When is patient education unethical?
Although patient education is central to the ethical practice of nursing, it can be practiced in an ethically contested or unethical way. It is sometimes used to: forward a societal goal the individual might not have chosen; assume that patients should learn to accommodate unjust treatment; exclude the views of all except the dominant health care provider group; limit the knowledge a patient can receive; make invalid or unreliable judgments about what a patient can learn; or require a patient to change his or her identity to meet a medical ideal. Both health promotion education and manipulating patient beliefs in situations of uncertainty are ethically contested. Nussbaum's capabilities approach is used here as a moral framework through which to view the goals and practice of patient education. This provides better guidance than the current conception of patient education as an instrument to carry out the directives of medical practice.
University of Pennsylvania Center for BIoethics, 3401 Market Street, Suite 320, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ae9080@wayne.edu
Barbara K
BK
Redman
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000941:ethics; D006040:Goals; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000941:ethics; D009014:Morals; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000941:ethics; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D026706:Paternalism / Q000941:ethics; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000941:ethics*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000941:ethics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012648:Self Care / Q000941:ethics; D012649:Self Concept; D012945:Social Values; D014342:Truth Disclosure / Q000941:ethics; D035501:Uncertainty