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Euthanasia and Ethics

Euthanasia Essay
Euthanasia and Ethics
patients and the reputation of the clinic will
also be affected adversely. Nursing ethics
require nurses and institutions to disclose
their errors, but this does not occur in most
cases. Irrespective of the legal and ethical
implications of disclosure, nurses should
disclose their errors. Investing resources in
covering up causes more harm than good; the
patient-nurse relationship is maintained, but
the patient’s health is in jeopardy.
Nondisclosure of errors to patients and their
morally upright individual, I am required to
disclose the medical errors when they occur.
In most instances, the institution gives the
nurses the moral courage to disclose the
errors. The courage is developed through
training and emotional support. In
Pennsylvania, the legal costs of disclosing
such an error may include patient
compensation and revoking the practicing
license; these are quite high penalties. Despite
the costs, the nurse shall have followed the
the patient cannot consent the error, a close
relative should be informed (Kalra, Massey,
& Mulla, 2005). The aim of disclosing the
error is to guarantee patient’s safety. In
Pennsylvania, when a nurse makes an error,
they violate the cooperation clause of the
medical malpractice insurance. When the
nurse acts ethically and morally by disclosing
the error, there are serious consequences on
both the nurse and the institution.
profession. The fiduciary relationship requires
the nurses to deal with their patients with
professional good faith, confidence, trust, and
honesty. The patient-nurse fiduciary
relationship is founded on principles of
autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence,
fidelity, and justice (Crigger & Holcomb,
2008).
principle of beneficence requires nurse act
professionally for the benefit of the patient.
This is not obligatory in all professions, but it
is a requirement in the medical field. This
principle requires the nurses to act on the
interest of the patient by preventing injuries
and curing them. The justice principle
requires nurses to act professionally and
ensure that their actions are justifiable and
fair. That requires them to do justice to
patients by offering the best medication
that nurses should reduce the chances of
errors by avoiding the use of abbreviations.
Identifying the populations at risk of medical
errors reduces medical errors because the
nurses will be more careful. Patients need to
be trained on how to recognize medications
that are similar in order to improve their
accuracy and precision. The nurses should
avoid shortcuts and report errors when they
occur. Reporting errors will improve the
system (Drug Enforcement Administration,
occur. Most of the states, including
Pennsylvania require the nurses to disclose
their medical errors. There are heavy
punishments for nurses who do not disclose
the errors. Irrespective of the cost, the
fiduciary relationship between medical
practitioners and their patients obligates the
medical practitioners to disclose any medical
errors to their patients.
References
American Nurses Association. (2001). Code
of ethics for nurses with interpretive
statements. Nursing World. Retrieved from
http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCa
tegories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsfor
Nurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M.
(2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced
practice: A practical approach. (3rd ed.).
Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Crigger, N., & Holcomb, L. (2008).
Improving nurse practitioner practice through
rational prescribing. The Journal for Nurse
Practitioners, 4(2), 120–125.
Drug Enforcement Administration.
(2006.). Practitioner’s manual. Retrieved
from
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/m
anuals/pract/index.html
Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
(2012). ISMP's list of error-prone
abbreviations, symbols, and dose
designations. Retrieved from
http://www.ismp.org/Tools/errorproneabbre
viations.pdf
Kalra, J., Massey, K. L., & Mulla, A. (2005).
Disclosure of medical error: policies and
practice. Journal of the Royal Society of
Medicine. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC1168913/

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