Patient Autonomy and Medical Paternity: can nurses help doctors to listen to patients?

Nurses are increasingly faced with situations in practice regarding the prolongation of life and withdrawal of treatment. They play a central role in the care of dying people, yet they may find themselves disempowered by medical paternalism or ill-equipped in the decision-making process in end-of-li...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNursing ethics Vol. 8; no. 6; pp. 510 - 521
Main Author Breier-Mackie, Sarah
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2001
Subjects
Advocacy
Autonomy
Bioethics
Cancer
Dying people
End of life decisions
Female
Humans
Male
Medical Futility - ethics
Nurse's Role
Nurses
Nursing
Paternalism
Patient Advocacy
Personal Autonomy
Physician-Patient Relations
Rights
Terminal Care
paternity
autonomy
medical futility
end-of-life care
Professional Patient Relationship
Death and Euthanasia
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Summary:Nurses are increasingly faced with situations in practice regarding the prolongation of life and withdrawal of treatment. They play a central role in the care of dying people, yet they may find themselves disempowered by medical paternalism or ill-equipped in the decision-making process in end-of-life situations. This article is concerned with the ethical relationships between patient autonomy and medical paternalism in end-of-life care for an advanced cancer patient. The nurse’s role as the patient’s advocate is explored, as are the differences between nursing and medicine when confronted with the notion of patient autonomy. The impetus for this discussion stems from a clinical encounter described in the following scenario.
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ISSN:0969-7330
1477-0989
DOI:10.1177/096973300100800605