Nurses often face ethical, legal, and regular dilemmas when caring for many patients. Informed consent can sometimes become a significant ethical issue for nurses (Sastrawan et al., 2021). The difficulty may arise when there are concerns that patients or their families have not been informed and do not fully understand the treatment methods applied to the patient. Patients who feel supported and trust their doctors and nurses are more likely to follow the treatment plan and get better results. To avoid ethical dilemmas, nurses must ensure that patients fully understand all aspects of their treatment plans.
Patient privacy and confidentiality are ethical and legal issues that nurses face. If not done correctly, it can have severe legal consequences for medical professionals (Wilkenfeld & Durmis, 2022). Because patients’ medical information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, certain boundaries and guidelines exist to protect patient privacy (Sastrawan et al., 2021). Patients can refuse treatments, medications, or procedures when they have autonomy. Although this may contradict the suggestions of nurses and doctors, medical professionals will still have to esteem this decision and act accordingly.
A regulatory problem may be that there is a lack of resources and inadequate staffing for patient care. As healthcare costs continue to rise, medical managers disagree about budget constraints and patient needs. When medical facilities lack resources, patients risk not receiving proper care, leaving nurses to make difficult decisions (Wilkenfeld & Durmis, 2022). Difficult decisions may also be required when facilities face inadequate staffing levels. Moreover, when there is not enough staff for patients, medical professionals do not have time to do everything necessary for each patient. The patient’s needs may include recovery time or even satisfaction with the patient’s emotional and physical needs. The moral obligations of nurses to patients are violated due to work restrictions and stressful overloads. (Wilkenfeld & Durmis, 2022) They are left with a mental struggle to decipher what they should focus their priorities on.
References
Sastrawan, S., Weller-Newton, J., Brand, G., & Malik, G. (2021). The development of nurses’ foundational values. Nursing Ethics, 28(7/8), 1244-1257. Web.
Wilkenfeld, D. A., & Durmis, C. (2022). When law and ethics come apart: Constraints versus guidance. Nursing Ethics, 29(6), 1430-1440. Web.