I am an outpatient ambulatory ob-gyn nurse, and I have experienced certain difficulties and numerous medical workers. My greatest challenge was caring for patients without their loved ones being able to participate in that care. I also struggled with taking care of my own family, my health, and my safety while being directed by policies created and changed during an unexpected and unprecedented event such as the pandemic in New York City.
Many individuals are passing away from their family members during the COVID-19 epidemic alone, and end-of-life conversations are happening over the phone or behind the curtain of plastic robes and respirator masks. In my opinion, the biggest ethical challenge for nurses is to find balance in providing patients and their loved ones with medical and emotional care while having those resources themselves. Additionally, given their human reaction and their profession’s standards for saving people’s lives, many health workers will find it difficult to choose to deny or delay treatment. Especially when patients are faced with the possibility that a patient will suffer, medically wither away, or die (Morley et al., 2020). In most regions, meticulous contingency planning and readiness for soaring capacity would be hoped to prevent the necessity for treatment denials.
Family members were not permitted in the ward since gatherings may potentially raise the chance of developing COVID-19, leaving the patients feeling lonely often. Some patients suffered the loss of cherished family members due to COVID-19, which led to a lack of familial ties and a disinterest in receiving therapy (Jia et al., 2021). Patients experience a lack of security because nurses and patients must maintain a specific distance when speaking to one another to reduce the likelihood of infection (Jia et al., 2021). Nurses experienced moral discomfort after witnessing their patients’ suffering because they could not offer them the necessary care.
Overall, the largest ethical issue for nurses is to find balance in situations when they have to perform their duties, observing the mental and physical struggles of the patients and their close ones. Many health professionals may find it challenging to refuse or postpone treatment given their human reaction and their profession’s ethics about preserving people’s lives. After seeing their patients suffer, nurses feel morally uncomfortable since they often cannot provide them with the treatment they need.
References
Jia, Y., Chen, O., Xiao, Z., Xiao, J., Bian, J., & Jia, H. (2021). Nurses’ ethical challenges caring for people with COVID-19: a qualitative study. Nursing ethics, 28(1), 33-45. Web.
Morley, G., Grady, C., McCarthy, J., & Ulrich, C. M. (2020). Covid‐19: Ethical challenges for nurses. Hastings Center Report, 50(3), 35-39. Web.