Cpr Ethical Dilemmas

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A Nurse Refuses to do CPR Is it ethically right to let an elderly person die from not performing CPR on her because it is considered company rules? A report from Fox News about this was brought to my attention because I am a nursing student and it made me want to know more. In the article, “A California retirement home is backing one of its nurses after she refused desperate pleas from a 911 operator to perform CPR on the elderly woman who later died, saying the nurse was following the facility’s policy” (Fox News). The dispatcher asked the nurse over and over to perform CPR on the resident, but the nurse refused to do it. A nurse is taught how to perform CPR in nursing school and other classes. As a nursing student, I know that it is a nurse’s…show more content…
The nurse was violating the patient’s autonomy when she did not do CPR on the woman. In this situation, the patient was not capable to say if she wanted the treatment or not. All of the medical facilities that the patient belongs to are required to have a DNR form for situations like this. The patient’s emergency person should have been contacted as soon as possible. If this action was done right away, the patient might have had a chance to live. According to Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases, “autonomy refers to a person’s rational capacity for self-governance or self-determination - the ability to direct one’s own life and choose for oneself” (Vaughn, 9). The article says, “In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives….that is the protocol we follow” (Fox News). The faculty members at the facility are to respect the patient’s autonomy while they are in their care. The nurses know how to revive a patient in the case of an emergency while waiting for other medical help. The nurse clearly violated the patient’s autonomy even when she knew about the facilities

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