Question

The senior nurse is teaching a group of student nurses about ethics in the healthcare setting. Which education about nonmaleficence should the nurse provide?

Nonmaleficence means avoidance of harm to the patient.

The nurse should balance the risks and benefits of patient care.

Nonmaleficence means to keep promises made to the patient.

The nurse should allow the patient to read the informed consent.

Nonmaleficence means using the therapeutic approaches with the least risk of harm.

Answer 1

Nonmaleficence in healthcare refers to the ethical obligation to avoid causing harm to patients. Healthcare providers must consider this principle when making clinical decisions, ensuring that any potential harm is outweighed by benefits to the patient. It also involves ensuring patients give informed consent for procedures that come with risks.

Step-by-step explanation:

The principle of nonmaleficence is a central tenet in healthcare ethics that instructs healthcare providers to avoid causing harm to patients. When the senior nurse educates student nurses about nonmaleficence, she is focusing on the importance of healthcare professionals' responsibility to avoid actions that could harm patients. This means that in the clinical setting, when determining the course of patient care, nurses and doctors must balance the risks and benefits of medical procedures or treatments. An intervention should only be performed if it’s necessary for effective treatment, ensuring that any potential harm is justified by the potential for patient benefit.

Medical ethics also include principles like autonomy, beneficence, and justice, which must be considered alongside nonmaleficence. Autonomy involves respecting patients' rights to make decisions about their own healthcare, while beneficence focuses on acting in ways that benefit the patient, and justice requires fair and equitable treatment of all patients. When making decisions, healthcare providers often weigh these ethical principles to arrive at the best course of action for patient care, which includes using therapeutic approaches with the least risk of harm whenever possible.

Furthermore, part of upholding nonmaleficence involves ensuring informed consent. Patients should be fully educated on the potential risks and benefits of procedures, so they can make informed decisions about their care. Ethical practice in the healthcare field is complex and requires careful consideration and balance of these different principles to provide the highest standard of care.