Nursing

Controversies in the Field of Nursing Controversies in the Field of Nursing The field of nursing has various debates as practitioners express different opinions regarding various topics. In effect, this causes divisions within the profession leading to a lack of a common ground to dictate the efficient and effective approach to handling the controversies. Specifically, the three most common disputes include debates about abortion, assisted suicide, and the use of restraining devices and sedatives on mentally challenged and elderly patients.
Abortion debates continue to gain prominence in the medical boards and the media as individuals contemplate the ethics of the practice and the medical significance of the same. In the medical professional, abortion is a safe practice when conducted under the right procedure and within the legal provision (Duda, 2012). However, the morality of the human community influences medical decisions. Consequently, medical practitioners debate whether the practice is moral or unethical.
The public and medical opinions about doctor-assisted suicide has a close contention with 47% of the Us adults approving the practice while 49 percent disapprove the same or laws enacted to promote it (Pew Research Center., 2015). Specifically, morality is a critical issue that influences these decisions and perceptions. Fundamentally, cultural practices and the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as well as the US Constitution promote Human life by providing the right to life (Institute of Medicine, 2015).
The morality of using restraining devices on stubborn patients, the elderly and those with a mental disability continues to cause concern for medical practitioners, as well as friends and relatives of the patients (Lai, 2007). Principally, the medical importance of the practice is to ensure the safety of the patient, the nurse, and any other stakeholder in this context. However, the antagonists argue that restraining denies the patient their fundamental rights of freedom and liberty as well as non-discriminatory care.
References
Duda, D. (2012). Access to Abortion in Poland Legal issue within Political Context. Rotterdam: Erasmus University.
Institute of Medicine (U. S.). Committee on Approaching Death: Addressing Key End-of-Life Issues, author. (2015). dying in America: Improving quality and honoring individual preferences near the end of life.
Lai, C. K. (2007). Nurses using physical restraints: Are the accused also the victims? ? A study using focus group interviews. BMC Nursing. doi: 10. 1186/1472-6955-6-5
Pew Research Center. (2015). Chapter 1: Opinion about Laws on Doctor-Assisted Suicide | Pew Research Centers Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved from http://www. pewforum. org/2013/11/21/chapter-1-opinion-about-laws-on-doctor-assisted-suicide/