Sternberg came up with an ethical decision making model which would allow for someone to walk through steps which would help them to make a sound ethical decision. This model consists of being able to recognize that there is an event to which to react, define the event as having an ethical dimension, decide that the ethical dimension is of sufficient significance to merit an ethics-guided response, take responsibility for generating an ethical solution to the problem, figure out what abstract ethical rule(s) might apply to the problem, decide how these abstract ethical rules actually apply to the problem so as to suggest a concrete solution, prepare for possible repercussions of having acted in what one considers an ethical manner, act (Sternberg, 2012).
In using this model of decision making, the nurse practitioner would first determine that there is an event in which to react to. This event would be the doctor asking her to sign the papers which would help to determine the status of the patient wishing to receive benefits of Physician Assisted Suicide. The doctor should be aware of the rules regarding this situation and should not be pushing the nurse to do what the doctor wants done. Following these steps the nurse would have to determine the ethical dimensions of the event. The nurse practitioner would have to determine the weight of these ethical values and determine whether or not they are significant to her decision. The nurse would then try and determine a course of action in deciding upon an ethical solution. Find reasoning to back up her solution. Then the nurse would have to decide a course of action and then act upon her decision.
Sternberg, R. J. (2012). A model for ethical reasoning. Review of General Psychology, 16(4), 319-326. doi: 10.1037/a0027854
