IndexSummaryEthical issues in the filmAutonomyBeneficenceNonmaleficenceJusticeCurrent ethical issuesConclusionReferencesEvery day nurses and doctors are faced with ethical issues that can affect the patient's quality of life. It is important for the healthcare provider to consider all factors and what the patient wants for their treatment plan. My Sister's Keeper was a drama film released in 2009, which touched on numerous ethical issues that caused a dilemma between the family and their children. It is important as a healthcare professional to ensure that the patient maintains their autonomy while informing them about what the best options are, even if they are contrary to what they want. The purpose of this article is to discuss how autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are essential to providing the best patient care while making difficult decisions and to compare the ethical issues in the film with issues happening in the world today. nursing care. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssaySummary In the film, My Sisters Keeper, Sara and Brian Fitzgerald, who were Kate's parents, met with her doctors to explore other options to help their daughter Kate live a longer life. Kate was a young girl who was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent various procedures to prolong her life. It didn't seem to get better as time went on. The doctor suggests having a child through IVF so that she can be a compatible organ donor for Kate. The family went all the way and Anna was born in the hope of saving her sister. Over the years, Anna has undergone numerous medical procedures without consent. As Anna grew up, she realized that she no longer wanted to undergo medical procedures because this was her body. She then decides that she wants to sue her parents for medical emancipation so she can make her own decisions about her body. Anna finds a lawyer to help her through the trial. Throughout the trial, Kate remained in hospital, getting worse every day. Before the end of the trial everyone discovered the reason why Anna had decided to emancipate herself. Kate had encouraged Anna to go through with the process because she was tired of all the surgeries and the pain. He wanted to end it and the only way to do it was to not have the kidney transplant. Kate ultimately died before the decision was made. Eventually, Anna became medically emancipated after Kate's death. Ethical Issues in the Film Numerous bioethical issues arise throughout the entire film. Engineered babies are babies scientifically engineered in vitro for specific traits to prevent or treat disease. Tailored children can be used for several reasons, such as preventing certain genes in a child, for example cystic fibrosis. This can ultimately lead to using designer babies for unethical reasons such as choosing eye color or deciding the sex of the baby. In My Sisters Keeper Anna's parents abused the IVF process by conceiving a child whose sole purpose was to be a donor. Anna was born only so she could help save her sister by undergoing procedures such as bone marrow transplants and organ transplants. Anna's parents didn't seem to appreciate risking Anna's life as long as it saved Kate. In the film, her parents never worried about the risk and harm this would cause to Anna. During the trial, Anna's lawyer stressed that Anna had never been consulted before any procedure.Anna's family always put Kate first while ignoring Anna's health and the personal matters of Jesses, who was Anna's older brother. There were other obvious ethical questions in the film such as: Is a child capable of solving their own medical problems? Sara believed that Anna was “too young” to understand what was happening and yet make her own decisions. He refused to let Anna decide what procedures she can refuse. Another question that arose on its own was: when will it ever be enough to stop using a child for the sole purpose of saving a life? Is it ethical to have a child just to save another? Sara and Brian didn't seem to have a problem with having Anna for one purpose. In this film, Anna was never asked how she felt about undergoing different procedures. Many of these ethical issues still present themselves in nursing today and it is important to address them in making a decision about your plan of care. Chronic medical conditions in childhood have implications for the psychosocial well-being of children and their families. This is why it is important to communicate with the patient about his feelings because this can affect different aspects of his well-being. Autonomy In nursing, it is important to promote the patient's right to autonomy. Autonomy allows patients to make their own decision even if they deny treatment. Even though some doctors may not agree with the decisions, they must still respect them. Patients have the right to determine what they think is best for them and how they choose to approach their decisions when it comes to their health. In the movie My Sister's Keeper, Anna had no autonomy her entire life. He constantly underwent medical procedures such as blood transfusions to try to keep his sister alive and prolong her life. Anna was never given a choice when it came to her body. She was never given the opportunity to refuse any procedure nor was she ever consulted about how she felt. Anna's parents were too busy with Kate's illness to bother thinking about how these procedures would affect Anna's life. Anna never gave consent to any of these procedures, so much so that she grew tired of them and refused the kidney transplant. Eventually, she grew tired of constant decisions being made for her and of having no say in what happens with her body, so much so that she sued her parents for medical emancipation. Anna's mother told her she was just a child and had no idea what she was doing. “A child's capacity to consent must be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will depend on the complexity of the proposed treatment and the child's stage of intellectual development” (Taylor 2014). This is exactly what happened in Anna's case. She went through a process where she was evaluated to see if she was competent to make her own decisions. Ultimately, her wish to be medically emancipated was granted. Charity Charity was an ethical principle also shown in this film. Charity is an act performed for the benefit of others. In this case, charity was shown when Sara and Brian agreed to conceive a child just to save their daughter Kate. In Sara and Brian's eyes it seemed to be the best solution. It prolonged Kate's life and bought her more time with them. They didn't see the risks and pain Anna would face. Their judgment was clouded by Kate's situation that nothing else seemed to matter. Anna's birth would benefit Kate from the day she was born. Anna's parents saw no harm in doing this and did not hesitate to do so. These procedures have never been goodfor Anna's health, but they benefited Kate's life. Nonmaleficence Nonmaleficence is the act of not doing harm. In the movie My Sisters Keeper, non-maleficence was not shown. Everyone was so worried about Kate and her health that no one seemed to care or ask Anna how she felt about having the procedures when she grew up. Her parents automatically assumed that because she was his sister, she would accept anyway. Sarah's actions were the opposite of what the principle of non-maleficence means. She was putting Anna through unnecessary pain just to save her eldest daughter. Throughout the film, Anna was hurt for the sake of her sister. Many of these problems could have been avoided if Anna's birth had been thought out more clearly. Kate's agreement to undergo IVF simply considering Kate's health was terrible. Many more factors should have been considered, but his decision was very impulsive. “Decision making about transplantation, donation and creating a 'savior sibling' for a sick child cannot be made by a single doctor and cannot be based simply on a thoughtful analysis of the risk-benefit equations by the doctor or the parent". You can understand why Sara and Brian chose to have a “savior baby,” but it was obvious that they didn't care to think enough about how these procedures would harm Anna in the future. Saunders (2017) believes that parents need to consider the child's well-being and how it will affect others. One may slightly agree with this statement, but in this case no one seems to worry too much about the possible harm that one of these procedures could cause to Anna or her health. Justice Justice is the action of treating people fairly. Towards the end of the film, Anna gets justice after arguing with her mother Sara. Anna had to pass various tests before she could make any decisions. Anna realized that she was going against her mother's wishes and knew that it would create problems within her family and she went through with it anyway. Anna was seen more as a "savior child" who constantly underwent medical procedures to try to save her sister. In the long run, no one cared about the damage she had suffered or the traumatic experiences she had experienced as a young girl. It is obvious that young children are afraid of needles, one can only imagine how Anna felt as a young girl. It later became known that Kate also did not want to undergo any more surgeries and was ready to die peacefully. It was right to allow Anna to keep her organs while respecting Kate's decision. Current Ethical Issues There are several ongoing ethical issues in the field of nursing. Informed consent is an important process that a patient must go through before any procedure can take place. It is an agreement between the surgeon and the patient. Once the patient understands the procedure and the risk, he or she can approve it. A nurse must ensure that the patient maintains his or her autonomy. A surgeon must promote charity while allowing the patient to be autonomous. A dilemma may arise when the patient refuses treatment even though the doctor knows that it helps the patient improve. The nurse's task during informed consent is to maintain autonomy and understanding. In the movie My Sisters Keeper, Anna was never asked what she thought about a procedure. He never “gave consent” when he was younger, which was reasonable because he didn't understand much yet. Not until she grew up is when she started to understand everything that was happening to her. She got fed up and thought to herself when it would ever be about her and her family