I have been a nurse for 17 years and ethical issues affect us every day. We are trained to be advocates for the patients. Sometimes families get in the way of that advocacy. Families tend to want their loved ones babied back to health, when sometimes a little tough love is what a patient needs. Another, issue is one of when a patient has declared a DNR (do not resuscitate), some interpret this as do not treat. I other words if they have a fever don’t give them Tylenol, if they have pain don’t treat that either. And this can come from families, doctors and other nurses. That is when you really have to fall back on being that patient advocate.

All this stuff about insurance is not in the nurses area. I do not treat anyone different if they are insured or not. Those are are for the financial people to worry about.

medical insurance vs uninsured

cultural differences

religious beliefs in healthcare