Nurses have a responsibility as advocates for patients’ rights; as a consequence, nurses confront ethical quandaries daily (Johnstone ,2021). As the healthcare system becomes more complex and demands for high-quality nursing care increase, nurses struggle to solve multi-faceted ethical challenges. Early nurse theorists positioned the principles and practice of nursing as having their origins in ‘universal human needs. Ethical issue addressed was on justice and the principle of non-maleficence among mental health patients in seclusion. Justice was one of the fundamental rights of mankind, patients with the mental disability still had their inherent rights to be treated equally, their integrity and dignity should also be respected.
Ethical decision-making is a vital aspect to working within the mental health professions. There are benefits in the use of an EDM model to work through ethical dilemmas in mental health professions (Johnson, et al 2022). Ethical decision-making (EDM) models are designed to guide professionals in a systematic and standardized manner to provide a framework for helping someone determine an acceptable and defensible outcome when confronted with an ethical dilemma. According to Johnson 2021, the decisions in ethical dilemmas can be resolved by (a) evaluate whether training on the use of EDM models improves decision quality, (b) compare the acceptability of EDM models as rated by participants, and (c) demonstrate that EDM model use, training practices, or similar decision-making strategies, are associated with feelings of preparedness or improved decision-making.
The use of ethical decision-making models has its setbacks s, such as social influences, culture, ethical mindset, and biases in decision-making, but understanding these limitations also allows practitioners to consider supplementing existing models with steps that take into account checks for biases. The principle of deriving nursing care from human needs was thought to provide a guide not only for promoting health, but for preventing disease and illness. The nursing profession has had a longstanding commitment to social justice as a core professional value and ideal, obligating nurses to address the social conditions that undermine people’s health (Lee, et al 2020).
References
Johnstone M. J. (2011). Nursing and justice as a basic human need. Nursing philosophy : an international journal for healthcare professionals, 12(1), 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-769X.2010.00459.x
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