My Ethical Dilemmas In Nursing Practice

Ethical decisions and dilemmas are among the most important and most challenging aspects of nursing practice. As such, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) produces and maintains an ethical decision-making framework, which functions as a tool to guide best practice in challenging situations (Ethics, 2017). In order to fully understand an ethical issue, the situation must be clearly stated, inclusive of both the known and unknown information. TW, the palliative client I cared for, embodied multiple ethical issues. The most poignant for me was with regards to his pain control, because I knew that he had a history of opioid abuse, but was being treated for chronic cancerous pain with opioids. I also knew that he was palliative, and optimistically, had weeks to live. Although it was difficult at times, in this situation I demonstrated ethical responsiveness in my assessment and consideration of TW’s health challenges. There is still room for further growth, but I am satisfied with the care that I provided was ethical, as it was congruent with CNA guidelines: safe; holistic; and preserved his right to autonomy and dignity.
Spirituality
I believe that spirituality is an important part of life, but unfortunately one that I am out of touch with. I was not raised with any sort of religious presence, but I do believe …show more content…
In the community, I cared for an older, devout individual who found multiple ways to weave God into our conversation. While I have no aversion to discussing the beliefs of my clients in a therapeutic way, having the conversation flipped to my beliefs is not something that I am comfortable sharing within a nurse-client relationship. In the event that I am in a similar situation again, I will have to seek out the resources so that the spiritual needs of my client can be met, at least until such time as I gain comfort in this