Subject: Fundamentals on Nursing Practice I

Name: Shaira May B. Luzadas

Topic: [Assignment]Application of ethical principles to patient education
Name of Instructor: Mrs. Maricel Nasog
Date of submission: March 19, 2019

1. Autonomy

When a group wants to govern itself or a person wants to make independent decisions,
they are looking for autonomy. Autonomy comes from the Greek roots auto meaning “self” and
nomos meaning “custom” or “law”. This reflects the political sense of the word- a group’s right
to self- government or self-rule. When a person seeks autonomy, he or she would like to make
decisions independently from an authority figure.

The main key point of autonomy in the journal is that, in medicine, autonomy refers to
the right of the patient to retain control over his or her body. A health care professional can
suggest or advise, but any actions attempt to persuade or coerce the patient into making a choice
are violations of this principle. In the end, the patient must be allowed to make his or her own
decisions- whether or not the medical provider believes these choices are in that patient’s best
interests- independently and according to his or her personal values and beliefs.

Yes, every individual’s decisions are what matters most to themselves and their choice of
certain decision in a situation must not be driven by pressure of peers, society etc. and that also
applies in the medical field. Every patient that is admitted in a hospital or has a private caregiver
at homes and their guardians are the ones who makes decision on what kind of care will be
provided by the doctors, nurses and the health team members. It is like “my wish is your
command” however the doctors and other medical providers can list or even enumerate
suggestions to the patient so that they can choose what kind of care they prefer, suits them and
they can afford. Their decision sometimes depends if they can afford that procedure for example
chemotherapy, surgery and so on.

2. Veracity

Veracity sounds like some kind of disease you don’t want to catch, but, in fact, that
means truthfulness. If you, question the veracity of a statement or a story, you wonder whether it
is truthful or accurate. Whether found in people, things or ideas, veracity represents the very
essence of truth. Veracity as a quality is most often applied to statements or accounts of events,
where it denotes the truthfulness and, moreover, accuracy of what is said. A claim that has
veracity is one that is not only true in one or more senses, but accurate in the precise way that is
expressed, creating a foundation upon which knowledge can confidently built. The term is
usually useful in constructing legal cases, characterizing the evidence presented in trials and
proceedings.

In the journal, given the moral stringency of truth telling, an interesting ethical quandary
arises when it falls to the professional to convey bad news to patients and families. Health
professional long have believed that patients want professionals to help them maintain hope in
the face of catastrophe. A situation in 1932, Nicolai Hartman noted that for centuries this was
interpreted as requiring the professional to protect patients from the truth at times, engaging, if
necessary, in a benevolent lie and bearing responsibility for having breached the patients’ moral
expectation that veracity would be honored. Today this belief has shifted, at least in some major
subcultures of North America and Europe where the belief is that hope is enhanced by the
patient’s ability to take control of important life events. In other words, the fostering of hope is
dependent solely on whether the truth is shared directly with the patient. More determinative is
the role of veracity in maintaining a patient exercise of autonomy and capability to actively
participate in decisions. This interpretation, however, does not necessarily led to professional
conduct consistent with it. For example, Nicholas Christakis observe that physicians tend to
convey information about a poor prognosis in a way that avoids giving the worst aspects and
conforms to what the physician believes the patients’ expectations are.

I really agree to this saying honesty is the best policy. Everyone of us tried lying and I
know that it doesn’t feel good and right because we tend to cover something by dishonesty. In
medical field, all staffs should practice being truthful with each other especially to the patient
because there are some scenarios that a nurse is comforting a patient saying that he or she has a
chance of living yet in that patients’ case it is not possible, therefore, the nurse is trying to give
false hope. So, in every case every health provider should possess the character of being truthful
and veracity.

3. Confidentiality

It is the right of an individual to have personal, identifiable medical information kept

private. Such information should only be available only to the physician of record and other
health care and insurance personnel as necessary. As of 2003, patient confidentiality was
protected by federal statute.

In journal, when nurses and surgeons collaborate to properly execute an informed

consent, patient autonomy can be achieved. Through professional education, nurses may be
empowered to effectively participate in the process if they obtain an understanding of the ethical
considerations and the legal and practical implications in favor of collaborative informed
consent. For surgeons, the informed consent process might be considered a waiver of liability or
a preoperative release. Alternatively, nurses may be more incline to recognize the informed
consent process as an important exchange of information upon which a patient or surrogate can
make imperative choices reflecting their autonomous health care decisions. With a broadened
knowledge base on the realities and requirements of the informed consent process, nurses and
surgeons may each contribute within their legal scope of practice to reduce risk of litigation by
fully meeting the legal obligations imposed by informed consent statutes.

Privacy of the patient should always be considered and health care team must always ask
for permission first or consult to the patient or guardian before doing something related to the
patient. Confidentiality like patient’s identity, disease, personal information etc. are just only
between the health care provider and the guardian or patient him or herself.

4. Nonmaleficence

A term in medical ethics that drives from the ancient maxim primum non nocere, which,
translated from the Latin, means first, do no harm. The principle of nonmaleficence directs
physicians to “do no harm” to patients. Physicians must refrain from providing ineffective
treatments or acting with malice toward patients. This principle, however, offers little useful
guidance to physicians since many beneficial therapies also have serious risks. The pertinent
ethical issue is whether the benefits outweigh the burdens. Physicians should not provide
ineffective treatments to patients as these offers risk with no possibility of benefit and thus have
a chance of harming patients. In addition, physicians must not do anything that would purposely
harm patients without the action being balanced by proportional benefit.

In journal, nonmaleficence is probably the best known of the four principles. This
principle is intended to be the end goal for all of a practitioner decision and means that medical
providers must consider whether other people or society could be harmed by a decision made,
even if it is made for the benefit of an individual patient.

Members of the health care team has same goal and that is to heal, take care of the
patient, prevent possible diseases or infection and to help the patient to feel a lot more better.
Maybe there are some doctors or scientist we knew that all they do was bad and to worsen the
case of the patient, luckily that was just happening in the movies. They have a wide knowledge
of curing people so they should use and apply that knowledge to those who are ill and to cure
them.

5. Beneficence
Beneficence is action that is done for the benefit for others. Beneficent actions can be
taken to help prevent or remove harms o to simply improve the situation of others.
 In journal, this principle states that health care providers must do all they can to benefit
the patient in each situation. All procedures and treatments recommended just be with the
intention to do the most good for the patient. To ensure beneficence, medical practitioners must
develop and maintain a high level of skill and knowledge, make sure that they are trained in the
most current and best medical practices and must consider their patients individual
circumstances; what is good for one patient will not necessary benefit another. Examples of
beneficent actions are resuscitating a drowning victim, providing vaccinations for the general
population, encouraging a patient to quit smoking and start an exercise program, talking to the
community about STD prevention.

Nonmaleficence and beneficence are somewhat similar but here in beneficence, the
health care them are giving benefits to those that are sick and ill and they must do all that they
can so they would be cured or improve their situation. Just like what our parents do, just for us to
attend school, eat 3 or more times a day, to have clothes, home and so on, that’s what the health
care providers do too.

6. Justice
Justice is the quality of being just or fair. Superheroes fight for justice because they want
everything to be fair and not let bad guys win. Justice us usually associated with the law. A judge
is also known as a justice, and the point of the law is to keep everything in society fair according
to society’s rule. Justice is also the statue of a blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword. If
something is brought to justice, the good guys have been rewarded and the bad guys punished-
the scales are even.

In journal, the principle of justice states that there should be an element of fairness in all
medical decisions; fairness in decisions that burden and benefit, as well as equal distribution of
scarce resources and new treatments, and for medical practitioners to hold applicable and
legislation when making choices.

We are all equally created by God therefore everyone should be treated carefully
however that doesn’t happen in our society, usually those who have the money are the ones who
has more privileges and opportunity unlike to those who are homeless, uneducated, squatter
people etc. and sometimes they are abused or not treated equally by those who are superior to
them. In medical field, fairness, equality and justice should be practice because every patient
who are admitted there needs cure, it is not just for rich people but also for poor and average
persons.