Old people nursing care: bioethical reflections

DOI: 10.15343/0104-7809.200630.3.3

Abstract

With the increasing number of elderly persons among developed and developing countries’ populations, new challenges and
questions have emerged, including some bioethical aspects. In their daily routines, when caring for the elderly, nursing professionals
experience ethical and moral conflicts related to issues such as insufficient allocation of resources, relationships with the elderly patients
and their families, respect for autonomy, death and dying with dignity. These conflicts result from the differences, among the persons in
multidisciplinary teams, in values and theoretical approaches towards health, disease and care. The present study was carried out in this
context. Based on a literature survey about “care” and “bioethics”, the author reflected on the bioethical implications of caring for the
elderly in the light of some cases taken from her professional experience.