The ethical topic is Doctors giving narcotic orders for nurses to Essay

The ethical topic is Doctors bounteous narcotic orders for nurses to carry out to addicts even though the doctors know their patie - Essay ExampleThe conclusion will be evident that nurses must keep the patients best interests at heart as they seek to be the patient advocate and do no harm. Ethical Dilemma Doctors Giving Orders for Nurses to Carry Out to Addicts Even Though the Doctors Know Their Patients Are Addicted to the Narcotics at that place are many documented instances where nurses have been placed in ethical situations when it comes to following doctors orders. One of these situations is whether or not to carry out those orders if they mean giving narcotics to known addicts. Revised over the years, the Nurses Associations Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements strictly conveys the importance of accountability and patient advocacy. capital to the subject matter of this article are several Provisions directly stated in the Code. In Provision 2, The nurses p rimary lading is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group or community. Provision 3 states, The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rightfields of the patient, And Provision 4 reads,The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the detach delegation of tasks consistent with the nurses obligation to provide optimum patient care. To gain a clearer understanding of the scope of ethics in comparison to the subject matter, a definition of some terms would be beneficial. Ethics is defined by Merriam-Webster as a set of moral principles a system or system of moral values (ethics, 2011), while the American Heritage Dictionary defines a narcotic as an addictive drug, such as opium, that reduces pain, alters temper and behavior, and usually induces sleep or stupor (narcotic, 2011). In the article Nurses Struggle with Ethical Dilemmas, Christine Mitchell (RN, MS, FAAN, Director of Ethics at B oston Childrens Hospital and classify Director of Clinical Ethics at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is quoted as saying, The important thing is for nurses to listen to their inner voices and ask themselves, Are we doing the right thing? Pay attention to that voice. (Boivin, 2009) In seeking to do the right thing, the nurse must minister to the self-colored person, as Marg Hutchison quotes Joyce Travelbee in Unity and smorgasbord in Spiritual Care,A nurse does not only seek to alleviate physical pain or render physical care - she ministers to the whole person. The existence of suffering, whether physical, mental or spiritual is the proper concern of the nurse. (Hutchison, 1998) In adhering to this principle, the Hospice Patients Alliance focuses on five rights of drug administration that have to nurses employed in any medical setting. These rights, as listed in the article Dangers of Leaving Medications Out include the right patient, drug or medication, dose of medication, dispatch of administration, and time (frequency). (The Hospice Patients Alliance) The nurse must, therefore, forever be aware of the patients best interests. It is obvious that serious consequences could occur if either of these rights was violated. In the process of giving medication to patients, the nurse might question why the doctor would prescribe narcotics to a known addict. There lingers the possibility that the nurse may be unaware of the total reasoning behind a doctors orders. Perhaps the patient is seeking chronic pain relief. Perhaps it is a