BIOETHICS

BY: MICHAEL URRUTIA BSN-II 1. Bioethical Issues that I am most concerned with. a. Abortion: - Abortion is one of the bioethical issues that I am concerned with. This is why because it goes against the catholic religion to terminate and kill the living fetus inside the mothers womb. Abortion is the process of terminating pregnancy before reaching viability. The problem with this is that life begins when the sperm and egg cell unite, so performing abortion is a mortal sin as it goes against the Ten Commandments. Although there are times where unwanted pregnancies occur especially due to rape, but this does not mean that the mother can punish the innocent child through abortion from the actions of the rapist. We as Catholics view life as precious and a child as a treasure not a punishment even though how badly it is unwanted. I am very much against abortion as it disturbs the natural order of things, simply because only God has the power to take lives and through abortion we are acting like gods and that is not good. We have no right to determine the faith of another let alone decide whether one should live or not.

b. Euthanasia: - I am also concerned with this because this goes against all the values and principles I learned as being a catholic, simply because God has the only power to take lives. Although some reasons that conclude to the decision of mercy killing are with good intentions, in this case the end does not justify the means. This is why because although the reason for putting a person out of their misery, to some a good act but in the eyes of God it is not. It is due to the fact that in the first place we have no right to take lives with our own hands.

2. Self-awareness as a tool for living an ethical life. - Self-awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses and the like. It allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and responses to them in the moment. Having self-awareness will help an individual live an ethical life because he/she notices everything that is going on around their environment. They are able to act with reason and not just based on emotions. Selfawareness allows an individual to control and not let their emotions get the best of them during times of decision making. It allows an individual to process the situation and act with reason and not emotion which in turn will help them make ethical decisions therefore in the end living an ethical life. In short, self-awareness is a tool for living an ethical life simply because it allows individuals to act with reason and not based on emotions because with reason they can make informed decisions and all the while applying ethics.

3. How are values acquired? - The first place that we acquire values from is at home. When we were still children our parents taught and modelled to us the values that we will bring with us and use throughout the rest of our lives. We were like a blank canvas when we were children and our parents are the painters. With that analogy, our parents painted the values that they think will be for the betterment of ourselves as an individual and these values we will keep until we die. Although the home is not the only source of acquiring values. As we grow older we slowly spend more and more time outside of the house due to school and socialization. When we interact with others, in

some way we acquire values from them. For example, in school we acquire values from our teachers, values like initiative, responsibility, through homework and classroom activities. Also we acquire values through idolizing a person, for example a celebrity, through idolizing we copy everything that they do and unconsciously we get a hold of their values as well whether it is good or bad. So basically, we acquire our values through interactions with others and sometimes we learn them by ourselves to be able to cope with the changing world. We are like blank canvases ready to be painted on and every person that comes into our lives leaves a mark and somehow they leave their values behind and it is up to us to accept it and make it a part of our own. 4. Values and its implications for nursing care: - There are a variety of values, assumptions, and beliefs that influence nursing care. Values guide the very principles of care and the nurses vision of its overall purpose. Sometimes our values impede the provision of proper health care to patients. For example, being humble, the patient is uncooperative and stubborn to take their medicines but the nurse is shy to tell them that it is necessary for them to do what they are asked because she is scared that she might offend the patient. So in that situation, being too humble and not be firm with the patient will affect the recovery time of that patient. Sometimes we, as nurses, have set aside some of our values in order to provide quality health care for every client we handle and as well as to achieve our goal which hasten the recovery time of the patient so that they can return to their normal lives.