The document discusses ethical principles for nurses to consider when making difficult decisions around allocating scarce lifesaving resources during a pandemic. It notes the International Council of Nurses' code of ethics calls on nurses to preserve life, alleviate suffering, and promote health. When resources are limited, factors like a patient's age, health history, and prognosis must be examined. The principles of beneficence and respect for autonomy are particularly relevant, as nurses aim to allocate resources to those most likely to benefit and survive. Justice is also an important consideration to ensure all patients receive fair and unbiased care according to their needs.

1. Week 6: Discussion Board Posting and 2 replies
Integrate one nursing ethical principle the advanced practice nurse could use in the
decision-making process for a potentially lifesaving procedures of who should be saved
first, who lives, and who dies regarding allocation of scarce resources during a
pandemicstudent 1 TaylsenGood morning, Professor and class. I apologize for the previous
format. Here is a corrected version. Thanks. Integrating Ethical Principles
Advanced Practice Nurses Could Use in Potentially Life Saving Situations The
International Council of Nurses delivered the first code of ethics, which was approved by
the Council of National Representatives (CNR) on July 10, 1953. CNR represents the
organization deliberative entity, with bi-yearly meetings in different parts of the world to
address ethical principles, perform necessary updates, and delve deep into reflections
pertaining ethical codes in nursing (Oguisso et al., 2019). Like mentioned, bi-yearly
reunions allow this body of deliberation to identify submerging issues in the ethics of
nursing. Nevertheless, the ethical responsibilities in nursing have remained relatively
constant thorough the years. The attached study provides a list with the content of the first
International Code of Ethics for Nurses, with the three main responsibilities topping the list:
“to preserve life, to alleviate suffering and to promote health” (Oguisso et al., 2019, p. 6). In
life saving situations, nurses are mainly driven by principles concerning the preservation of
life. The devastating effects of the pandemic certainly placed nurses in very difficult
situations regarding decision-making of who should be saved first, who lives or dies given
the lack of resources worldwide. For this reason, different factors are to be examined that
would not impede the nurses’ adherence to ethical principles. A key factor refers to the
availability and management of human resources because, given the adequate access of
these means, minimization of the problem concerning a health care crisis where nurses are
forced to withdraw care form the mostly ill and poorly prognosed is possible. “Failure to
provide sufficient resources may compromise the right to healthcare, especially the right of
critically ill patients in a situation like that caused by COVID-19” (Falcó et al., 2021,
p.183). Who Gets to Live When Allocating Scarce
Resources? A crucial factor in making tough life or death decisions during a pandemic
with scarce resources are directly correlated to ethical principles of beneficence and respect
for autonomy. Patients who needed to be admitted to the ICU, for instance, had to be
extensively reviewed by the interdisciplinary team (the advanced nurse included) in order
to make a decision whether to transfer the patient or let them go. This posed a huge
challenge for healthcare professionals given the lack of knowledge of the disease, the lack of

2. knowledge (oftentimes) of the patient’ wishes and the level of uncertainty associated with
the complications caused by the virus. Criteria such as age, past medical history and fragility
were all part of the guidelines to follow when confronted with ambiguous situations (Falcó
et al., 2021). As a result, patients who were younger, lack comorbidities and had a better
prognosis were more likely to survive because, for them, ventilators and the use of certain
medications were available. Nurses had to stick to the guidelines provided by scientific
societies and official organizations in order to label these patients based on acuity. Research
shows that, when allocating scarce resources between two critically ill patients, triage
policies aim to allocate to the individual with the best chances of survival (Buckwalter &
Peterson, 2020). Again, the ethical principle of life preservation is clearly demonstrated
here, ultimately aiming for the greater good, although it can be very saddening for the
families of those with no chance of
survival. ReferencesBuckwalter, W., &
Peterson, A. (2020). Public attitudes toward allocating scarce resources in the COVID-19
pandemic. Plos One, 15(11), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240651 (Links to
an external site.)Falcó, P. A., Zuriguel, P. E., Via, C. G., Bosch, A. A., & Bonetti, L. (2021).
Ethical conflict during COVID‐19 pandemic: The case of Spanish and Italian intensive care
units. International Nursing Review, 68(2), 181–188.
https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12645 (Links to an external site.)Oguisso, T., Hiromi-Takashi,
M., Fernandes de Freitas, G., Barrionuevo-Bonini, B., & Araújo da Silva, T. (2019). First
international code of ethics for nurses. Texto & Contexto Enfermagem, 28, 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-265X-TCE-2018-0140student 2 CatalinaGood afternoon
class and professor, The four fundamental concepts of healthcare ethics are justice,
autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. When selecting who should be saved first, who
should live, and who should die in connection to the distribution of limited resources during
a pandemic, advanced practice nurses may use the nursing ethical concept of justice. Justice
is defined as the provision of appropriate, unbiased, and equitable care to all patients.
Justice entails more than just equality; it entails treating patients according to specific
requirements under specified circumstances, without regard for the patients’ income, rank,
or race (Rooddehghan et al., 2019). By adding the ethical principle of justice, nurse
practitioners can focus on prioritizing patient care and making timely decisions based on
patients’ needs. Healthcare practitioners on the front lines of assisting people during
pandemics face a variety of professional responsibilities that might lead to ethical
quandaries—addressing ethical concerns when organizing treatment and preparing for
pandemic work may be advantageous (Muñoz-Rubilar et al.,
2022). References Muñoz-Rubilar, C. A.,
Carrillos, C. P., Mundal, I. P., Cuevas, C. D. L., & Lara-Cabrera, M. L. (2022, February 10). The
duty to care and nurses’ well-being during a pandemic. Nursing Ethics, 29(3), 527–539.
https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330211041746Rooddehghan, Z., Nikbakht nasrabadi, A.,
Parsa Yekta, Z., & Salehiparsa yekta, M. (2019, December 1). Patient favoritism as a barrier
to justice in health care: A qualitative study. Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics, 6(4),
29–35. https://doi.org/10.29252/jhsme.6.4.29