Ethical Dilemma in Advanced Practice Nursing

Ethical Dilemma in Advanced Practice Nursing. A significant objective of nursing is to ensure the delivery of quality care to its patients regardless of cultural values, race, or disability. Nursing aims at restoring individual capacities and hence, their quality of health. However, the second scenario depicts a situation in which those in charge of guaranteeing the restoration of the life of the baby are denying it the chance. Because the child is dependent on the parents for life, it would be ideal if the parents gave consent to allow the operation process to take place and thus save the life of the child. Autonomy is considered as an essential principle in the decision-making process regarding the health status (Parsapoor, Parsapoor, Rezaei & Asghari, 2014). However, when the situation involves minor clients, it implies that the parents have to act in the best interest of those who take care them and delivering care.
Family Perception of Issue
The family is distraught regarding the condition of the child. A child born with severe birth defects and experiences brain damage may require superior medical attention, which may be costly. Accordingly, it was evident that the father of the child was unhappy about the pregnancy. The wife justified that most probably, the reason for the lack of support is attributed to the fact that it would be expensive to bring up another child. Thus, taking the child through a corrective surgery process may be costly. The parents may also feel that the needs of such a child in the future may be too high, and thus may not afford it (Haward, John, Lorenz & Fischhoff, 2012).

Therefore, by denying the child a chance for corrective surgery, they seek to minimize the challenges that face them with regards to the upbringing of the child.
Dilemma Elements
Health practitioners are charged with the responsibility of improving the quality of life for their patients. The sanctity of life ought to be respected at all times to ensure that the considerations taken into account have a positive impact on the life outcomes of the child (Kirsch & Munson, 2018,). Unfortunately, the parents involved may have been overwhelmed by the results of the situation. It is likely that the parents have conducted an evaluation of raising a child whose brain is severely damaged, and found it to be expensive beyond their capacity. As a result, the parents may be waiting to let death take its course. Contrariwise, the health professionals are perturbed that they are unable to save the life of the child. Accordingly, utilitarian ethical principles emphasize the need to do good that would yield happiness for the greatest majority. Unfortunately, the surgical process is not a guarantee that the parents of the child would be content with the state of the child. Thus, the issue of the sanctity of life per Christian principles is not necessarily an assurance that the parties involved would be content with the outcomes of the corrective surgical process.
Evaluation of Consequences
The first alternative would be to let the child without any food, medication, and treatment as the parents suggest. The actions imply that the child would most likely lose life in the next few hours or days. Alternatively, the medical practitioners may decide to take the child through the surgery and ensure that the child improves their health status. The outcome of the action is that the child would improve and become stable compared to the current state. Further, enrolling the child in therapy would help address the concerns of brain surgery that may have an impact on its learning capacity. The latter option promotes the utilitarian principle. The principal fosters to restore the hope of the nursing profession, whose primary aim is to enhance the quality of life for patients (Mallari, Grace & Joseph, 2016). Consequently, it also supports Christianity scriptures, which emphasize on the need to take into account the importance of the sanctity of life.
Roles of Advanced Nurse Practitioner
The Advanced Nurse Practitioner plays an instrumental role in facilitating the decision making process. The nurse will ensure that the decision made favors the well-being of both the parents and their child. As a result, the parents would be advised to develop faith and permit the health professionals to take part in the surgery process. The process if successful will yield positive outcomes that would restore hope in the family. Giving the correct advice would ensure that the family makes the ideal decision for them and their child. Based on the biblical readings of Romans 8:18, the pain that the family underwent would be wiped out and God would restore joy in their lives. The scripture is an assurance that with faith, the family may benefit from better things.
Conclusion
Nursing aims at enhancing the quality of life for the populace it serves. Ethical decision-making is a part of the career. The decisions made have a detriment or positive impact on the lives of those affected. The analysis illuminates that focusing on what is right and applying faith helps to build the confidence of those affected to pursue life with hope.
References
Haward, M. F., John, L. K., Lorenz, J. M., & Fischhoff, B. (2012). Effects of description of options on parental perinatal decision-making. Pediatrics, 129(5), 891-902.
Kirsch, R., & Munson, D. (2018, January). Ethical and end of life considerations for neonates requiring ECMO support. In Seminars in perinatology. WB Saunders.
Mallari, M. S. N., Grace, M., & Joseph, D. (2016). Ethical Frameworks for Decision-Making in Nursing Practice and Research: An Integrative Review.
Parsapoor, A., Parsapoor, M. B., Rezaei, N., & Asghari, F. (2014). Autonomy of children and adolescents in consent to treatment: ethical, jurisprudential and legal considerations. Iranian journal of pediatrics, 24(3), 241.
The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.