Research paper

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The Tiny Humans

Victoria Hernandez College of Nursing, Resurrection University NUR4242 Ethics in Nursing Dr. Rose Loiacono June 13th, 2021

Imagine a situation where a four-teen year old girl with a religious Jewish family was diagnosed with stage III cervical cancer. The medical team informed the parents of the extent of damage caused by the cancer to the body, possible aggressive treatments, and what their medical recommendations were. Imagine that after all the information was given to the parents they asked the nurse to not tell their daughter. Decisions may be made based on ethical principles which can lead to not respecting individual rights. Patients put their trust into nurses and while nurses have many responsibilities they most importantly must protect their patients’ rights (“Why Nurses,” 2019). Minors are restricted and don’t have a say on making their own medical decisions due to the IL law stating that one is not considered an adult until the age of eight-teen. In this case, in the eyes of the law, parents represent the patient, placing nurses in an ethical dilemma. The nurse has to decide whether to support the patients’ rights to tell them the truth or abide the law that states minors parents must make medical decisions for them. This makes you question, at what age should minors have the right to be part of the decision-making process over their body? 

Identification and Discussion of the Ethical Dimensions:

Relevance of the Ethical Issue to Nursing:

When it comes to parents withholding medical information from their child, healthcare professionals, more specifically nurses, come across an ethical dilemma. Nurses have to decide between advocating for their underage patient and abiding by the IL law that states since minors are competent, parents are to make their medical decisions. It is in these circumstances that human rights are at risk for violation, and that ethical issues will emerge (ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights 2016). To what extent should we examine the way parents make decisions when we discuss the patients prognosis with them? Nurses play an important role in ensuring their patients’ rights are respected, exercising their autonomy, and providing education so that they become active in making choices and decisions in regards to their care and treatment. A minor’s decision-making capacity depends on many factors, including not only chronological, but also emotional maturity and the individual’s medical experience (“Confidential Health Care,” n.d.).  

Analysis of Relevant Ethical Principles, Theories, Laws, and Standards of Practice: The IL law states that involvement in medical decision-making can be made if they are married as a minor, pregnant women as a minor, or parent as a minor (“Consent by Minors,” 2018). I other words act or think like an adult, be treated like an adult. Yet this tells us little to no clarity on whether they are developmentally mature to make difficult decisions, unless it’s telling us that anyone who marries is capable of doing so. An adolescent who shows emotional maturity, is able to understand and has the capacity to make choices should be entitled to the rights of an adult.

When nurses are confronted with such ethical dilemmas, systematic and careful reasoning is required. Healthcare organizations must have resources such as an ethics committee or guidelines to guide them with the ethical decision-making process. Those involved must consider ethical principles including justice, autonomy, beneficence and nonmaleficence as well as professional and organizational ethical standards and codes

-Situations where nurses got in trouble because of this/parents have had problems/patients have had problems

-Nursing guidelines/code of conduct (put the law and then talk about standards and situations where there have been legal cases/problem and talk about their stories/responded instead of my opinion)

Personal Professional Response to the Issue: The law is not ethical because parents make the decisions, removing the child’s right. The patient has the right to be informed of their diagnosis, treatment and consequences, risks and alternative treatments. The principle right of a minor with cancer is the right to know. She has the right to be told the truth, not only by the nurse, but by the parents as well. Any decisions that involve the care of the girl should not be made only by the parents. Who is the patient? In this case, the parents are the minor's representatives. The nurses role is always to obtain the patient’s trust, which can only be obtained by honesty, and not by the withholding of information. Minors who are in their school-age into adolescent years should not only be given information, but be allowed to assent in the decision-making process. It is their own body they need to be well aware of what is going on.

A lot of minors are cognitively and psychosocially advanced to understand their choices

some parents might be against new practices in turn denying certain treatments. On the other hand, medical ethicists are divided on when

Conclusion:

References

Confidential Health Care for Minors. American Medical Association. (n.d.). https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/confidential-health-care-minors.

“Consent by Minors to Health Care Services Act.”   Illinois General Assembly, 1 Jan. 2018, www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1539.

Why Nurses Should Be Patient Advocates. The University of South Carolina Aiken Online. (2019, February 21). https://online.usca.edu/articles/rnbsn/nurses-as-patient-advocates.aspx.

ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights. (2016). The Nurse’s Role in Ethics and Human Rights: Protecting and Promoting Individual Worth, Dignity, and Human Rights in Practice Settings. NursingWorld. https://www.nursingworld.org/~4af078/globalassets/docs/ana/ethics/ethics-and-human-rights-protecting-and-promoting-final-formatted-20161130.pdf.