Other Titles

Setting the Workplace Culture: Nursing Programs in the Clinical Setting [Session]

Abstract

Session presented on Tuesday, November 10, 2015: Use of The Ethical Positioning System for solving Ethical Dilemmas. It is typical in nursing education to value critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and problem solving as necessary skills. Students practice these throughout their education, and generally feel confident in their ability to arrive at acceptable solutions. At some point, however, students and nurses are faced with particular problems for which they do not feel prepared. These are the ethical dilemmas, so common in today's healthcare environment. The associated feelings of powerlessness, faced in these situations, have driven many nurses from the bedside. It is apparent that nurses need a framework for systematically examining these dilemmas and reducing the feelings of despair. It became apparent that the nursing process, which students and nurses use on a daily basis, could be adapted for use in making ethical decisions. That is how The Ethical Positioning System evolved. The tool consists of six steps. The first step involves assessing the situation, including all elements of its context. Next, the nursing dilemma is stated in a sentence or two. The third step, which is planning, calls for addressing all possible solutions to this ethical dilemma, along with the pros and cons of each choice. These choices are then evaluated in terms of the applicable ethical principles and the appropriate provisions of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics. To summarize and conceptualize this stage, all of this data is entered into a diagram, which is step four. At this point, it is usually clear that one tentative solution exceeds the others. The nurse then moves on to the final stages, implementation and evaluation.

Description

43rd Biennial Convention 2015 Theme: Serve Locally, Transform Regionally, Lead Globally.`

Authors

Joan Dorman

Author Details

Joan Dorman, RN, CEN

Sigma Membership

Mu Omega

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

ethical, dilemma, ethical principles

Conference Name

43rd Biennial Convention

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Conference Year

2015

Rights Holder

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Use of the Ethical Positioning System for Solving Ethical Dilemmas

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Session presented on Tuesday, November 10, 2015: Use of The Ethical Positioning System for solving Ethical Dilemmas. It is typical in nursing education to value critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and problem solving as necessary skills. Students practice these throughout their education, and generally feel confident in their ability to arrive at acceptable solutions. At some point, however, students and nurses are faced with particular problems for which they do not feel prepared. These are the ethical dilemmas, so common in today's healthcare environment. The associated feelings of powerlessness, faced in these situations, have driven many nurses from the bedside. It is apparent that nurses need a framework for systematically examining these dilemmas and reducing the feelings of despair. It became apparent that the nursing process, which students and nurses use on a daily basis, could be adapted for use in making ethical decisions. That is how The Ethical Positioning System evolved. The tool consists of six steps. The first step involves assessing the situation, including all elements of its context. Next, the nursing dilemma is stated in a sentence or two. The third step, which is planning, calls for addressing all possible solutions to this ethical dilemma, along with the pros and cons of each choice. These choices are then evaluated in terms of the applicable ethical principles and the appropriate provisions of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics. To summarize and conceptualize this stage, all of this data is entered into a diagram, which is step four. At this point, it is usually clear that one tentative solution exceeds the others. The nurse then moves on to the final stages, implementation and evaluation.