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Is the ANA Guilty of Paternalism in its Guidelines on Withdrawing or Withholding Food and Fluid?
Author(s) -
Light Kathleen,
Connelly Robert
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
nursing forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.618
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1744-6198
pISSN - 0029-6473
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6198.1989.tb00825.x
Subject(s) - paternalism , competence (human resources) , psychology , nursing , social psychology , medicine , law , political science
The ANA Committee on Ethics's Guidelines on Withdrawing or Withholding Food and Fluid (1988) delineates those circumstances under which withholding is normally permissible. The Guidelines direct nurses to respect the wishes of competent adults. What of adults who are considered incompetent? Can they make decisions to refuse food and fluids? The Guidelines ask nurses to judge patient competence and the merit of the reasons behind the decisions. This suggests paternalism. A more appropriate role of the nurse might be to focus on helping the patient to make a decision, rather than on the merit of the decision itself.