More relevant today than ever, Husted’s classic nursing ethics text provides a practical framework to help nurses engage with patients to make difficult ethical decisions. It delivers a systematic approach to bioethical decision making that can help clarify situations where “right” and “wrong” are not clearly defined. An abundance of case studies provides practice in bioethical decision making, with nearly 45 bioethical dilemmas analyzed in detail. The fifth edition has been reorganized and rewritten to facilitate increased readability and to engage readers more fully in learning. It includes two new chapters, Moral Distress and Nursing Practice Intersections: Legal Decision Making within a Symphonological Ethical Perspective, additional case studies, and abundant tables, diagrams, and graphics that reinforce the text discussion. Instructor resources are also available for adopters of the text.
The book is grounded in the concept of “symphonia,” which, within the health care arena, is the study of agreements between health care professionals and patients and the ethical implications of these agreements. It is intended to promote the welfare of both patient and health care provider. The new chapter on moral distress discusses futile care among other causes of moral distress and offers coping techniques for situations in which a nurse has an ethical issue with a standard of care but is powerless to change that care. The other new chapter, Nursing Practice Intersections: Legal Decision Making within a Symphonological Ethical Perspective, focuses on situations that can be interpreted as either moral and illegal, or immoral and legal. The fifth edition also features a new section on ethical colleagueship, providing support to relieve common dilemmas among health care professionals.
New to the Fifth Edition:
"This should be a valuable book for ethics and theory courses. It could also be a valuable resource in general for the analysis of ethical dilemmas."
-- Diane Tomasic, EdD, RN (Slippery Rock University ) Doody's Review - previous edition
The target audience includes nurse educators and students, practicing nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals. The authors have extensive experience in the area of bioethics.