Ethic's - The concept of truth telling in cancer patients receiving Essay

Ethic's - The concept of truth telling in cancer patients receiving palliative chemotherapy and the impact on nurse-patient relationships - Essay Example ned by the performance of nursing functions with outmost care and diligence but that it moves toward the moral perception and awareness of nursing care. With this shift in the appreciation of nursing care – from performance of duties to moral perception of nursing care - the centrality of the nurse –patient relationship becomes more poignant and pivotal in the understanding of nursing (Gastmans et al, 1998; ; Covington 2005). In the context of nursing care perceived not just as a performance of duty but as a moral awareness, nurses rise up to the demands of care, respect and achieving the goal of holistic well-being for the patient. Thus, nurse-patient relationship opens a â€Å"comportment of the self towards others, which has the inherent goal of enhancing the existence of those others† (van Hooft 1999, p 190). However, the nurse-patient relationship is often plagued with quandaries that time and again challenges nursing care. One of these dilemmas that nurses have to contend with as they practise the profession day in and day out is truth telling in the context of patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy. Recognising the importance of truth telling in the nurse-patient relationship and the dilemma that nurses frequently encounter with it, this paper will look into the concept of truth telling in relation with patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy. In lieu of the significance of truth telling in nurse-patient relationship, this paper aims to understand the intricacies of truth telling vis-a- vis nurse-patient relationship. It intends to gain deeper comprehension of utilitarianism, deontology and the four basic ethical principles of justice, autonomy, non-malfeasance and beneficence. Finally, to attain a clearer comprehension of the impact of truth telling in the nurse-patient relationship in the cancer setting (palliative chemotherapy). As this paper will look into the concept of truth telling vis-a-vis nurse-patient relationship in the context