstrated that these two improve communication but there are still some ethical dilemmas that remain unsolved such as unwillingness and inability of healthcare providers and patients using technology (Korhonen, Norman, & Erickson, 2015).