Nursing Ethics Principle of Autonomy Guarantee a Person the Right to Do Something The principle of autonomy is regarded as a right of human being or capacity to develop his or her own wellbeing. More specifically, the principle of autonomy elaborates the fact that a patient possesses the right to take any kind of decision about how to conduct his/her treatment process. Moreover, the principle also makes the patients to take decisions regarding the refusal of the treatment process (Gumbis, Bacianskaite & Randakeviciute, 2010). In this similar context, it can be elaborated that the principle of autonomy does not provide or guarantee a person the right to do something that causes harm to oneself and also to others. This might be owing to the reason that the principle of autonomy tends to generate positive outcomes with making significant improvements in individuals’ wellbeing. Anything, which is harmful to one person, does not get included under the well being of another person, which can affect other in a negative way (Coy, 2015).
It is worth mentioning that as per the principle of autonomy, an individual possesses own values that can be used during the treatment process. By establishing the principle of autonomy, it can be apparently observed that good practice must be initiated such as empowering the medical decisions as well as protecting a person from any sort of risk (Mitchell &Templeton, 2014). In terms of ethical rationale, it can be affirmed that the principle of autonomy focuses on safeguarding the rights of an individual by evaluating the varied outcomes in a positive way. This fact eventually supports the notion that the autonomy principle does not guarantee an individual with the right to do something harmful to oneself and others.
References
Coy, J. A. (2015). Autonomy-based informed consent: ethical implications for patient noncompliance. Physical Therapy, 69(10), 826-833.
Gumbis, J., Bacianskaite, V., & Randakeviciute, J. (2010). Do human rights guarantee autonomy? University of Vilnius, 77-93.
Mitchell, G., & Templeton, M. (2014). Ethical considerations of doll therapy for people with dementia. Nursing Ethics, 21(6), 720-730.
