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The Nuremberg Code
Advanced practice nurses face numerous ethical dilemmas in their daily activities, and they have to refer to the code of ethics that governs their practice to make the appropriate decisions. Advanced practice nurses must follow the Nuremberg Code because their profession entails experimentation with humans (The Nuremberg Code, 2015). Nursing guidelines and models have been developed to guide nurses in their conduct, but there are always moments of an ethical dilemma that arise owing to the preferences of the patients. This paper looks into an example of a moral dilemma that an advanced practice nurse may encounter, and the possible solution.
Ethical dilemma
One of the most common ethical dilemmas that advanced practice nurses face is the lack of consent on the part of the patient. Patients under the age of 16 years require parental consent. With this group of patients, parental consent is important when the health care professionals have to undertake specific treatment methods to save the lives of patients. However, parental consent is not always granted, especially when the treatment procedures involve significant risks to the lives of the patients (Forman & Ladd, 2012). In such cases, advanced practice nurses are left with the task of providing the relevant information to the parents to lure them into giving consent. In some instances, parental consent is not attained, and legal measures have to be applied. There are also cases where one parent refuses to give consent for treatment procedures for their children, whereas the other parent agrees to the treatment.
Case
A good example of such an ethical dilemma was when patient A, a 12-year-old boy was admitted to the hospital with a brain tumor whose removal would have had dire consequences for the cognitive development of the child. Failure to remove the tumor would also risk his life. After consulting with the mother of the child, she was adamant that the tumor should not be removed. However, the father was willing to sign the consent papers for the tumor to be removed. This situation posed an ethical dilemma for physicians handling the boy because operating on the boy was an immense risk, and failing to remove the tumor was also quite risky.
Solution
As an advanced practice nurse, the most important thing is to ensure the wellness status of the patients is enhanced; hence, a collaborative approach to this case would be appropriate. First, physicians handling the case would have to work with the consent of the father. They would ignore the mother because the boy’s wellness status would be enhanced by the removal of the tumor (Buka, 2014). Second, it would be appropriate for the advanced practice nurse to provide the relevant information to both parents. This should entail the benefits of undertaking the treatment procedure as opposed to the risks of leaving it in the boy’s brain. It is always important to reassure the parents about the high likelihood of the treatment procedures succeeding, regardless of their stance about undertaking the procedures.
Cost and benefits
The non-conceding parent would oppose the stance to undertake the recommended procedure. The law stipulates that if one parent refuses to give consent for a relatively important treatment method, the consent of the other parent should be used as a legally binding approval (Knapp, Dolan & Furnival, 2003). Taking the decision to follow the consent of one parent is a painful process for the other parent. The beneficiary would be the patient, and the parents if the method is successful.
References
Buka, P. (2014). Patients’ Rights, Law and Ethics for Nurses. CRC Press.
Forman, E. N., & Ladd, R. E. (2012). Ethical dilemmas in pediatrics: a case study approach. Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media.
Knapp, J. F., Dolan, M. A., & Furnival, R. A. (2003). Consent for emergency medical services for children and adolescents. Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Pediatrics, 111(3), 703-706.
The Nuremberg Code. (2015). Web.
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