Module 2 - relational ethics, health care & best practice

Question 1

Relational ethics

Answer 1

• says that our ethical understandings are formed in and emerge from our relationships with others (eg. families, communities)
• relational ethics refers to individual relationships but also helps us consider how we relate within an institutional structre

Question 2

Relational

Answer 2

they way in which two people are connected

Question 3

ethics

Answer 3

moral principles right versus wrong

Question 4

Embodiment

Answer 4

recognizing that the mind/body spirit split is an artificial one and that healing for both pt and family

Question 5

mutuality

Answer 5

a relationship that benefits both and harms neither. requires willingness on the part of the nurse and the patient to participate in a realationship

Question 6

Ethical relationships require certain elements

Answer 6

• engagement: connecting with others in an open, trusting, and responsive manner
• Non-coercion: the opposite of coercion; not forcing others to make a particular choice
• Freedom: creating an environment in which choices are available
• choice: making ones own decisions or being self-determining

Question 7

what is moral relativism

Answer 7

the idea that all ideas have equal and moral weight is called moral relativism

Question 8

Bio-ethical principles (Bright Nurses Act Justly)

Answer 8

• Beneficence: obligation of health care provider to ACT FOR THE GOOD of the patient, protect the patient from harm and promote the best interest or welfare of the patient
• Non-maleficence: the duty to not do anything that might harm the patient
• Autonomy: ability of a competent person to make decisions regarding his or or her own life or health
• Justice: includes respecting the rights of others, distributing resources fairly, and preserving and promoting the common good (ie. good of the community)

Question 9

what is moral sensitivity

Answer 9

• the ability to be aware and recognize and identify ethical issues
• the ability to see an ethical dilemma including, how are actions will affect others

Question 10

why would normative theories be used

Answer 10

used in ethical situations, using normative theories gives the nurses an opportunity to view situations from different perspectives and helps him or her see alternatives

Question 11

nurse might look through the lens of a _________ or ______ and imaging what kind of solution this might evoke

Answer 11

utilitarian or deontologist

Question 12

what is a utilitarian point of view

Answer 12

utilitarianism, is essentially a moral principle that asserts that morally correct actions are those that provide the greatest volume of benefits over harms for the majority of people.

Question 13

what is a deontologist point of view

Answer 13

is an approach to ethics focusing on the rightness or wrongness on the actions themselves rather than the rightness or wrongness of the consequences

Question 14

relational ethics

Answer 14

Relational: the way two people are connected

Ethics: moral principles – right versus wrong. How do we decide what is right versus wrong?

Relational ethics is a contemporary approach to ethics that situates ethical action explicitly in relationship. If ethics is about how we should live, then [relational ethics is] essentially about how we should live together.

Question 15

what is bioethics

Answer 15

the study of typically controversial ethical issues emerging from new situations and possibilities brought about by advances in biology and medicine

Question 16

principles of bioethics

Answer 16

• beneficence
• non-maleficence
• autonomy
• justice

Question 17

is the bioethical theory good for nursing practice now?

Answer 17

there is a need to expand bioethical theory in ways that address the current moral changes

Question 18

Understanding healthcare environments as _____communities can help us understand much about living ethically together.

Answer 18

Moral

Question 19

what is moral distress (austin 2007)

Answer 19

are moral dilemmas, situations of not knowing how to act

Question 20

what is moral residue (autsin 2007)

Answer 20

Practitioners who are acting in a way that is contrary to personal and professional values, or who are unable to translate moral choices into action, feel like their integrity is in jeopardy: they can suffer anguish and the lasting consequences of moral residue.