Ethical Issues Affecting Nursing Education

Nursing education prepares students to deliver quality care to patients by teaching them care techniques. It must also prepare students to confront a number of ethical issues. As front-line caregivers, nurses are often confronted by ethical dilemmas.

Patient Autonomy

• As front-line caregivers, nurses interact highly with patient families

  Nurses must be prepared to face issues regarding patient autonomy. Patient information is covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and nurses cannot disclose information about the patient without consent. Because nurses interact with a patient's family, they may have to negotiate the ethics of what to disclose and what not to disclose. Patient autonomy also extends to do not resuscitate (DNR) orders and decisions to discontinue care.

End-of-Life Care

• Nurses spend more time with patients than any other member of a health care team.

  End-of-life care issues are one of the most common ethical issues faced by nurses. Nurses must decide how to best respect patient directives, how to provide the best end-of-life care, and whether and how to communicate that information to the patient's family. Living wills, advanced powers of attorney, and organ donation are all issues that nurses must help patients and their families negotiate at the end of life.

Considerations

• A nurse's first ethical responsiblity is to the patient.

  Nurses must often negotiate complicated ethical issues in the moment. Nursing education's role is to prepare student nurses for these situations before they must confront them bedside.