Beneficence Flashcards
What does Beneficence mean?
“Do Good”
Beneficence is a…
Positive claim right, and a virtue
Beneficence is defined as:
The moral principle that tells you patients can benefit from care
What is Benevolence
It is linked to the principle of autonomy, and it means “not required of you”
Who decides what benefits the patient?
The nurses, Dr.’s, patients, and their families
What are the cognitive resources for thinking about and being beneficent ?
- Be aware of the difference between active and passive approaches to care
- Be aware of the difference between broad and narrow approaches health, with illness and disease (relational ethics approach)
- Harm (non-maleficence) = Utilitarianism
The difference between active and passive approaches to care:
Active: Be present, check on the patient, and develop the TR
We want to be active nurses !
The difference between broad and narrow approaches to health:
Illness: it is the “broad”
- Focus on the impact of disease on the patient
- How it affects life of the patient
- Ask the patient
Disease: it is the “narrow”
- Test results
- Focus is on the signs and symptoms of the disease
Harm; the doctrine of Double Effect:
It is okay to inflict some harm on a patient as long as it’s outweighed by the expected benefit (utilitarianism)
We know behaviour that is outraged is an expression of unmet needs
Challenges to the benefit/harm balance
- Having a psychiatric diagnosis
- Psychiatric treatment
- Involuntary treatment
Having a psychiatric diagnosis:
Benefit: knowing what is wrong
Harm: the stigma and changes in self image
Psychiatric treatment:
Psychoactive medications: we know it works, but we don’t know how it does in the brain
Psychosurgery: works for epilepsy, less common with ECT
Is the harm/benefit balance worth it?
Involuntary treatment
It can be seen as a form of imprisonment
It depends on the patient, whether it will be beneficial or harmful
