After reviewing the needs of all her patients on a medical/surgical unit, night
ID: 127797 • Letter: A
Question
After reviewing the needs of all her patients on a medical/surgical unit, night nurse Ms C., decides she must set time among four needy patients. One, Mrs. K, is a 98-year-old woman with a CVA who is comatose and dying. She is in need of suctioning every 20-30 minutes. The second patient, Mr. J., is 39-years-old and has been admitted today with a GI bleed. He has already had several bloody stools and because of his religion is refusing any blood transfusions. The third patient, is a 55 year-old, Mr. H., who was admitted this am for uncontrolled blood sugars. He was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and is currently on an insulin drip and requires frequent monitoring. The fourth patient, Ms. G., is a 25-year-old female who learned today that she has stage IV ovarian cancer with metastasis to the liver, brain, and spine. She has been suicidal in the past. Ms. C. realizes that these patients have different needs. Moreover, the amount she can do to help is different in each case. Should the nurse base her decision on how much she can benefit each patient or on how much need each patient has? Should she spread her time equally among all the patients? How should she decide about allocating her time?
Explanation / Answer
Decision Making:
Human beings are faced with decision-making processes every single day. When faced with this kind of a complicated decision, it is essential to follow problem-solving techniques. The patients described in this particular case are in critical stages. In that case, they need to get served as quickly as possible. In my view, the nurse should examine the state in details. This investigation should help the nurse to come up with a priority matrix. This matrix should help the nurse to select the best solution that optimizes the critical point and ensure that all the patients get taken care of (Markic, 2012).
Exploring the options that the nurse has, is limited to time and unity in the sense that the nurse cannot be divided so that he/she can serve all the patients at the same point. However, the patients do not have the same critical level. Patient J seems to be on the higher level of the priority queue. However, the nurse should ensure that he/she uses the least time possible with patient J. Patient H does not require much of the time but need regular checkups. In this case, the nurse should pass through patient H on his way to patient K who needs suctioning every 20-30 minutes. After the nurse treat patient H and K, he/she should attend to patient G who has the stage IV ovarian cancer. This patient needs to spend some time with the nurse(Culiberg, 2010).
This decision has to follow the problem-solving matrix that considers which patient can wait for some minutes and who cannot wait at all. More often, the nurses get faced with this kind of a dilemma, and they need to get advice on how to solve them. It is critical to use the ethical principle to enhance fidelity and honesty. The nurse should avoid a case where personal interest is involved in the decision-making process. The nurse should also save on the time because every minute count (Markic, 2010)
References:
Culiberg, B. (January 01, 2010). What makes a good consumer?: Discovering consumer ethical decision-making process. Global Management 2009, 405-409.
Markic, O. (January 01, 2012). Rationality and emotions in decision making. Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems, 7.)
Markic, O. (January 01, 2010). Decision making in moral dilemmas. Middle European Interdisciplinary Master Programme in Cognitive Science (mei:cogsci). Conference 2010.