Ethical and Professional Standards

Guidelines:

• Patient autonomy
• Ethic boards
• Just distribution of resources
  • Pandemic
  • Gouging
• Risk:benefit
• Boundaries
  • Relations
  • “Gifts”
  • manipulation

Considerations:

• Understand patient motivations
• Triage
• Defined protocols
  • Remove emotional decision making
• Advanced directives

Nurse’s role:

• Advocate for patient
• Participate in decisions
• Participate on policy committees
• Establish environment of ethical practice
• Confront and report unethical practice

Pitfalls:

• Mismatched worldview with patient
• Emotional attachment/disengagement
• “Following orders”
• Failure to appeal
• self-blame

Examples:

• DNR suspended for surgery, patient coded and ROSC, now ICU intubated x4 days
  (ethical board likely, family, review advanced directive for patient’s desires if possible)

Linchpins (Key Points):

• N/A