Defining the Term Ethics

Ethics
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Ethics
Ethics are the moral principles that determine the actions or behaviors of a person in a particular situation. Strong ethics are fundamental to nursing because professionals in this field are likely to experience moral dilemmas while attending to patients. When these ethical problems occur, healthcare professionals must apply the profession's ethics and core values in their decision-making (Heale & Shorten, 2017). For nurse managers, ethical decision-making stems from the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics that acts as a guideline for nursing responsibilities in ways that are consistent with nursing care and moral obligations. Nurse Managers solve ethical problems by using their leadership qualities to implement the Code of Ethics (Rainer et al., 2018). They also apply the principles of nursing ethics such as autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice while making ethical decisions.
Ethical Situation
One ethical situation I have found in my research involves Evan, a married male patient committed to a psychiatric hospital after contracting HIV during a homosexual relationship. His wife is unaware of Evan's status or homosexual activity, and he does not want the nurse to inform his wife about his medical illness. Various stakeholders are involved directly in this scenario. One is Evan, who does not want his family to know about his illness or affair. The other stakeholder is his nurse, who is worried about the burden of breaking confidentiality entrusted to him. The third is Claire, Evan's wife, who may have contracted HIV. Evan's subsequent partners are also at risk of contracting HIV.
Evan has a right to confidentiality; therefore, the nurse cannot disclose his HIV status to anyone without his consent. The nurse is also ethically bound to respect Evan's autonomy. However, Claire's health and that of the previous partner are at stake. The nurse is afraid she will break the privacy and trust rules and the patient's autonomy by informing Evan's wife about his illness. At the same time, the nurse is worried because she may jeopardize the health of Evan's partner when she fails to inform her.
The nurse has at least two ethical options. The first option is to respect Evan's autonomy and continue to treat him without the knowledge of his wife and family. The second option is to break the autonomy and tell Claire of Evan's HIV status. The third option is to empower Evan to feel free with his wife and family and tell them about his HIV status. The last option is to tell Evan's doctor to ...