navigating the ethical
Week 3 – Ethical Dilemma
Please reply to the following discussion with one reference.
Many ethical dilemmas are illustrated in the documentary The Invisible Patients. The documentary follows Jessica, a nurse practitioner, as she confronts the challenges of caring for homebound patients. One of her patients is Roger, a 30 year-old male with muscular dystrophy who is nearing end of life.
Jessica is faced with navigating the ethical issues pertaining to establishing a “do not resuscitate” order (DNR). In the beginning of the film Roger is hesitant to sign a DNR. He states that he is not ready to die and desires all available interventions that might allow him to continue living, even if that means “bringing him back.”
Jessica feels that resuscitation would be a painful prolongation of the inevitable. This stirs internal conflict for her. She is faced with two opposing possible courses of action. According to Hamric, an ethical dilemma occurs when a person is faced with two or more obligations that cannot be simultaneously met (2014). This creates tension due to the differing and opposing demands of these obligations (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, O’Grady, 2014) Jessica has undoubtedly seen first-hand the violent and painful process of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and she obviously knows that these efforts are usually futile, only resulting in unnecessary pain and suffering. On the other hand, she is duty bound to respect the patient’s autonomy and his personal wishes.
