Nursing Ethics of Patients Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Ethics of Patients - Case Study Example And lastly, an ethical decision-making model will be discussed keeping in view the given scenario. Ethical theories form the bedrock on which the guiding principles of the nursing profession are based. They are responsible for providing a structural approach to moral reasoning in this profession (Med India, 2011). Most often than not, healthcare professionals are faced with situations that require the employment of such ethical theories for the purpose of moral reasoning so as to conclude the moral value of a judgment under consideration (Registered Nurse Canada, 2009). Example of the employment of such theories includes granting the right to the patients to be able to make their own treatment-related decisions. This term refers to the right of an individual to keep the medical information and records private. The information under its clause can only be trusted to the healthcare professionals dealing with the patient and is not to be made public or even given to someone else without the consent of the patient (Fullbrook, 2007). Even though confidentiality is something that is to be valued and respected, there are situations in which that does not seem like the best thing to do, as is the scenario in the given case. In such cases, it is considered that one establishes a domain of certain reasonable limits. It would somehow restrict the boundary to which the confidentiality principle is to be respected (Wolfe, 1962). However, in cases where the confidentiality aspect endangers the prospective patient, it becomes an ethical dilemma for the healthcare professionals that are then torn between upholding the confidentiality and informing others of the condition for treatment (Corey & Callanan, 1998). Even though confidentiality is a vital practice in the medical profession, just like all the other factors, it is not absolute. (Wynia, 2007).