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Ethical Dilemmas II

Ethical Dilemmas II

Resolving an ethical dilemma in healthcare involves a systematic approach that considers every aspect of the issue, respecting both the patient's needs and values and the healthcare professional's ethical obligations. Here are potential steps to resolve an ethical dilemma:

Obedience

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According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation, obedience...

Ethical Issues

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Nurses are essential in patient care, upholding the ethical principles of their profession and effectively navigating ethical dilemmas. Neglecting ethical issues can lead to inadequate patient care, compromised therapeutic relationships, and moral distress among healthcare workers.
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:

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Ethical principles are essential in guiding nurses to fulfill their responsibilities, focusing on the quality of nursing care and decision-making. These principles, including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity, shape the ethical framework within healthcare settings.
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
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Ethical Dilemmas I

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Ethical dilemmas in nursing are of utmost importance, as they often arise from the tension between adhering to core ethical principles and the practical realities of healthcare delivery. These dilemmas require nurses to navigate complex situations where competing ethical considerations pull them in different directions.
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Ethics is a philosophical study of moral actions. Ethics attempts to determine what is valuable for individuals and society. It examines the rational justification of moral judgments and analyzes what is morally just, fair, and right. Bioethics is a sub-discipline of applied ethics that analyzes the philosophical, social, and legal issues in life sciences and medicine. Ethical theories serve as a foundation for decision-making and represent the viewpoints from which people seek direction. They...

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Related Experiment Video

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Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

Futility, conscientious refusal, and who gets to decide.

¹J.D., Department of Philosophy, California State University, Fullerton, PO Box 6848, Fullerton, CA 92834, USA. johndavis@fullerton.edu

The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy

|July 30, 2008

Summary

Healthcare providers should decide medical futility disputes. This procedural approach grants providers the moral authority, even if their judgment on futility is mistaken, ensuring ethical decision-making.

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Area of Science:

Medical Ethics
Healthcare Policy
Bioethics

Background:

Discussions on medical futility often focus on defining when a procedure is futile, lacking universal consensus.
Existing policies address disputed futility cases by assigning decision-making authority to healthcare providers when consensus with patients or surrogates cannot be reached.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide a procedural answer to the question of who holds moral authority in disputed medical futility cases.
To support the argument that healthcare providers should have the final say in such disputes.

Main Methods:

Analysis of existing medical futility policies.
Ethical argumentation focusing on the concept of conscientious refusal.

Main Results:

The study supports policies where healthcare providers decide disputed medical futility cases.
It posits that providers possess a right of conscientious refusal applicable to futility decisions.

Conclusions:

Healthcare providers should be granted the moral authority to decide disputed medical futility cases.
This authority is justified by a procedural right of conscientious refusal, irrespective of the absolute correctness of their futility assessment.