Catholicism And Utilitarianism

Great Essays
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that gauges the worth of actions by their ends and consequences. Utilitarianism, claims that a person should act in the way that produces the greatest amount of good over evil, and should consider everyone that would be affected by the action (Skelton,2017). In other words, the ethically “correct” action is the one that causes the most pleasure and the least pain for the greatest amount of people. This theory demands that all choices be considered based on the consequences of making that action into a rule that all members of society must follow. While Utilitarian theories do provide a guide for decision-making that allows the agent to consider the broad implications of their actions, they do not allow for …show more content…
Catholics believe that Christ told Christians to love all the humanity. Catholics believe people when dying to need spirituality. When it comes to an end of life care their spiritual beliefs give the reason why patients are obliged to choose ordinary methods for preserving life. Factors for preserving life are medicines, advanced treatments, and operations which give hope to the patient. all these factors should be available without excessive expense, pain or other inconvenience.
• Dying needs spirituality
• Acting with love
• advanced treatments
Autonomy
The ethical and legal concerns with end-of-life care need to focus on the interest of patients. Autonomy is the foundation for patients who have the ability to make decisions yet there is a concern for patients who lack this capacity. Their wishes must be respected by relatives or other health care proxies When individuals lose the capacity to make their own medical decisions this is where the care team looks to see if they have an advance directive. Verbal statements made by patients may also be useful in determining what medical treatments they do and do not want.
• Ethical concern
• Autonomy
• Advance
…show more content…
B., & Rich, K. L. (2016). Nursing Ethics: Across the curriculum and into practice, 9, 272-286 http://digitalcommons.acu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=dialogue Holyoke, P., & Stephenson, B. (2017). Organization-level principles and practices to support spiritual care at the end of life: a qualitative study. BMC Palliative Care, 161-19. doi:10.1186/s12904-017-0197-9
Lewis, K. (2013). How nurses can help ease patient transitions to end of life care. Nursing Older People, 25(8), 22-26. doi:10.7748/nop2013.10.25.8.22.e479
Thomas, K. (2016). Matters of life and death: the new Government report on choice in end-of-life care. British Journal Of Community Nursing, 21(10), 528-530. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4778182/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2598215/
Ying-Chun, L., & Hsien-Hsien, C. (2014). The Practical Wisdom Gained in the Provision of End-of-Life Care. Journal Of Nursing, 61(5), 33-42.

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Several years ago, when I was a brand new nurse’s aide, I had an experience with a dying patient that changed my perspective completely. I was scheduled to be a 1:1 companion with her for a 12 hour shift. The lady had received the news the day before that she most likely not live more than another week or two. And she was very much at peace with this, when talking to throughout my shift I inquired how she could be so calm and collected. She told me that death was just the next step.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    End of Life Care also referred to as Hospice or Palliative care is focused on making the patient as comfortable as possible by providing an array of services for the patient. In Ella’s case the social worker must use a framework objected towards Ella’s illness and pain. At the end of life much attention is given to the physical, psychosocial, emotional, and spiritual needs of the patient. Additionally, the Social Worker must create an agenda designed to deliver care to the family as…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nursing 304 Assignment

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Nursing 304 Assignment: My First Experience with Death Introduction My first experience with death founded my passion for nursing. Amidst the spinning tornado of emotions that struck me on that day, I was shown true compassion by a stranger, by a nurse. For all that he did for me and my family, I will forever be grateful, and as a student, I hope that I will be able to follow his example.…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Outline for Arguments on PAS and Euthanasia When addressing the matter of Euthanasia and PAS, “we must first acknowledge that figuring out the benefits and harms of permitting euthanasia or PAS is speculative at best” (Emanuel). As well, it is important to acknowledge the fact that, “no matter which social policy regarding euthanasia or PAS is adopted - legalization or maintaining the current policy of permitting them in individual cases - there will be both benefits and harms” (Emanuel). In this argument, it will be shown that legalizing Euthanasia and PAS within the United States, will help people, by allowing terminally ill patients to realize the end of a good death or, more accurately, a create a higher quality dying experience for them.…

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Long Term Care

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Long Term Care and End of Life Treatment When dealing with death or possibility of death people react differently especially family and friends. In certain cultures there are specific rituals that are performed as a right of passage to death. Culture is the instrument that engraves specific meaning upon perceiving illness suffering and dying. Long term care especially for those that are older like geriatrics often times can rove to be one of the greatest challenge in numerous families today. Taking care of anyone that is sick especially with a terminal illness commands dedication, commitment and patients towards those that are providing care.…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Case Study Nursing Ethics

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Nursing Ethics Nurses are obligated to have moral courage and to make ethical decisions daily, which is not easy to do. According to Vicki D. Lachman, moral courage is the individual’s capacity to overcome fear and stand up for his or her core vales and ethical obligations (Lachman, 2007). ANA stands for American Nurses Association; ANA developed the Code of Ethics for Nurses. " The code of ethics is the philosophical ideals of right and wrong that define the principles you will use to provide care to your patients" (Potter, Perry, Stockert, Hall, 2013, p. 4). Which nurses use as a guide to carry out nursing responsibilities.…

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Advanced Care Planning

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The discussion of advanced directives by the nurse with patients and their families should initiate before illness occurs. This discussion will empower the patient and family members with knowledge and an opportunity to ensure that at the end of life their wishes will be respected (Clabots, 2012). Developing a nurse-patient relationship will foster communication about end of life care planning by building a trusting…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    End Of Life Care Analysis

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Somewhere around the beginning of March 2003 I lost a close family member of mine due to the improper medical care of some health professionals, such as nurses and doctors. This incident caused me to become interested in the subject of End of Life Care. End of Life Care is “the health care, not only that of a hospitalized patient in their last few days or minutes, but more broadly care of those with a terminal illness or terminal condition that has become advanced, progressive, and incurable”. (“en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-of-life_care”). In End of Life Care you have to recognize what specific treatments the patient wants.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Ethical principles are not laws, but guiding principles about what is good and what is bad, that should direct doctors and other health care professionals in their work and decision making. Issues arising over end-of-life care involving decisions that affect the nature and timing of an individual's death raise difficult ethical conflicts for all concerned and can be a source of discord between health professionals within a team, health professionals and family members, or between different family members. Ethical dilemmas arise when there is a perceived conflicting duty to the patient, such as a conflict between a duty to preserve life and a duty to act in a patient's best interests, or when an ethical principle such as respect for autonomy conflicts with a duty not to…

    • 3174 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Contrarily, in PAD, the patient him or herself is the instigator of death (2007, p. 127). In the discussion of physician-assisted death, the nurse’s position varies significantly from the physician. As patient advocates, nurses assist in patient’s decisions relative to their end-of-life care. This paper aims to develop an understanding of patient-assisted death and its implications to the nursing profession. Additionally, it will tackle the current Canadian laws, ethical considerations, and the role of the nurse…

    • 1312 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Harris (2014) said, “Terminal illness makes patients and families susceptible to physical, emotional, and spiritual distress. Older patients may worry about becoming a burden to their family at end of life” (p. 58). When the issue of assisted suicide is discussed it is important to understand why the patient believes this is the best option. The patient should involve their loved ones in the discussion. The nurse must be prepared to offer emotional support to both the patient and the family.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Often these patients are either under immense suffering or impending suffering due to a terminal illness. To avoid the suffering that often occurs with terminal illnesses, patients may contemplate the use of euthanasia to ease their suffering in this life. However, euthanasia, particularly physician assisted suicide, is harmful to physicians, harmful to patients, and on both accounts in conflict with a Christian worldview. Euthanasia Defined…

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ethics Of Care Essay

    • 1527 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Humans thrive on the ability to make choices and have options. Choices allow for the greatest individuals benefit and ensures that we survive by making the best decisions for our well-being. Modern society has evolved in a way where we are no longer in constant danger for our lives, but instead, are looking for ways to thrive. Utilitarianism is a well-known moral theory that bases itself on the universal principle of utility which is described as “always acting in ways that maximize happiness and minimizing harm for the aggregate”. A theory such as Utilitarianism is very attractive and makes moral sense intuitively.…

    • 1527 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Hospice Nursing

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “The goal is to keep the client as comfortable as possible and improve the client’s quality of life” (Rosadahl p.1703). By providing continuous management of pain and other symptoms combined with compassionate listening and counseling skills, hospice and palliative nurse promote the highest quality of life for the patient and family. Regardless of the setting, hospice and palliative nurses should strive to achieve an understanding of specific end-of-life issues from the perspective of each patient and their family…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    End-of-life healthcare decisions are one of the most challenging aspects of medical treatment. In end-of-life healthcare decisions, a decision frequently must be made between advanced medical intervention and allowing the patient to die peacefully. Although everyone involved in a patient’s treatment wants what is best for a patient, the situation can become a challenging ethical dilemma because what is best for a patient is often unclear. If extraordinary medical intervention is attempted and allows the patient to continue living a happy life, that is clearly an awesome outcome.…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays