Ethical Issues in Psychiatric Nursing

The American Nursing Association code of ethics says an ethical nurse "practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems" Working with mentally ill, suicidal or sexually conflicted patients, psychiatric nurses face a number of ethical issues.

Duties

• Queens University of North Carolina says psychiatric nurses should guide themselves by several principles:

  The right of individuals to decide their own destiny.

  The duty of a nurse to promote the welfare of others.

  The obligation to avoid harming others.

  Treating all patients equally and fairly.

  Speaking the truth.

Suicide

• When patients want to commit suicide, belief in the right of individuals to control their own lives collides with the belief that suicide is not a rational choice. "Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing" poses examples of suicide situations---a terminal cancer patient in tremendous agony, a 33-year-old woman with no job, money or home---and asks nurses to decide if the patients' decisions should be respected.

Reparative Therapy

• Treatments to turn homosexuals straight are known as reparative therapy. The Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing says the psychiatric profession considers such treatments harmful to the patients and for nurses to participate, even with someone who wants the treatment, would be a serious breach of ethics.

Refusing Treatment

• Queens University says nurses must respect the right of patients to refuse medication. Patients also have the right to choose the least restrictive alternative treatment---for example, outpatient treatment rather than being institutionalized. This is a right even if a nurse believes more restrictive alternatives would work better.