long-term nursing care facility.
long-term nursing care facility.
Her primary physician has practiced in this community for multiple years; he is well-known for his reluctance to discontinue any type of life support for any patient. When questioned, Dr. G.’s consistent response is, if this were his frail 92-year-old mother, he would prescribe the very same treatment for her. Dr. G. has now requested that the nurses talk to the family about moving Mrs. R. to a major medical center, where she can receive more advanced care, including vigorous rehabilitation and physical therapy, so that she may eventually return to a long-term nursing care facility.
How might the nurses in this scenario respond to the physician’s request? How would this scenario begin to cause moral distress among the nursing staff and what are the positive actions that the nurses should begin to take to prevent moral distress?
You be the Ethicist
Until recently, Tyrell Dueck was a normal eighth-grader in Canada, hoping that his favorite team would win the Stanley Cup for the third time. Then, early in the school year, he slipped climbing out of the shower and discovered a lump on his leg. He was then diagnosed with bone cancer.
After receiving two rounds of chemotherapy and being told that further therapy would mean the amputation of his leg, he announced that he wanted therapy stopped. He and his parents, devout fundamentalist Christians, decided to leave his health in God’s hands and seek alternative therapy. The decision sparked a court battle between his parents, who supported Tyrell’s decision, and the health care team, who sought to compel continued medical treatment and the planned amputation. The battle ultimately ended when doctors said that his cancer had spread to his lungs and that there was little more that could be done for Tyrell.
TEXTBOOK:
Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing
Ginny Wa Guido
