Nursing Ethics the Most Important Term Paper

Would the advance(s) keep the patient alive just to keep her/him alive, or would the patient be capable of a productive and enjoyable way of living?

These questions lead right into the code of ethics and the very first one deals with the respect for human dignity.

Human dignity can encompass a variety of components and it must be considered when applying bioethics or ethics in general to prolonging someone's life for the sake of medicine and not for the sake of human dignity. The next item on the list was values held by the patient.Respect for their individual value system should be of ultimate concern for the nurse in regards to treatment. As an example; if the patient's religion affords them the comfort of an afterlife, then it should considered. The patient's beliefs and values should be placed first in priority. Along with that value system is autonomy or self-worth. The self-worth of the patient is decided by the patient not the nurse, or the doctor. Only the patient can decide whether living is worth the effort or not and should be so considered......