Personal reflection on a paediatric nurse's duty of care

Abstract

Practice within the philosophy of Family Centred Care can give rise to an ethical dilemma for paediatric health-care professionals over our duty of care. On rare occasions, our duty to act in the child's interests may conflict with accepting parents' decisions. The ideology of Family Centred Care makes such disagreement with parents very problematic for professionals and, it is suggested, can lead to an abdication of the professional's responsibility towards the child. This dilemma surrounding a paediatric nurse's duty of care is explored from an ethical stance.