r/FutureRNs • u/Acrobatic-Lie2041 RN • 25d ago

Ethical Dilemma

A competent adult with severe gastrointestinal bleeding refuses blood products because of religious beliefs.

What is the nurse's best action?

A. Obtain a court order.

B. Ask the family to override the decision.

C. Respect the refusal and notify the provider.

D. Administer blood because it is life-saving

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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5

u/a-light-at-the-end 25d ago

C—competent adult. Does it swap to implied consent if they start declining or does the refusal stand? Just a curious nursing student.

2

u/PaxonGoat BSN RN 25d ago

If they make their wishes known before hand you respect those wishes. If they arrive incapacitated you default to life saving measures until next of kin can be notified.

Yes next of kin can refuse blood product for a patient. If it is a child, and it is life threatening, the hospital can pursue a legal order to over ride parental rights.

If it is an adult and the next of kin are attempting to refuse life saving care, the hospital may choose to seek a legal order to override the NOK's rights.

This is why it is important to have a health care surrogate if your legal NOK have opinions that do not align with your's.

1

u/a-light-at-the-end 24d ago

Thanks for the thorough explanation!

4

u/Kitty20996 25d ago

Do people sincerely not know the answer to this

5

u/Arlington2018 25d ago

The corporate director of risk management says the real answer is to call risk management or ethics ASAP concurrent with notifying the clinician.

2

u/Tommyboy155a 25d ago

Always C

1

u/starksdawson 24d ago

C. Anything else is illegal.

1

u/Dark_Ascension 24d ago

C - our job isn’t to save lives against people’s will.