Pertinent ethical issues characterize care at the EOL. Physicians and other parties face serious ethical challenges in establishing suitable approaches to adopt while caring for patients at this stage. Initially, there is a concern of the Autonomy, especially in decision-making. Palliative care requires the adoption of critical decisions regarding the care to be offered (Hospice Foundation.2016). There is the need for ensuring that each stakeholder’s values and perspectives are considered. Each party is obliged to listen to others when sharing their values, options and questions to cater for each concern accordingly. However, this is the need to examine each patient to ascertain that they are in the state of making logical decisions. The idea of autonomy presents a dilemma, as one is required to make decisions and adopt a personal action that is free from coercion (Nursing Work, 2016). For example, the caregivers should be able to make decisions that are informed by personal values and pertinent information. Furthermore, ethical dilemmas present in deciding if to stop or change the treatment strategy. Some therapeutic management strategies include the use of complicated, lethal and risky procedures, thus the need for ensuring informed consent to avoid blame. Various factors affect such decisions that include finance, the patient’s will, and the families’ priorities (Nursing Work, 2016). A consensus should always prevail in endorsing such a decision to ensure that the best suitable option is adopted. Other ethical concerns center on the decisions that include hydration and nutrition of the patient. For example, a patient may be put on a nutrition plan and drugs that have serious side effects. Consenting with each other is the only way of avoiding dilemmas in such cases (Hospice Foundation.2016).
Dilemmas attract conflicts among the patients, physicians, and the family. Disagreements arise as parties fail to agree on various decisions. Such ethical dilemmas have the potential of affecting the patient physically and emotionally. For example, putting the patients under a treatment procedure that they have not endorsed make them experience severe physiological disturbances. They may feel exploited and withdrawn, which can negatively affect their health (Ferrel, Coyle, & Paice 2015).
Furthermore, the dilemma can deter caregivers from adopting the best strategies needed to manage the patient’s health. Dilemmas can also make caregivers face serious litigations where they fail to comply with ethical and legal requirements (Nursing Work, 2016). Caregivers have the obligation of making professional decisions and providing the necessarily informed advice to both the patient and the family to aid adoption of the best strategies. Dilemmas also have the potential of affecting the family financially and emotionally (Hospice Foundation, 2016). The family needs to feel that their member is accorded the best possible alternative. This is essential in minimizing suffering and ensuring their cooperation. Furthermore, the family should not be left to suffer unnecessary financial losses out of ignorance. This supports the significance of involving the family in decision making to ensure endorsement of strategies that they are willing and capable of supporting.
Conflicts brought by ethical dilemmas present as a deterrent factor that has the potential of compromising the quality of the care provided, thus the need for having an effective way of solving them. In addressing such dilemmas, there is the need of remaining sensitive to concepts such as clinical integrity, Respect to Humanity, Justice and benefit to the patient (Ferrel, Coyle, & Paice 2015). Mostly, the patient should be granted the right to choose the course of his life when possible.
References
Ferrel, B., Coyle, N., & Paice J. (2015). Oxford textbook of palliative nursing. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Hospice Foundation. (2016).“Palliative Care at end of life”. Retrieved on 25th Feb. 2016 from http://hospicefoundation.org
Nursing Work. (2016). “Ethics; end-of-life issues.” Retrieved on 25th Feb. 2016 from http://www.nursingworld.com/
