Essay On A Nurses Dilemma

Choices made by hospital employees are often ones that most of us would never want to make. Whether it be the recommendation to take someone off life support, or the decision to perform surgery that may or may not be effective, hospital personnel are put on the spot every day. In the provided theoretical situation, a nurse must make the decision whether to honor the wish of an obviously senile man to deliver a new will to his lawyer or not. Although the most ethical choice the nurse could make is to do as the gentlemen requested, that would not be the utilitarian way to handle the situation. If the nurse were to make a completely utilitarian decision, she would not deliver the will to the lawyer.
According to Barbara MacKinnon, “The basic moral principle of utilitarianism is called the principle of utility or the greatest happiness principle.” (MacKinnon 2013). This means that utility is defined by the happiness or pleasure produced. Utilitarianism can further be understood by noting, “that the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is understood entirely in terms of consequences produced” (Driver 2009) If the nurse chose to give the will to the lawyer, Mr. Doe’s family would be hurt. They would have to hear the vicious attack against each of them, as well as an admission that he was born a women. Since all this was done while he was mentally incompetent, they would hear all of this for no good reason. They would also have to contest the will in court, costing them time and money. This may be considered the more ethical thing to do by most since ethics is defined by, “well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues” (Velasquez et al. 2010), but that does not necessarily mean it is the right approach.
On the other hand, if she took the utilitarian approach, she would not give the will to Mr. Doe’s lawyer. By taking this approach, there will be no need to get the will thrown out in court. It also would protect his family from having to hear things he wrote at a time when he was not in his right mind. Although Mr. Doe’s final wish will not be granted, the most people will be able to maintain happiness this way.

Questions for Classmate:

Which of these choices do you think is the more ethical solution?
Is the ethical solution always the best one? Why or why not in this case.

References

Driver, J. (2009, March 27). The History of Utilitarianism. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/
MacKinnon, B. (2013). Utilitarianism. In Ethics: Theory and contemporary issues, concise edition, (2nd ed.). Australia.: Wadsworth / Cengage Learning.
Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., & Meyer, M. (2010, January 1). What is Ethics? Retrieved March 19, 2015, from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html