As professionals, Nurses are expected to develop a moral compass by which they
navigate ethical dilemmas that arise in professional practice. The role of the nurse in the community is to provide the people with care, compassion and information to help them through difficult decisions that not only affect themselves, but society as a whole. In order to do this, the nursing professional must circumnavigate the patient’s needs, desires and beliefs to arrive at a safe solution for all parties involved. An important component of a nurse’s role in this guiding process is to provide the patient with autonomy. Nurses provide valuable information and respect for the patient regarding their health and then allow the individual to make independent choices about their health care.
The central role of a professional nurse is care. Providing patients with a caring environment that allows them to feel comfortable to trust the health care team assist the individual in matters regarding their health maintenance is essential. This can be done in many ways – human touch, affirmation, peace, joy, warmth, support, the experience of being cared for as well as being cared about (Fowler, 2008) By having a compassionate presence, nurses liberate the patient to trust the health care providers.
Nowadays, ethical dilemmas are an integral part of the health care system. It takes place when there are different opinions on moral claims. We get to a conflict when there is good evidence to indicate that a certain act is morally wrong or right Regarding euthanasia, we seem to have come to the following embarrassing and I think incoherent position: competent patients have a legal and moral right to refuse treatment that involves health professionals in implementing their decision and easing their deaths