Ethical Decision Making: Uustal (1993) proposed a decision-making model that offers tangible steps for arriving at a morally acceptable solution when experiencing an ethical dilemma. Generally, nurses are usually faced with ethical dilemmas that are largely attributed to the nature of their work. One of the ethical dilemmas I have experienced as a nurse in the clinical setting is a situation involving a child diagnosed with brain tumor. Before the diagnosis, the child had been severely sick and went for several days without eating, which increased the severity of his illness. Even though the physicians were doing their best to save the child's life, the family became extremely worried. As a result, his parents gave him marijuana because of their extensive knowledge regarding his medical benefits. While the decision proved beneficial, the faces the risk of experiencing a recurrence of the brain tumor (James, 2011).

The ethical ramifications of the situation include giving illegal drugs to a child, carrying out treatment procedures without physician's consent, and probable lack of trust in the health care facility and its personnel. Based on Uustal's model, the first step in resolving the issue is identifying the problem, which is giving a child illegal drugs without the doctor's knowledge and consent. Secondly, my personal ethical position that is relevant to this situation is virtue ethics theory, which is based on values like self-control, compassion, trustworthiness, integrity, honesty, courage, and prudence. Therefore, the parents should have notified the physicians and nurses regarding the decision to give him marijuana in order for the health care personnel to evaluate him thoroughly.
Third, there are several alternatives to this situation including holding consultations with the physicians about the marijuana procedure, trusting the physician's judgment and following the existing treatment plan, and taking the child to a facility where the drug is legally used for medical purposes. Fourth, the most important alternative would be to consult the physicians about the marijuana, which would be followed by taking the child to…