Ethical Decision

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Ethical decisions are made every day and can change the course of any situation. A person’s personal morals can get in the way of making professional decisions. In health care, it can be difficult to keep your personal feelings when trying to resolve an issue. I have dealt with many situations in the past (B. MacKinnon, & A. Fiala, 2014). Several ethical theories applied to every problem I went through. Some more than others such as the theories natural law and demonology. These theories were used to support my decision making. I used different problem-solving methods to resolve my issues.

My most recent ethical dilemma, and decision came with the passing of my grandmother. In May of 2013 my grandmother lost her battle to stomach cancer at the age of 88. My ethical dilemma started with me hearing she only had a few days to live, and all they could do was make her comfortable. At that time, it had been over 7 years since I spoke to my family not even my mother. My grandmother and sister were the only contact I had with family.  My grandmother had survived opened heart surgeries, and stent placements, I was not ready to she her so fragile, weak, and in so much pain. I was devastated, I could not let her die without some relief even if I was not mentally ready to deal with everything that was happening.

My elders were not prepared and did not know how to deal with getting her to eat or even take medication to ease her pain. I had to put my personal feelings aside and help my grandmother to be able to die in less discomfort. I put my training and years to taking care of critical patient. I basically came in and started giving orders on what to cook, and what I needed from the pharmacy to help her get the medicine down. Toward the final days, and hours I had to keep draining saliva from her mouth to keep her from choking. I held her hand as she passed, made her feel comfortable, and I did not let her see my pain. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. I had to even get my elders out of the room to get her body ready for the funeral home, so she would be properly dressed the way she would want. The two ethic theories I used were Virtue ethics, and Kantianism: