Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Clinical Practice- A Personal Reflection on Conflict Among Ethical Principles and Theories

During their practice, healthcare professionals may be faced with situations that present them with ethical dilemmas.  They must be guided by ethical standards and guidelines to navigate these tough situations. The ethical dilemma I faced was a complex situation. Together with the supervising physician, we were faced with a very difficult situation. We felt that it was time to withdraw the patient from life support and let nature take its course, yet the patient’s family insisted that we do everything within our power to ensure the patient stayed alive. We were unclear on how to navigate this situation and were worried that doing everything possible might cause the patient discomfort and harm without any benefit.

This ethical distress was due to a conflict of the beneficence and non-maleficence principles. The beneficence principle ensures that actions done by healthcare professionals benefit the patients, while non-maleficence ensures that actions done do not harm the patient (Varkey, 2020). As healthcare professionals, we felt that not turning off life support would not benefit the patient and cause him pain and discomfort. However, at the same time, the patient’s family are the medical proxies of the patient and are in charge of medical decisions.

There were different solutions to this problem. The first solution was to take this case to the hospital’s ethics board to decide. The second solution was to follow the family’s will and do anything possible to keep the patient alive. The third solution was to discuss with the family that nothing can be done to the patient, and he should just be let to die peacefully. The third solution was selected, and the family agreed to switch off life support. The patient died a few hours later. This decision was selected since the patient was terminally ill, and nothing could save him.

References

Varkey, B. (2020). Principles of clinical ethics and their application to practice. Medical Principles and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509119