After reading “Chapter 3: To Heal Sometimes, To Comfort Always,” complete the
questionnaire titled, “My Nursing Ethic.”
Using the reading and the questionnaire, write a paper of 750- 1000 words in which you
describe your professional moral compass. As you write your paper, include the
following:
1 . What personal, cultural, and spiritual values contribute to your worldview and
philosophy of nursing? How do these values shape or influence your nursing practice?
- Define values, morals, and ethics in the context of your obligation to nursing practice.
Explain how your personal values, philosophy, and worldview may conflict with your
obligation to practice, creating an ethical [dilemma. - Reflect and share your own personal thoughts regarding the morals and ethical
dilemmas you may face in the health care field. How do your personal views affect your
behavior and your decision making?
Do not be concerned with the use of ethical terminology for this paper.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide,
located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a grading rubric. instructors with be using the rubric to grade the
assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the
assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for
successful completion of the assignment.
You are required to submit this assignment to Turntin. Refer to the directions in the
Student Success Center. Only Word documents can be submitted to Turnitin
Nursing Ethics
Nurses are expected to always comfort patients considering that medical interventions
sometimes do not heal. Nurses must comfort patients irrespective the results of the
treatments. Dr. Edward Trudeau came up with the concept of always comforting, relieving
often and curing sometimes. Nurses must act as comforters in the line of caring for the sick.
Comforting patients is realized through seeking to comprehensively understand the agendas
of the patients, standing in the shoes of the patients and in striving to do the best.
My experiences in nursing have assisted me to apply theories in my lines of practice;
it has also enabled me to identify common themes in patient populations that are complex
(Fawcett, 2002). In my view, practice based theories have been instrumental in my worldview
of nursing. My personal beliefs have affected the nature of patient care I offer to the sick
people. I have different personal beliefs on the patient’s health and environments. According
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to my worldview, I consider people as spirits and energies present in physical bodies (Cowen
et al., 2006). The energy interacts with the immediate environment at home, health care
facilities or in nature.
Energy in patients is influenced by socio-economic, psychological, cultural, spiritual,
people and political factors among others. Health is defined by patients and not the nurses;
this is according to the patient’s perspective on health and personal definition. In any
situation, there are chances of better health according to the spirit and body (Reed et al.,
2011). Better health can be attained in mental illnesses, physical illnesses and spiritual
illnesses. I have learnt that respecting the views of the patients is part of the healing
processes.
Nurses are in place to coexist in supporting the patients from the current state of the
health to the desired state of the health. The patient and the nurses walk alongside the journey
of healing within the environment (Cowen et al., 2006). The healing environment could be a
health care facility, homes and spiritual realms among others. Nurses have roles of making
sure that patients interact with the environment better; the nurses connect with the spirit and
energy in the physical body (Reed et al., 2011). The nurses facilitate interaction of the
patients with the nature as part of healing processes.
Nurses and patients have inner connections. Experience has shaped my beliefs on the
roles of nurses in diverse workplaces and patients. Past nursing practices has been
instrumental in discovering the perceptions of patients on the nursing, in addressing ethical
challenges, defining the care environments, addressing issues of multicultural patients and in
application of ethics in the healthcare (Cowen et al., 2006).
My worldview focuses at the unitary transformative through various ways of
explaining and viewing the patient and health; illnesses and heath occur hand in hand among
the human beings. There are some patients who consider the process and environment as
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different entities (Reed et al., 2011). Changes in health care occur after the patient interacts
with the environment, which is related to transpersonal healing and caring. Unitary
transformative view is related to evolution, consciousness, intentionality, relativity and
energy. The perspective is influenced by conventional science and medical models (Fawcett,
2002).
Cultural values are related to belief systems and ideas in which a society or an
individual is committed. In the United States, the values of the nurses are attached to the
value systems of the American culture, which relies heavily on individualism and self-
reliance. Values attached to individualism indicate that the rights of an individual are
respected than the values of a society (Cowen et al., 2006). Some cultures are against the
concept of individualism and focus on the collectivism perspective, where the rights of
society are highly observed than the rights of an individual. Health decisions in some cultures
are made by a group and not by an individual, as a nurse, I have learned to address
multicultural patients and their worldviews on healing and medicine. Ethics defines the moral
compass on what is wrong or right and varies with cultures (Fawcett, 2002); competing moral
choices results in ethical conflicts.
Competent nurses are aware of ethnocentrism, cultural imposition, cultural
importation, cultural exportation, belief systems, norms and general assumptions. Ethical
dilemmas in nursing are experienced on a day to day practice of nursing. The ethical
decisions make an impact on the patients and the nurses. In an ethical dilemma, nurses
understand that there are no right decisions, an indication that the answer is not satisfactory
(Cowen et al., 2006). What is ethical varies with nurses; principles related to nursing ethics
are useful in making ethical dilemmas. The knowledge is influenced by beliefs, values and
experiences of the nurses. The same ethical dilemmas can be solved through different choices
(Reed et al., 2011).
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In an ethical dilemma, control and choices may conflict. If a patient wants to make
choices that may harm themselves or the community, then the nurse has the responsibility of
resisting such actions. A patient has planned to do away with eating; the nurse knows the
consequences of such actions considering that the patient will be harmed (Fawcett, 2002). In
this context, the nurse will have to convince the patient to take food, and to some extent force
the patient to take meals; this is an ethical dilemma where morals are applied in making
decisions. The personal views of the nurse affect the decision making and behaviors of the
nurse.
Nurses must act as comforters in the line of caring for the sick. Comforting patients is
realized through seeking to comprehensively understand the agendas of the patients, standing
in the shoes of the patients and in striving to do the best. Nursing is complex and requires
solving ethical dilemmas on a daily basis.
References
Cowen, P., Perle, S. & Moorhead, S. (2006). Current Issues in Nursing. St Louis, Missouri:
Mosby Elsevier.
Fawcett, J. (2002). The Nurse Theorists: 21st-Century Updates—Jean Watson. Nursing
Science Quarterly , 214-219.
Reed, B., Pamela, G. & Crawford-Shearer, N. (2011). Nursing Knowledge and Theory
Innovation Advancing the Science of Practice. New York: Springer Publishing
Company, LLC.