Select an ethical issue in nursing that interests you.  Appraise the evidence in the literature and best practices related to this issue, and discuss the ethical considerations and viewpoints of various stakeholders (e.g., nurses, patients, families, hospital administration, the general public, etc.).  Provide at least one example of how the ethical issue may occur in practice.

For example, an ethical issue that I encounter in my practice as a psychiatric-mental health nurse is forced medication.  It is controversial because we can give patients emergency medication against their will — only when they are an imminent danger to themselves or others.  This goes against what we typically do as registered nurses, which is respect the patient’s right to refuse medication.  In this paper, I would explain the issue and give an example from my practice.  I would discuss how this issue affects nurses, the patient receiving forced medication, and other patients on the unit who witness it.  I would support my statements with position papers from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and peer-reviewed articles from nursing journals.