Ethical Leadership Problem in Nursing
Introduction
There are diverse dilemmas or difficult choices and decisions that nurses have to make while going through the treatment process. Every patient coming by has their beliefs or goals that should be adhered to by the nurses. This means that nurses should consider these decisions while treating or caring for the patient in either way. For instance, the noncompliant patients, who may come in the medical centers needing acute medical care but they decline due to various obligations like religious beliefs (Esmaelzadeh et al., 2017). The nurses have to consider the patient’s choices, but to some extent, they should not condone them. There are such beliefs that these people do not believe in treatment or medical interventions, even if their life is at risk. Such obligations decline the ability of nurses to take care of the patients. However, it is the role of nurses to educate the patients on the benefits and help them look forward to their goals. Every sick person’s goal is to get well and resume a healthy life. However, with such obligations, it is hard for nurses to play their part in life-saving.
There is a nursing code that nurses should respect the patient’s beliefs and that they are not to break the codes against the will of the patient. However, the nurse should take time to educate the individual and bring the essence of medical interventions. Taking care of the sick is their role, no matter how hard the situation may be. In such conditions, the nurses have to find an alternative way to influence the patient into accepting the treatment. This is mostly done to change the patient’s perspective toward any possible treatment outcome. This is a common problem to customs or religious dominated people who have strong beliefs and have a negative impression of scientific measures. The challenge may be ideal, but that is the primary role of the nurses. This implies that nurses should not condone their beliefs but find the possible ways to change their patients’ perspectives on the treatment procedures (Avci, Çinarolu, and Top, 2017). This paper focuses on analyzing the challenge using SWOT and stating the obligations and its importance.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Every belief has some background advantages that govern the people following them in doing what is right or, at times, what the religion shows them is correct. Being particulate towards certain obligations gives people their legitimacy. This is the reason why nurses should respect the beliefs of an individual; however awkward they may seem. Beliefs towards certain obligations influence individuals positively, and in instances where a person’s belief defies his overall well-being, then it would be essential to change their perspective based on the measure.
Weaknesses
Some beliefs may put patients under greater risk. For instance, people who do not believe in medical interventions are likely to be at greater risk and, at times, can lead to death. This is much of a problem for both the nurse and the patient. This is because they might not be enough time for the nurse to intervene in the patient into taking the treatment. Additionally, nurses have other critical roles in health care centers.
Opportunities
Aspects that need to be emphasized in such cases may include talking or seeking help from a family member or close friend. This is to help the patient understand that other people value their life. This will, on the other hand, help the patient to have a second thought about the treatment and accept the nurses to play their part in saving their life. It impacts the decision made by the patient and helps them make choices that facilitate their overall well-being rather than defying other people’s legitimacy.
Threats
Friends may be of help in solving such cases, but others may have a bad influence on the patient. The overall health of the patient may decline dramatically due to some unavoidable circumstances or pressure from religious beliefs. This pressure may lead to extreme losses or pressure to the patient and, at times, moves further to the nurse. Such threats may decline the well-being of the patient and, at times, unties the challenges when the infections have moved to critical levels.
SWOT Analysis Submission
The nurse needs to understand the background of the patient and identify if they are any obligations toward the circumstance. In instances where the patients are very sick, it would be recommendable for the nurses to ask relevant help from family members or close friends. However, these obligations can be a barrier to the treatment process. Sometimes it is recommendable to put forward the decisions of the patient, but at extreme levels, it would be right to focus on saving their lives and explain later (Çerkez et al., 2018). There are patient’s rights that are a barrier to the effectiveness of nurses. The patient should participate fully for more significant outcomes or faster recovery. In cases where the patients have much persevered with their beliefs, then the nurse should help the patient understand the benefits of medical intervention and outline the possible outcomes if not intervened. When the patient is much dormant about the situation, a family member should be called to help them understand the risks of not being treated and the possible risks.
This is one of the medical conflicts that arise in the medical centers where patients make their decisions that defy or conflict medical practices. It is the roles of nurses to cater and help the patient, but when the patient makes the decision, then nurses find it difficult to execute their prescribed roles. Changing the perspective of the patient is the best way for effective treatment, but it can take time, whereas time is a variable in medical centers. There might not be enough time for decision making and following defying obligations.
Process and Experience Reflection
Benefits of Using a Decision Tool
The use of SWOT analysis has very many advantages. The tool helped greatly in understanding the critical concepts in the evaluation of the ethical issues. Some of the things learned included looking at the strengths and weaknesses and the possible outcomes of the obligation. When a patient makes a decision, it may be due to some unavoidable circumstances or when the patient had undergone a similar procedure, and the outcome was not that good (Hengameh, 2018). However, there are certain instances where spiritual entities like religious beliefs drive decisions. This might be an ethical issue because some of these beliefs defy the effectiveness of the nurses in providing the best health care services.
The tool was helpful because one could find out the weaknesses and possible threats. This helped in determining the different methods or ways that the patient would be approached with to change the belief perspective. The tool also helped analyze other external factors that may be triggering the patient’s decision. By doing this, the solution can be easily developed. The one problem with religious beliefs is that people have strong beliefs about the spiritual entities that defy their overall legitimacy. The use of a decision tool helps in finding out the possible entities and possible strengths and opportunities that would inflict a positive influence towards adhering to appropriate medical procedures. Once the general perspective of the patient is changed, then the nurses would be free and eligible in providing the health-care services effectively (Schneider and Li, 2016).
Conclusion
Taking care of the sick is nurses’ role, no matter how hard the situation may be. In such conditions, the nurses have to find an alternative way to influence the patient into accepting the treatment. The nurse needs to understand the background of the patient and identify if they are any obligations toward the circumstance. The SWOT analysis tool was helpful because one could find out the weaknesses and possible threats. This helped in determining the different methods or ways that the patient would be approached with to change the belief perspective.
