Apart from various professional duties that are directly related to improving people’s health, advanced practice nurses (APNs) also need to take care of their patients’ safety and well-being. To do so, these healthcare workers need to be able to make sound judgments and practice decisions that should be unbiased. To reach the best outcomes, APNs need to govern their ethical decisions through evidence-based practice. The present paper offers an overview of ethical issues that might be found in APNs’ practice.
Summary of the Ethical Issue
The ethical issue that will be analyzed from the point of view of nursing ethics is assisted suicide or assisted dying. This problem is discussed in the article by Olsen, Chan, and Lehto (2017). Scholars note that one of the nurses’ duties is talking with patients about death and dying in case their health is deteriorating. However, when making a decision regarding this concern, a nurse needs to make sure that the patient’s will to die is not triggered by depression or other mental symptoms (Olsen et al., 2017). Thus, it is crucial to carefully inspect all circumstances of the case before creating a nursing plan or making a decision.
Moral and Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding the Issue
The analyzed case is associated with several ethical and moral dilemmas. The first one is choosing between the principles of beneficence and respect for autonomy, which are both highly important in APNs’ work (Buppert, 2018). The beneficence approach presupposes preventing harmful conditions and arranging the best care for the patient. Respect for autonomy requires consideration for individuals’ decisions and wishes (Buppert, 2018).
Thus, agreeing to help the patient die would mean that the nurse has conformed to the respect of autonomy but not necessarily perform a beneficent act. Another ethical dilemma concerns the aspect of caring as the major duty of an APN. According to the premises of obligation-based ethics, it is the moral responsibility of a nurse to provide high-quality care to patients and increase their physical and psychological well-being (Lachman, 2012). In this case, assisting the patient in ending their life would contradict this moral duty.
Analyzing the Issue and Comparing It to New Jersey State Health Laws
The ethical issue in question is difficult not only in terms of professional ethics but also in terms of legal regulations. Euthanasia is forbidden in all states of America, but some of them have legalized assisted suicide (Olsen et al., 2017).
Thus, if a nurse chose to satisfy the patient’s request, she might act in accordance with the legislation in some parts of the country. However, in New Jersey, assisted suicide has not been validated yet. The “Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act” was introduced in New Jersey in 2018 (“New Jersey,” n.d., para. 1). Later, some amendments were made to it, but it has not been sanctioned so far. Therefore, helping patients to end their life is a major moral and ethical dilemma the resolution to which is complicated even more by the absence of legal regulations in the state of New Jersey.
Conclusion: Outlining the Process of Ethical Decision Making
To address the ethical dilemma, an APN would first of all need to assess the patient’s condition. If the desire to die is driven by psychological factors, it is necessary to work on the patient’s mental problems and eliminate them. Then, it is crucial to create a care plan which would help to cope with the most irritating symptoms, such as low mobility or other discomforts.
Finally, only when the nurse realizes that the patient’s condition is unsatisfactory, and their health will not improve under any circumstances, it is possible to discuss the option of assisted dying. However, it would be impossible to do by current New Jersey regulations. Therefore, to make the right decision, APNs need to take into account a variety of ethical, moral, and legal norms governing their professional obligations.
References
Buppert, C. (2018). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Lachman, V. D. (2012). Applying the ethics of care to your nursing practice. Ethics, Law and Policy,21(2), 112-116.
New Jersey. (n.d.). Web.
Olsen, D. P., Chan, R., & Lehto, R. (2017). Ethical nursing care when the terminally ill patient seeks death. The American Journal of Nursing, 117(7), 50-55.