Ethical Decision Making Model (Essay Sample)

Ethical Decision-Making Model
Student
Institution
Ethical Decision-Making Model
In nursing profession, decision-making is an essential skill and is involved in the day to day operations. Sometimes decisions are straight forward and at other times the decision are complex with more conflicting choices. In our case, the ethical dilemma is the fact that there is a sick kid who needs immediate medical attention; however, on the other side, the parent charged with the responsibility of consenting for the child to receive treatment does not agree. The nursing code of ethics requires that a nurse obtain the consent from the patient (guardian in the case of minors) before initiating any treatment procedure. At the same time, the code upholds the best interest of the patient to be the key determinant of the issue at hand. Thus, the nurse is coped with conflicting choices as to whether he/she should uphold the consent code or the patient interest and as well the underlying consequences. Also, the biological father has offered consent but there could be issues of legality owing to the fact that he is in a different state and does not have the full custody of the kid (American Nurses Association, n.d.); (Fowler, 2010).
In the light of the above dilemma, in his work (Uustal, 1993) proposed a model often referred to as Uustal’s model. This model is applicable to the decision-making where there are conflicting choices at hand and especially in the nursing profession. According to this model, there are several factors that are put into perspectives in order to come up with an appropriate decision. The first task is to identify the problem at hand. This will help to determine the parties that are on the issue and as well assist in a concise determination of the conflicting situation. The second part of the model is to identify one's position with regard to the dilemma. In this case, personal values are brought into perspective and evaluated on the basis of congruent or incongruent. The third step as per this model is for the nurse to take into consideration all the factors that relate to the situation. This is by a generation of various alternatives that are available for resolving the situation. The fourth step is to categorize the alternatives with regard to the position and evaluate them with regard to the personal position on the issue. If, by chance, the most appropriate solution is inconsistent with the personal position, then input from a different observer are needed to avoid bias and preservation of personal ethical values. The fifth step is to ascertain the outcomes of the selected solutions. All the alternatives are evaluated based on the expected outcomes. From there they are assessed in the order of relevance and acceptability and an action plan is made based on the acceptability list. Then implement the decision made and finally one can evaluate decision made. One can ask him/herself if they made the right decision.
Our dilemma, as identified in the first paragraph, is the conflicting choices of treating a minor patient without the consent of the custody parents or to accept the consent of a biological father who resides in a different state. The parties involved include the patient, the custodian parent, biological parent, and the nurse that will include the oversight authority in the nursing profession. In this situation, there are several alternatives that can be. They include putting the patient interest first and offer treatment without the parent's consent. Uphold the code on consent and refuse to attend to the patient based on lack of parent's consent. The third option is to uphold the consent issued by the biological father and proceed with the treatment. The option that is in line with my personal position is the one that serves the best interest of the patient. Evaluating the above choices based on my personal values and acceptability order, failing to treat the patient contradicts the ethical conduct that states the interest and welfare of the patient be the priority. On the second case, the father in spite of being the biological parent does not have the custody of the child; thus he does not have the legal right to issue consent for the treatment. Under particular circumstances, nurses can treat a patient without consent especially where the life of the patient...