Topic 3 Discussion 2: The Patient Suicide Attempt Case Study An Ethical Dilemma

TOPIC 3 DISCUSSION 2
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The Patient Suicide Attempt Case Study An Ethical Dilemma
Nurses encounter more ethical dilemmas during their practice especially when taking care of terminally ill patients. An example of such an ethical dilemma is when a nursing staff is approached by an end stage prostate cancer patient, and who expresses suicidal thoughts to a great extent that his quality of life is affected (Bates, 2006). The patient confides in the nursing staff and asks her to keep his feelings secret. The ethical dilemma here readily presents itself because the nursing staff wonders whether she should pass this information to other nurses or healthcare teams in the hospital without the patient's consent, or whether she should continue being secretive about the patient's suicidal thoughts and attempts.
The basic ethical considerations in terms of informed consent, beneficence, truth telling, and deception...