Ethical dilemmas require an individual to make moral choices in contradicting circumstances. Healthcare professionals encounter ethical dilemmas at their workplace, especially when handling patients. Most patients have limited knowledge of medical intervention (Haahr et al., 2020). Due to that, patients are prone to making wrong choices. However, nursing ethics remind healthcare professionals to respect patient autonomy during treatment. Respect for patient autonomy is a call that requires healthcare workers to involve patients through treatment and acknowledge their input (Liu et al., 2022). Patient autonomy grants patients authority in the process. Thus, nurses strive to create a suitable environment to interact with patients to influence their decision-making. Solving ethical dilemmas requires healthcare workers to partner with patients to reach a compromise, which in most cases, favors patients.
Haahr, A., Norlyk, A., Martinsen, B., & Dreyer, P. (2020). Nurses experiences of ethical dilemmas: A review. Nursing ethics, 27(1), 258-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/096973301983294
Liu, X., Xu, Y., Chen, Y., Chen, C., Wu, Q., Xu, H., … & Waidley, E. (2022). Ethical dilemmas faced by frontline support nurses fighting COVID-19. Nursing ethics, 29(1), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330211015284