Which of the following is considered the most common ethical dilemma in nursing practice?

Informed consent is a crucial aspect of nursing practice and often presents a common ethical dilemma. This process involves ensuring that patients understand the risks, benefits, and alternatives to proposed treatments or procedures before they give their consent. The ethical considerations surrounding informed consent stem from the need to respect patient autonomy while ensuring that patients are fully aware and comprehend what they are agreeing to.

While informed consent is a foundational principle in healthcare, it can become problematic in situations where patients may lack the capacity to understand the information due to factors such as age, cognitive impairment, or language barriers. Additionally, the pressure to expedite care can create challenges in adequately ensuring truly informed consent is obtained, leading to ethical conflict.

On the other hand, factors such as patient autonomy, interprofessional conflict, and workplace harassment are certainly important ethical issues in nursing, but they may not present themselves in the same direct manner or frequency as dilemmas surrounding informed consent. Patient autonomy emphasizes the right of patients to make decisions about their care, which is essential but often interlinked with the concept of informed consent. Interprofessional conflict can create tension in teamwork and patient care but doesn't consistently arise as a pervasive ethical dilemma across all nursing roles. Workplace harassment, while serious, primarily relates to a hostile work environment rather