Principlism In Nursing

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Principlism is a means of applying various ethical principles to weigh arguments that are not clear to make a comprehensive decision (Guido, 2014). The components of ethics that can be implemented with principles are autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice; the foundation of which medical decisions are made on (Guido, 2014). In the intensive care unit, these concepts frequently clash in the spirit of doing what is in the best interest of the patient. The doctor, families and patients can have conflicting opinions of what is in the best interest of the patient and what it means to do no harm. Is subjecting a frail elderly patient to an invasive procedure that they may very well never recover from in the spirit of doing no harm? The neurologist and the primary provide conflicting opinions on how best to care for their 95-year-old parent with a large MCA infarct. This further gets complicated when the neurosurgeon arrives with his plan of action. Naturally, there are no advance directives or living wills to consult. The NeuroScience team advocates in the spirit of …show more content…
This is where nursing walks a delicate line to help ethically the family arrive at the best solution for the patient and their family wishes. The nurses must contribute to making an autonomous decision that is free from personal influences and nursing preferences. This is a careful line of not pushing the resolution to what we prefer and know by experience is the best option. “The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and unique attributes of every person” (Brown, Lachman & Swanson, 2015, p269). The family needs to be guided in what the focus of what the patient would want, how would they choose if they could and what the quality of life they would demand for their remaining

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