Are Nurses Compelled To Tell The Truth  Essay

¶ … Nurse, Must I always tell the truth? Truth

There is a considerable amount of debate as to whether or not nurses are compelled to tell the truth when they are discussing sensitive patient information. The purpose of this document is to clarify the matter and to present an answer to the question of whether or not nurses must always tell the truth. Nurses who tell the truth are acting in a manner that is not morally ambiguous and that is in accordance with their jobs. Although there may be circumstances which might justify prevaricating to patients, doing so always leaves doubt as to whether the nurse is fulfilling his or her professional responsibility or acting in a morally compliant way. Therefore, nurses must always tell the truth because it is morally responsible to do so, it is part of their job to do so, and by properly phrasing the truth, nurses can account for any uncertainties or ambiguities.

There is little doubt that simply telling the truth is...

...

All nurses make a commitment to ethics as part of the various organizations for which they provide health care. Thus, by answering the questions of patients with honesty nurses are essentially acting in a manner that is morally responsible. One of the most cogent pieces of evidence to verify this fact is the notion of virtue ethics, in which individuals consider the moral responsibility of their actions as of one the chief determinants of the virtue of such actions. Aristotle did some of the seminal writing on virtue ethics, and determined that "the virtuous will speak the truth when nothing depends on it and will speak it all the more when something depends on it" (Hodkinson, 2008, p. 249). Therefore, nurses are morally justified for telling the truth, which is one of the reasons they must always do so.
Nurses must also always tell the truth because doing so is part of their jobs. The general public depends on the healthcare system for accurate information…

Sources Used in Documents:

References

Hird, C. (2005). Letters to the editor: a call for education. Nursing Ethics. 12(2), 196-199.

Hodkinson, K. (2008). How should a nurse approach truth telling? A virtue perspective. Nursing Philosophy. 9, 248-256.


Cite this Document:

"Are Nurses Compelled To Tell The Truth " (2014, March 07) Retrieved May 19, 2024, from
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/are-nurses-compelled-to-tell-the-truth-184569

"Are Nurses Compelled To Tell The Truth " 07 March 2014. Web.19 May. 2024. <
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/are-nurses-compelled-to-tell-the-truth-184569>

"Are Nurses Compelled To Tell The Truth ", 07 March 2014, Accessed.19 May. 2024,
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/are-nurses-compelled-to-tell-the-truth-184569

Related Documents

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing: Case Analysis Ethics is a significant portion in any profession. In nursing professional ethics is part of the daily practices of nurses. Nurses require building up skills to react ethically to mistakes and make ethical choices (Finkelman & Kenner 2012, p.182). Particularly, nurses require the knowledge of ethical reflection in order to discern moral dilemmas and injustices. Nevertheless, a nurse practitioner is required to stick to ethical

Ethics Abe and Mary had an extremely difficult decision to make. The couple did indeed have a child to save the life of Annisa. It could be possible that in the future Marissa-Eve's relationship could be harmed by this truth. Eve may feel as though her sister's life is more important than her own. In many ways Eve was treated as a means to an end because her life was

Merrill, in the UK. Following his experience with heart surgery using innovating surgical techniques, the physician noted the problems he experienced in understanding all of his alternatives compared to a simpler earlier procedure, and finally trusted to the advice of his cardiologist to surgically intervene. In response to the experience, Dr. Merrill emphasized that, "As a physician talking to colleagues, I had the best information possible under the circumstances.

The dilemma is often easier to resolve once those emotions and assumptions are put into their rightful context. For this paper, critical thinking came into play was logic. It is understood that initially the nursing profession had issues with HIPAA. These issues were practical, however, and when the law was matched up against the underlying principles and the Code of Ethics, it became apparent that the guidelines that can be

Myths Myth of Marriage and Children Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth is a book that can potentially transform the reader's consciousness. Beyond being informative, Campbell's analysis of cultural myths is profound; it provokes genuine introspection. The author refers to the spiritual in whatever he speaks about, and yet he never lapses into religious diatribe or dogma. Subjects like marriage are elevated beyond the social to the psycho-spiritual. For example, he calls

Tone and Voice Life can be very difficult and unexpected things can happen which change a person and their family forever. Works of literature have the ability to transform the perspective of the reader and to inform the reader about some of the least pleasant aspects of life. In the essays "What Broke My Father's Heart" and "Patient" the authors Katy Butler and Rachel Riederer put the reader into a position