Ethical and legal dilemmas in advanced practice nursing: Jehovah's Witness blood transfusion refusal
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Jehovah's Witness And The Advanced Practice Nursing
All over the world advance nurse practitioners are often faced with ethical and legal dilemmas in the course of their practice. Dilemmas occur when a practicing nurse is in a situation where they are not sure whether the decision they are taking is the right one or not. The paper will look at a situation where a nurse in the course of her practice was faced with such a dilemma. The aim of this critical analysis of the case and the ethical legal dilemma that nurses face during their practice is ensuring that both nurses and patients benefit.
Advanced practice ethical-legal dilemma
A Hispanic male aged 30 years is presented in the emergency department after sustaining serious injuries from an accident. After a few tests were conducted on him there were some signs of internal bleeding. The doctor in the emergency room and advanced nurse practitioner advanced the patient that it was significant for him to accept a blood transfusion .they went ahead and explained the need for an emergency surgery so that they can identify the extent of the injuries that he had sustained. The patient was against what the doctor and practitioner nurse had requested. He refused all these on the grounds of his religious beliefs as he was a Jehovah's Witness. The ethical-legal dilemma that has been brought out in this case is whether to respect the decision made by the patient and ignore the standards of care or go ahead and disrespect the independence of the patient in an effort of saving his life.
Ethical Reasoning Constructs
The ethical standard of autonomy requires that the advanced nurse practitioners should avoid any harm towards the patient, concentrate on the benefits and reduce the likely harm of the diagnoses that has been recommended. If there is nay misunderstanding then there can be psychological anguished on the patient.in the case study, the misunderstanding arises on the basis of the religious beliefs held by the patient and mistrust in the proposed medical procedure particularly when
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- Fant, C (2013). Major Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing. Nurse Together. Retrieved August 30, 2013 from http://www.nursetogether.com/ethical-dilemmas-in-nursing ↗
- Kjervik, D &,Brous, E (2010). Law and Ethics for Advanced Practice Nursing. New York, New York: Springer Publishing Company
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