What are some common ethical dilemmas in nursing?

End-of-life decisions and breaches of patient confidentiality are indeed significant ethical dilemmas faced in nursing practice.

End-of-life decisions often involve complex situations where healthcare professionals must balance patient autonomy, family wishes, and ethical principles regarding quality of life and the extent of medical intervention. This may include discussions about advance directives, palliative care options, and the appropriate use of life-sustaining treatments. Nurses must navigate these sensitive conversations, ensuring that they respect the wishes of the patient while also adhering to legal and institutional guidelines.

Breaching patient confidentiality is another critical ethical issue. Nurses are entrusted with sensitive patient information, and confidentiality is a foundational principle of nursing ethics. Maintaining privacy is essential for building trust between patients and healthcare providers. A breach can occur unintentionally, such as through improper communication, or deliberately if information is shared without consent. Such breaches undermine the trust in the nurse-patient relationship and can have serious legal implications as well as ethical repercussions.

In comparison, the other options, while important aspects of nursing practice, are not primarily categorized as ethical dilemmas. Time management and scheduling, medication administration, and patient discharge planning are more related to operational and clinical efficiency rather than ethical considerations. Ethical dilemmas are characterized by conflicts between moral values or ethical principles