The ethical topic is Doctors giving narcotic orders for nurses to Essay

The ethical topic is Doctors giving narcotic orders for nurses to carry out to addicts even though the doctors know their patie - Essay Example The conclusion will be evident that nurses must keep the patients’ best interests at heart as they seek to be the patient advocate and do no harm. Ethical Dilemma: Doctors Giving Orders for Nurses to Carry Out to Addicts Even Though the Doctors Know Their Patients Are Addicted to the Narcotics There are many documented instances where nurses have been placed in ethical situations when it comes to following doctors’ orders. One of these situations is whether or not to carry out those orders if they mean giving narcotics to known addicts. Revised over the years, the Nurse’s Association’s Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements strictly conveys the importance of accountability and patient advocacy. Primary to the subject matter of this article are several Provisions directly stated in the Code. In Provision 2, â€Å"The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group or community.† Provision 3 st ates, â€Å"The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient,† And Provision 4 reads,â€Å"The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum patient care.† To gain a clearer understanding of the scope of ethics in relation to the subject matter, a definition of some terms would be beneficial. â€Å"Ethics† is defined by Merriam-Webster as â€Å"a set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values† (ethics, 2011), while the American Heritage Dictionary defines a â€Å"narcotic† as â€Å" an addictive drug, such as opium, that reduces pain, alters mood and behavior, and usually induces sleep or stupor† (narcotic, 2011). In the article â€Å"Nurses Struggle with Ethical Dilemmas,† Christine Mitchell (RN, MS, FAAN, Director of Ethics at Bo ston Children’s Hospital and Associate Director of Clinical Ethics at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is quoted as saying, â€Å"The important thing is for nurses to listen to their inner voices and ask themselves, ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ Pay attention to that voice.† (Boivin, 2009) In seeking to do the right thing, the nurse must minister to the whole person, as Marg Hutchison quotes Joyce Travelbee in â€Å"Unity and Diversity in Spiritual Care,†A nurse does not only seek to alleviate physical pain or render physical care - she ministers to the whole person. The existence of suffering, whether physical, mental or spiritual is the proper concern of the nurse.† (Hutchison, 1998) In adhering to this principle, the Hospice Patient’s Alliance focuses on five rights of drug administration that apply to nurses employed in any medical setting. These rights, as listed in the article â€Å"Dangers of Leaving Medicat ions Out† include the right patient, drug or medication, dose of medication, route of administration, and time (frequency). (The Hospice Patient’s Alliance) The nurse must, therefore, forever be aware of the patient’s best interests. It is obvious that serious consequences could occur if either of these rights was violated. In the process of giving medication to patients, the nurse might question why the doctor would prescribe narcotics to a known addict. There lingers the possibility that the nurse may be unaware of the total reasoning behind a doctor’s orders. Perhaps the patient is seeking chronic pain relief. Perhaps it is a