Overview
Nursing students will find this book both pertinent and helpful when faced with decisions of conscience. Perrin and McGhee (both teach at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire) incorporate vivid examples to illustrate the situations that they describe where nurses face conflicts of interest; questionable policy; unethical or illegal behavior from patients, co-workers, or their superiors; and beginning- and end-of-life issues. Study questions and a list of references conclude each chapter.Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Synopsis
Nursing students will find this book both pertinent and helpful when faced with decisions of conscience. Perrin and McGhee (both teach at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire) incorporate vivid examples to illustrate the situations that they describe where nurses face conflicts of interest; questionable policy; unethical or illegal behavior from patients, co-workers, or their superiors; and beginning- and end-of-life issues. Study questions and a list of references conclude each chapter.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Doody Review Services
Reviewer:Christopher William Fuerst, RN, MSN, RRT, Ph.D. Student(University of Virginia Health Sciences Center)
Description:This is an excellent introduction to ethical issues faced by nurses in everyday practice. The authors include a history of ethics describing different ethical inquiries and thoeries, define what an ethical dilemma is, proceed to the important questions to ask when encountering an ethical dilemma, and then move through issues nurses encounter in practice, such as beginning and end-of-life dilemmas, rationing, how healthcare across the life span is viewed through an ethical lens, and issues involving unjust or unethical behaviour.
Purpose:The authors' purpose in writing this book is to give nurses insight into dealing with moral problems that occur in their professional work. Case study methodology is used to describe the ethical dilemmas in hopes that nurses will gain sufficient knowledge to participate in the debate on how healthcare should be delivered in the 21st century. These are timely objectives. Nurses need to have the skills and language to debate ethical issues in healthcare delivery and to address their concerns in ethical terms. This book provides an excellent introduction to the language of ethics as well as common issues that nurses face in their everyday work.
Audience:The authors do not specifically state their target audience. but the introduction points to an audience of professional nurses who currently practrice in the clinical arena. This is a good introductory text for any level of nurse, student to doctorate level, who is interested in ethical issues that nurses face in practice. The authors identify the main ethical issues affecting nursing today. Students need to be aware of these issues as they begin their careers, current practitioners gain insight into what we as nurses face in the workplace, and advanced practice nurses and doctoral level nurses are able to better understand the ethical landscape of nursing as we enter a new century. I have never heard of these authors before reading this book but their credentials and thoughtful text, in my opinion, make them credible. This book is easy to understand and well written from nursing and ethical perspectives.
Features:This work covers ethics in nursing from the beginnings of ethical inquiry from the philosophical perspective, to the hard choices faced in the workplace by nurses in practice. The first chapter covers the historical aspect of ethics and reviews the most common philosophical methods of ethical inquiry and thought. The term ethical dilemma is defined and through use of cases, easily understood. The cases are the strongest point of the book. The cases are common occurrences in nursing and have distinctly nursing aspects. The authors cover the lifespan of patients and the specific ethical dilemmas faced when mother and fetal interests conflict, to dilemmas faced at the end of adult life when patients are terminal, no longer want to go on, or ask for assistance in ending their life. A strong point of this book is the exploration of rationing. This often taboo word in medicine is indeed practiced and Perrin does an excellent job of explaining the issues and how they affect ethical nursing practice. A final strong inclusion is dealing with illegal, unjust, or incompetent behavior whether practiced by nurses or physicians. This area is often one where nurses have to learn on the job and these are some of the most difficult dilemmas they face. I especially enjoyed the gray boxes of the significant points of the paragraph or section. This adds clarity and helps the reader to understand the salient points. The content is well thought out and inclusive, but I am concerned about some of the references. The book would be better if the authors included the primary sources, especially when discussing the principles of biomedical ethics. No mention is made of Beauchamp and Childress, who are considered the "fathers" of that methodology, and when discussing distributive justice, the authors quote Jameton, but Jameton only describes the many theories of justice in his book, he is not their primary source. Otherwise this is a valuable contribution to nursing ethics literature.
Assessment:This is an important contribution to the field of nursing ethics. Ethics books generally deal with medical ethics and physician decision-making. This is one of the few books specifically targeted to nurses. It offers guidance for addressing ethical dilemmas in a practical manner. Other books in nursing ethics deal with ethics and the law, such as Hall's Nursing Ethics and the Law (W.B. Saunders, 1996) and Brent's Nurses and the Law: A Guide to Principles and Applications (W. B. Saunders, 1997). What is ethical is not always legal, and what is legal is not always ethical. With the majority of nursing ethics material in journals, it is refreshing to see a team approach to specific issues to nursing. Andrew Jameton wrote Nursing Practice, The Ethical Issues (Prentice Hall, 1984). Since then there has been a paucity of books regarding ethical issues in nursing practice. Daniel Chambliss wrote about nursing in Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses, and the Social Organization of Ethics but this work was mainly sociological and detailed the issues that nurses face as part of the hospital organization and how these become ethical issues due to the bureaucracy. The authors explore the current ethical issues nurses face and complement Jameton and Chambliss well. Unfortunately, Jameton's book is out of print, but the authors offer nurses a solid foundation to explore nursing ethics. This is a MUST read for nursing students, and any nurse or other healthcare professional who is interested in nursing ethical issues. I recommend this book highly as part of a series of readings to understand the ethical issues nurses face, how nurses operate in hospitals, and the difference between nursing's ethical issues and those faced by physicians. I would use this book in nursing classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels with supplemental readings to reinforce the issues.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer: Christopher William Fuerst, RN, MSN, RRT, Ph.D. Student(University of Virginia Health Sciences Center)Description: This is an excellent introduction to ethical issues faced by nurses in everyday practice. The authors include a history of ethics describing different ethical inquiries and thoeries, define what an ethical dilemma is, proceed to the important questions to ask when encountering an ethical dilemma, and then move through issues nurses encounter in practice, such as beginning and end-of-life dilemmas, rationing, how healthcare across the life span is viewed through an ethical lens, and issues involving unjust or unethical behaviour.
Purpose: The authors' purpose in writing this book is to give nurses insight into dealing with moral problems that occur in their professional work. Case study methodology is used to describe the ethical dilemmas in hopes that nurses will gain sufficient knowledge to participate in the debate on how healthcare should be delivered in the 21st century. These are timely objectives. Nurses need to have the skills and language to debate ethical issues in healthcare delivery and to address their concerns in ethical terms. This book provides an excellent introduction to the language of ethics as well as common issues that nurses face in their everyday work.
Audience: The authors do not specifically state their target audience. but the introduction points to an audience of professional nurses who currently practrice in the clinical arena. This is a good introductory text for any level of nurse, student to doctorate level, who is interested in ethical issues that nurses face in practice. The authors identify the main ethical issues affecting nursing today. Students need to be aware of these issues as they begin their careers, current practitioners gain insight into what we as nurses face in the workplace, and advanced practice nurses and doctoral level nurses are able to better understand the ethical landscape of nursing as we enter a new century. I have never heard of these authors before reading this book but their credentials and thoughtful text, in my opinion, make them credible. This book is easy to understand and well written from nursing and ethical perspectives.
Features: This work covers ethics in nursing from the beginnings of ethical inquiry from the philosophical perspective, to the hard choices faced in the workplace by nurses in practice. The first chapter covers the historical aspect of ethics and reviews the most common philosophical methods of ethical inquiry and thought. The term ethical dilemma is defined and through use of cases, easily understood. The cases are the strongest point of the book. The cases are common occurrences in nursing and have distinctly nursing aspects. The authors cover the lifespan of patients and the specific ethical dilemmas faced when mother and fetal interests conflict, to dilemmas faced at the end of adult life when patients are terminal, no longer want to go on, or ask for assistance in ending their life. A strong point of this book is the exploration of rationing. This often taboo word in medicine is indeed practiced and Perrin does an excellent job of explaining the issues and how they affect ethical nursing practice. A final strong inclusion is dealing with illegal, unjust, or incompetent behavior whether practiced by nurses or physicians. This area is often one where nurses have to learn on the job and these are some of the most difficult dilemmas they face. I especially enjoyed the gray boxes of the significant points of the paragraph or section. This adds clarity and helps the reader to understand the salient points. The content is well thought out and inclusive, but I am concerned about some of the references. The book would be better if the authors included the primary sources, especially when discussing the principles of biomedical ethics. No mention is made of Beauchamp and Childress, who are considered the "fathers" of that methodology, and when discussing distributive justice, the authors quote Jameton, but Jameton only describes the many theories of justice in his book, he is not their primary source. Otherwise this is a valuable contribution to nursing ethics literature.
Assessment: This is an important contribution to the field of nursing ethics. Ethics books generally deal with medical ethics and physician decision-making. This is one of the few books specifically targeted to nurses. It offers guidance for addressing ethical dilemmas in a practical manner. Other books in nursing ethics deal with ethics and the law, such as Hall's Nursing Ethics and the Law (W.B. Saunders, 1996) and Brent's Nurses and the Law: A Guide to Principles and Applications (W. B. Saunders, 1997). What is ethical is not always legal, and what is legal is not always ethical. With the majority of nursing ethics material in journals, it is refreshing to see a team approach to specific issues to nursing. Andrew Jameton wrote Nursing Practice, The Ethical Issues (Prentice Hall, 1984). Since then there has been a paucity of books regarding ethical issues in nursing practice. Daniel Chambliss wrote about nursing in Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses, and the Social Organization of Ethics but this work was mainly sociological and detailed the issues that nurses face as part of the hospital organization and how these become ethical issues due to the bureaucracy. The authors explore the current ethical issues nurses face and complement Jameton and Chambliss well. Unfortunately, Jameton's book is out of print, but the authors offer nurses a solid foundation to explore nursing ethics. This is a MUST read for nursing students, and any nurse or other healthcare professional who is interested in nursing ethical issues. I recommend this book highly as part of a series of readings to understand the ethical issues nurses face, how nurses operate in hospitals, and the difference between nursing's ethical issues and those faced by physicians. I would use this book in nursing classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels with supplemental readings to reinforce the issues.
3 Stars from Doody