The situation involves a conflict between the family’s wish to protect the patient from distress and the patient’s right to know the truth about his condition. The nurse must consider the legal risks including breach of confidentiality, breach of informed consent, breach of professional ethics, and breach of fiduciary duty. The nurse has a duty to obtain informed consent from the patient before any intervention, if the nurse withholds the diagnosis from the patient then the nurse may be preventing the patient from making an informed decision about his care and may be liable for negligence. Furthermore, if the nurse deceives the patient’s right to know the condition, the nurse may be violating the professional ethics of nursing. Moreover, this decision would compromise the patient’s autonomy and interests which may constitute a breach of fiduciary trust and may erode the patient’s trust in the nurse.
In addition, one of the potential violations of patient rights in this scenario is the right to truth-telling which is the moral obligation of the healthcare provider. The nurse in this case may face legal or professional consequences if she fails to disclose the truth against the family’s request. The nurse may be accused of breaching her duty of care to the patient by disclosing or withholding the truth without the patient’s consent (Sullivan et al., 2001). The harm to the patient may be physical, emotional, or psychological, and may affect the patient’s well-being for which the nurse may be required to pay damages to the patient or his family which may include medical expenses, pain and suffering, or loss of consortium. To prevent legal repercussions, the nurse should respect the patient’s right to informed consent, consult with the physician or ethics committee, communicate with the family, document the outcome of truth-telling, seek legal and professional support, and report complaints to the appropriate authorities.
References
Sullivan, R. J., Menapace, L. W., & White, R. M. (2001). Truth-telling and patient diagnoses. Journal of Medical Ethics, 27(3), 192–197.
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