Introduction
Ethics is an established set of standards on the right and wrong that recommend what people ought to do, especially in terms of rights, responsibilities, benefits to the society, objectivity or specific moral values. Ethical values also include those that concern virtues of honesty, humanity, sympathy, and loyalty. Ethical dilemmas are situations where an individual is forced to make a choice between two decisions with different merits whereby neither of the choices can resolve the problem in a satisfactory, ethical, and moral way.
The nurse in our study feels she has a moral duty to take care of patients. The nursing code of ethics and practice is altruistic and states that the responsibility of taking care of patients is more important than anything else . However, due to her managerial position she has been forced to tend to the organization’s needs more than her patients. She is faced with the dilemma of staying on the job so as to have the finances to take care of her family, keep seniority and receive benefits or on the other hand resign from the institution. In this situation, Judie will be morally inclined to stay on the job.
Judie’s Ethical and Moral Dilemma Situation
Judie is the nurse manager of her unit. Hence, she is morally and ethically obligated to take care of patients. It is the ethical obligation of nurses to put the needs of their patients above theirs. Taking care of patients is the part of her job that gives her the highest satisfaction. The most paramount obligation of the hospital is to take care of patients and necessitate their wellbeing. The current situation is that the hospital is laying off staff and instituting changes to the institution’s position on managed care. Due to her job position, she has been forced to concentrate on the needs of the organization more than the needs of her patients. Judie has to choose between quitting the institution and staying on the job. She does not like her current job responsibilities since she does not attend to patients as much as she would wish. On the other hand, her job offers good benefits, gives her seniority, and gives her the monetary means to take care of her two children .
As a mother, she has the responsibility of taking good care of her two children. If she quits her job she will go jobless, will not have the money to meet her kids’ needs, and in that situation, she will not have fulfilled her duty as a mother. If she stays on, she will keep receiving her salary. Hence, she will be able to meet her moral obligation as a mother (Mercer 2004). Her disappointment with her work has triggered frustrations that have caused her relationship with family members to strain. It is her moral commitment to have a happy relationship with other family members. The current situation puts her at a dilemma between meeting the needs of her kids as their mother and meeting her ethical needs. Staying on will fulfill her function as a mother but leaving will mean not meeting her duties but having a good relationship with other family members.
According to her moral standards, she finds gratification when she attends to her patients. In her situation, she does not attend to her patients’ needs enough. If she keeps her job, she will not be meeting this moral obligation because of the most prominent duties for the firm. Her nursing code of ethics and practice demands that she puts the interests of patients before her own. If she stays on, she will be going against her ethical responsibilities because she spends much time attending to institutional duties and very little time taking care of patients. On the other hand, If she leaves, she can look for another job that gives her the fulfillment of taking care of patients and meeting the nursing code of ethics (Fry, 2008).
Judie’s Decision
I would advise Judie to stay on the job but resign from her current position and apply for a position in the same firm that gives her more responsibilities as a nurse. Staying on in a paying position will fulfill her most fundamental need as a mother. Taking care of her children should be her highest concern because her children have only her to look up to. Having a job will thus meet her maternal responsibilities (Fowler, 2008). Resigning from her current position and applying for a nursing position will fulfill her need to follow the code of nursing ethics and practice that she ascribes to. In taking up a nursing position, she will be meeting her moral compulsion to take care of her patients. Meeting her moral duties will end the frustration she experiences with her work and therefore her relationship with family members will improve.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, ethics is an established set of standards on the right and wrong recommending what people ought to do in terms of responsibilities, benefits to the society, objectivity, or specific moral values. An ethical dilemma is a situation where an individual is forced to make a choice between two decisions with neither decision resolving the problem in a satisfactory, ethical, and moral way. Judie is faced with the dilemma of quitting or staying on her job. She has a moral obligation to her two children and also her patients. The nursing code of ethics puts her responsibility to take care of her patients above everything else. Her current job responsibilities are inclined towards the institution’s needs and not in attending to patients. I advise Judie to stay on the job but take up a nursing position so as to fulfill her responsibility to her children and also meet her moral and ethical responsibilities.
References
American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice. Nursesbooks.
Fowler, M. D. M. (Ed.). (2008). Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses: Interpretation and
Application. Nursesbooks. org.
Fry, S. T., & Johnstone, M. J. (2008). Ethics in nursing practice: a guide to ethical decision making. International Council of Nurses
Mercer, R. (2004). Becoming a Mother Versus Maternal Role Attainment. Wiley.
NursingWorld. (2014). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Retrieved from Nursing World: http://www.nursingworld.org
