Case study 2 depicts a single father who accompanies his 17-year-old daughter to a women\u2019s health clinic and requests a pregnancy test for his daughter. The daughter does not consent to the test and appears uneasy. Vital health assessment information required to establish if the girl is pregnant includes her menstrual history (Dyer et al., 2018). The nurse should inquire about the date of her last menstrual period (LMP), menstrual pattern, duration of her menses, and frequency. In addition, the nurse should obtain the client\u2019s sexual history, including if she is sexually active, the contraceptives she uses, and the frequency of using contraceptives. The nurse should also gather information on presumptive signs of pregnancy, including amenorrhea, nausea, vomiting, generalized malaise, and breast tenderness (Gadsby et al., 2021).<\/p>\n
This case presents an ethical dilemma since the girl\u2019s father insists on a pregnancy test against her wish. The provider also has an ethical duty to promote the confidentiality of the patient\u2019s information. Thus, I would ensure privacy when interviewing the girl in her father’s absence and assure her that the information she gives will be kept confidential. To address this ethical dilemma, I would observe the rule that the patient, in this case, is the girl and not the parent (Larcher & Brierley, 2018). Thus, I would only perform the pregnancy test if the girl consented. This is because conducting the test against the girl\u2019s wish poses the risk of psychological harm.<\/p>\n
Sharkey and Griffiths (2019) explain that children above 16 years are considered competent to consent to treatment, including pregnancy testing. Patients should be asked sensitively about the likelihood of pregnancy and offered a pregnancy test with their consent if there is doubt. If the girl continues to decline even after counseling her, I would inform her father that a pregnancy test cannot be conducted against the patient\u2019s wish since it will violate her right to autonomy.<\/p>\n
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