In the course of their work nurses are often met by some critical situations when dealing with patients, more so, those in critical situations. Some of these situations are caused as a result of the patient’s refusal of some medical procedures to be carried out on them as a result of their personal beliefs (Benjamin & Curtis, 2010). The nurses should, thus, be able to conduct themselves with the outmost dignity and also in accordance to their professional ethics (Benjamin & Curtis, 2010). Such a situation was when a 20year old pregnant woman refused to be given a blood transfusion due to her personal beliefs. The paper gives a further analysis below.
The ethical principles forwarded in the situation above were that the medical practitioners were supposed to treat the patient and save both her and the fetus from their critical condition (Butts, 2015). It is also in the professional ethics that the patients and close families views be observed. The other ethical theory in this paradoxical situation is that the woman, Juana was prohibited by her religion to accept any blood transfusion or blood products by her religion. Should she accept it, it would be in violation of her religious principles, should she reject it she is at risk of dying. In my opinion saving life would come before all else, and since her situation was redeemable, I would have opted to save her life first other than let her die.
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"Applying the Code of Ethics in Nursing Practice".
These are situational ethics which would require critical decision making in order to able to save her life as well as that of the infant (John Tingle, 2013). The nurses and medical practitioners in this case did hold up the ethics held up in their profession. I agree with the decisions made by the medical team. And since there had been a series of persuasions to both her and her partner regarding the gravity of the matter, there was nothing all that different I would have done in regards to the situation above. Other option which would have been explored would include seeking pastoral guidance in an attempt to save both lives. The other option would have included seeking court orders which would overrule the decisions taken by the couple.
- Butts, J. B. (2015). Nursing Ethics. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
- John Tingle, A. C. (2013). Nursing Law. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
- Martin Benjamin, J. C. (2010). Ethics in Nursing. Oxford: Oxford University press.
