How do healthcare professionals balance respect for patient autonomy with their duty to ensure patient well-being, and what ethical conflicts arise when these two principles clash?
Healthcare professionals face a challenging ethical dilemma when patient autonomy conflicts with their duty to ensure well-being. Respecting autonomy means honoring a patient's right to make decisions about their own care, even when those decisions could lead to harm. On the other hand, the principle of beneficence requires healthcare providers to act in the best interest of the patient. When a patient refuses life-saving treatment, the healthcare professional is faced with the difficult task of...