A nurse is ambivalent as to the need to vigorously suction the secreti

A nurse is ambivalent as to the need to vigorously suction the secretions of a terminal client in a comatose state. Which of the following is an appropriate statement by the nurse in regard to pro-cessing an ethical dilemma?

1. “I just feel like I should not suction this client.”
2. “I need to know the legalities of the living will of this client.”
3. “I cannot figure out what’s right in this situation. I need to collect more data.”
4. “My spiritual beliefs mandate that I continue to provide all the interventions in my scope of practice.”

ANSWER

ANS: 3
The first step in processing an ethical dilemma is determining whether the problem is an ethical one. The nurse who cannot figure out what is right, is stating a characteristic of an ethical dilem-ma, which is that the problem is perplexing. The next step is to gather as much information as possible that is relevant to the case. “I just feel like I should not suction this client” is the nurse is stating the problem according to her feelings. “I need to know the legalities of the living will of this client” is the nurse who wants to know the legalities of the living will of a client is collecting some, but not all, data pertaining to the problem. “My spiritual beliefs mandate that I continue to provide all the interventions in my scope of practice” is the nurse stating her own beliefs.