Ethical Dilemma. Literature & Language Essay Paper

Ethical Dilemma: Analysis
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Ethical Dilemma
Telling or not telling the truth to terminally ill patients has been a dilemma for health care professionals for many years due to diseases such as cancer which meant certain death. However, as medicine has advanced, there are now different prognoses for various diseases (Punjani, 2013); hence different decision-making processes depending on the context. Medical professionals are often bombarded by ethical dilemmas that are dependent on various dimensions, for instance, conservation, social, and personal. Internally, the medical practitioner, is conflicted on whether to uphold the highest competence to serve self and others. Moreover, the duty of service expected for the client can also run to other individuals who have a special relationship with the patient, other professionals, or the community as a whole. The dilemma arises when the interests of the client are in conflict with the interest of other interested parties. The medical practitioners are also expected to be committed not only to the patient but also to public service (Iacovino, 2002). Consequently, this paper holds that considering the evolving context upon which medical decisions are made, certain principles, for example, non-maleficence, beneficence, and autonomy should be considered before concluding to tell or not to tell.
Non-maleficence, can be described as doing no harm. For instance, in the case of a terminally ill cancer patient, telling a patient the truth about their prognosis will most likely lead to poorer mental health. Consequently, if the nurse decides to withhold information as instructed by the relatives, then it will be considered the lesser of the two evils as it will provide a better psychological healing environment for the patient (Huppert, 2009). Conversely, the veracity principle proposes truth telling as the only right choice and ensuring that the medical professional discloses all the information. Therefore, a medical practitioner who abides by this principle, may disregard the requests of the relatives and go ahead and tell the patient the truth. Nonetheless, principles do not work in isolation and it is prudent to consider the effect of harm on the patient and any other interested parties. The medical practitioner should compare the net harm to the net benefits of telling the truth.
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