The nurse is caring for a patient recently diagnosed with cancer that is being asked to participate in a new chemotherapy trial. How would the nurse respond if working under the ethical principle of utilitarianism?
a. "The patient should be allowed to decide."
b. "As your nurse, I'll support your right to refuse."
c. "You should do this because many could benefit from it."
d. "If this is against your beliefs, you should not do it."
ANS: C
Compared with deontology, utilitarianism is on the opposite end of the ethical theory continuum. Utilitarianism maintains that behaviors are determined to be right or wrong solely on the basis of their consequences. Deontology is an ethical theory that stresses the rightness or wrongness of individual behaviors, duties, and obligations without concern for the consequences of specific actions. Meeting the needs of patients while maintaining their right to privacy, confidentiality, autonomy, and dignity is consistent with the tenets of deontology. Autonomy, or self-determination, is the freedom to make decisions supported by knowledge and self-confidence. The remaining responses are examples of either deontology or autonomy.
You might also like to view...
A client undergoing a course of chemotherapy feels lonely and isolated and tells the nurse he wants to resume some normal activities. The precaution that the nurse should give the client when resuming activities is
a. avoid crowds. b. do not eat outside the home. c. drink only bottled water. d. use only the client's own bathroom.
Which information will the nurse include when teaching a 38-year-old male patient with newly diagnosed ankylosing spondylitis (AS) about the management of the condition?
a. Exercise by taking long walks. b. Do daily deep-breathing exercises. c. Sleep on the side with hips flexed. d. Take frequent naps during the day.
Parents of a 5-year-old child diagnosed as cognitively impaired have come to the nurse to discuss different approaches to the ongoing care of their child. The nurse should suggest focusing on what activity?
a. Acquiring job skills b. Making decisions c. Performing self-care activities d. Reading and doing simple math
A patient is brought to the ED by ambulance with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The nurse knows that the most common hollow organ injured in this type of injury is what?
A) Liver B) Small bowel C) Stomach D) Large bowel