One of the Fifteen Ethical Principles of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights I picked is number five: persons without the capacity to consent. The ethical principle of increasing benefit and reducing harm promotes safety. The ethical principle of human dignity promotes patient centeredness and equality. Thus, promotion of healthcare quality can be seen as ethical enterprise. However, that does not mean that every approach to improving quality is necessarily ethical (Melnyk, et al, 2019).
Understanding that some patients are not able to give their consent depending on the situation. It’s up to the doctors to make ethical decisions on the patient’s behalf if no relative is there to make those decisions. An ethical question you must ask yourself “is it not fair to ask others what you are unwilling to do yourself”. It’s putting yourself in their shoes. You need to ask yourself if this is in the best interest of the patient. As medical professionals we want to put our patient’s well-being first.