Ethics and Law for Australian Nurses

This chapter will further explore the moral and legal aspects of the nurse–patient relationship, with special attention paid to the role of trust. Lena’s situation demonstrates how a patient can be disempowered and rendered increasingly vulnerable through careless use of professional power. Lena’s sadness at being parted from her friend (a normal reaction) has been turned into a medical condition (or ‘medicalised’), which is then recorded in her file as if it is a fact about her. Then this purported medical condition is used as a reason to pry into Lena’s private life – and all without any consultation with Lena herself. When Lena expresses quite justifiable outrage, she is further cast as a problem patient, and her anger is regarded as part of her emotional instability.