Assignment: NSGCB 426 Competency 3

Assignment: NSGCB 426 Competency 3

Assignment: NSGCB 426 Competency 3

Assessment Details

Nurses are faced with situations where legal and ethical considerations are complex and sometimes don’t have a simple or clear solution. Unfortunately, nurses are frequently held accountable in these complex situations, which is why it is important for nurses to understand what they can and can’t do, what they will be accountable for, and what they are responsible for. In this assessment, you will analyze a complex topic from an ethical and legal perspective. You should also analyze its impact on nurses and accountability.

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Select one of the following topics or another topic approved by your instructor:

Healthcare as right or privilege

Futile care

Whistle blowing

Euthanasia and assisted suicide

Clinical uses for illicit substances (e.g., medical marijuana, MDMA for PTSD)

Research your selected topic.

Analyze a nurse’s legal responsibilities related to your selected topic.

Analyze a nurse’s ethical responsibilities related to your selected topic.

Take a position on the topic and explain your position in detail.

Summarize the steps in the ethical decision-making model you employed and the process used to arrive at your position.

Discuss how your position affects nurses and how nurses can be held accountable in situations related to your selected topic.

Cite at least 3 evidence-based, peer-reviewed sources published within the last 5 years to support your position(s).

Format your assignment as one of the following:

875-word paper

Another format approved by your instructor

Assignment: NSGCB 426 Competency 3 Sample

Competency 3: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

            Nurses practice in environments characterized by complex needs and competing interests that often require ethical decision-making. Issues such as euthanasia and assisted suicide are crucial topics in nursing practice that demand nurses’ consideration of ethics and legal guidelines informing their actions. Euthanasia and assisted suicide entail the deliberate administration of a drug to end a patient’s life. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the legal and ethical issues that surround euthanasia and assisted suicide, my position on the topic, and its effect on nurses.

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Nurses’ Legal Responsibilities Related to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

            The nurse plays several legal responsibilities in euthanasia and assisted suicide. The legal role of nurses in euthanasia and assisted suicide is not well-defined. This can be seen in the limited guidelines and protocols on the extent of nurses’ involvement in these processes. However, nurse must consider some legal requirements when participating in the process. One of them is ensuring the protection of patient and family right to make informed decisions about euthanasia and assisted suicide (Vogelstein, 2019). Nurses ensure their active participation in decision-making, detecting and responding to the needs of the patients and their families.

            The other nurses’ legal responsibility in euthanasia and assisted suicide is recognizing their role in the process. The American Nurses Association asserts that nurses are legally and ethically prohibited from giving medications that aid in dying. They should be aware of the professional values related to euthanasia and assisted suicide and their effect on the nurses’ ability to offer objective information when responding to requests by their patients (Vogelstein, 2019). The controversial nature of these topics demand that nurses only be involved in care activities that promote patient’s autonomy in the care process.

Nurses’ Ethical Responsibilities Related to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

            Nurses also have crucial ethical responsibilities on issues related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. As noted above, nurses are ethically prohibited from administering any medication or interventions that aid dying. However, they are ethically expected to provide patients and their families, objective information about their options for them to make informed decisions about euthanasia and assisted suicide. According to the American Nurses Association, nurses have the ethical responsibility of ensuring that they are knowledgeable about euthanasia and assisted suicide, as they are evolving issues in the modern society(Stokes, 2019). This includes being aware of their persona values about these topics and their impact on the therapeutic relationships with their patients.

            Nurses also have the ethical responsibility to decline being involved in euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, this responsibility may be considered neglect and abandoning the provision of care to patients who choose euthanasia in some cases. As a result, nurses who choose not to be involved in such processes have the ethical duty of informing their employers about their decisions to avoid ethical and legal issues in practice. The other ethical responsibility of nurses in euthanasia and assisted suicide is ensuring confidentiality of the patients’ data(Vogelstein, 2019).  Nurse must ensure the information is not shared or made available to other parties not involved in the patient’s care without seeking informed consent.

Position

            My position on euthanasia and assisted suicide is that nurses should not be involved directly in any actions such as administering medications to patients for death. The existing laws do not provide adequate protocols and guidelines for nurses’ direct involvement in these processes. Instead, I strongly hold that nurses should act as advocates of their patients. They should collaborate with them to ensure informed decision-making. Nurses should provide accurate and objective data to aid patients make their decisions and not influence them. I also believe that nurses should have the autonomy to decide on whether to be involved on euthanasia and assisted death or not based on their personal values. Professional organizations should develop statements that guide nurses in addressing this controversial issue.

Steps in Ethical Decision Making Model

            The duty-based model of ethical decision-making informed the above position. The duty-based model of ethical decision-making asserts that human beings have the moral duty to promote good and not evil. Nurses have the moral and ethical responsibility of ensuring that the rights and needs of patients and families that opt for euthanasia and assisted suicide are protected. The steps of ethical decision-making in this model include assessing the issue at hand by obtaining data. The nurse uses the data to develop potential alternatives that should be adopted. The next step is considering the consequences of each of the alternatives. Selecting a decision with optimal benefits follows (Grace & Uveges, 2022). A person should be ready to be accountable for the decision-made and its associated consequences.

Effect of My Position on Nurses

            My position on euthanasia and assisted suicide implies that nurses should adhere to their professional standards and regulations when participating in these processes. They should make decisions based on their values and recommendations by organizations such as the American Nurses Association. Nurses can be held accountable if they administer any medication intended to cause death among patients that opt for assisted suicide or euthanasia. They are also held accountable for engaging in any act that is not within their standards of practice.

Conclusion

            Euthanasia and assisted suicide are controversial topics in our communities and healthcare. Nurses have ethical and legal responsibilities in relation to these topics. My position statement is that nurses should not be involved directly in euthanasia and assisted suicide. Nurses may be held accountable if they engage in activities that are beyond their scope of practice when caring patients and families that have opted for euthanasia.

References

Grace, P. J., & Uveges, M. K. (2022). Nursing Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Advanced Practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Stokes, L. (2019). ANA Position Statement: The Nurse’s Role When a Patient Requests Medical Aid in Dying. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 24(3). https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol24No03PoSCol02

Vogelstein, E. (2019). Evaluating the American Nurses Association’s arguments against nurse participation in assisted suicide. Nursing Ethics, 26(1), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733017694619