In: Nursing
Jimmy Chang, a 20- year- old college student, is admitted to your institution for additional chemotherapy. Jimmy was diagnosed with leukemia 5 years earlier and has had several courses of chemotherapy. He is currently in an acute active phase of the disease, though he had enjoyed a 14- month remission phase prior to this admission. His parents, who accompany him to the hospital, are divided as to the benefits of additional chemotherapy. His mother is adamant that she will sign the informed consent form for this course of therapy, and his father is equally adamant that he will refuse to sign the informed consent form because "Jimmy has suffered enough." You are his primary nurse and must assist in somehow resolving this impasse. What do you do about the informed consent form? Who signs and why? Using the MORAL model, decide the best course of action for Jimmy from an ethical perspective rather than a legal perspective. Did you come to the same conclusion using both an ethical and a legal approach?
Informed consent is mandatory for special
procedure,treatment and diagnosis..When patient is with advanced
metastatic cancer sharing information with patients and family
about chemotherepy and additional chemotherepy is highly
challenging..
There is a potential for unpleasant or life threatening side
effects will be there..so that jimmy father not accepted for
informed consent additional chemotherapy..Proper information and
comprehensive communication from their oncologists and supportive
care team is must..Due to lack of understanding between patient and
doctor the family refusing the treatment..some people accepting the
treatment with less survival expectations..
when patient or family refusing begin the chemotherapy
the informed consent previously obtained null or
void.the nurse must contact the oncologist about family
retraction,the oncologist was informed..he will change to a
patients decision about discontinuing chemotherepy
treatment..
Best course of action for jimmy from an ethical
perspective is Utilitarianism (the belief that the
value of a thing or an action is determined by its utility)..It is
a ethical view of point of claiming what is moral for this
situation..By the way of moral we can not bring happiness and stop
the pain..as per utilitrianism it is immoral to provide
chemotherepy when patient is already ill,and also its unethical to
force someone to go and get the treatement when they refusing
it..it is up to the patient happiness with out harming him to
respect the jimmy's father choice.Jimmy is choosing to go for
high-value pleasure inorder to avoid physical harm..
As a nurse we should be aware that when aiming for
good..The percentage of survivors with cancer develop with
unrelated cancer in the next 15years..Equal judgement about people
rights and treatment mis understanding will be fact..we must be go
for better ethical and moral perspective to make the patient life
to happiness and end of life..