Nursing ethics

Running head : TERRI SCHIAVO

Nursing Standards of Practice : The Terri Schiavo Case

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NURSING STANDARDS OF PRACTICE : THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE

The case of Terri Schiavo has influenced the nursing standards of practice to a certain degree . For the most part , the case provides a clear example of the limits of what nurses can do when faced with an ethical situation . While it is true that nurses as well as other medical health professionals are tasked to preserve the health of their patients , their decisions involving

the health concerns of their patients cannot stand on their own without the involvement of the relatives of the patients and the patients themselves . That being said nurses , for instance , cannot decide on their own on what needs to be done when their patients are unable to make personal decisions . No matter what degree of the health condition of a patient may be , nurses cannot simply allow compassion to take hold of their sensibilities and defy the will of their patients

The courts involved in the case of Terri Schiavo ruled that the patient does not want to prolong artificial life support when it is known that she has miniscule chances of survival . That in mind , nurses cannot override the will of their patients even if there is no court ruling involved . The right to self-determination of patients is a basic precept in nursing practice (Rothman , 1989 ,

. 601 . More so , the right of relatives to act or decide on...