nursingforsocialjustice

I was engaged in a conversation with a group of mental health nurses recently where one nurse proudly spoke of the practice they used of deeply sedating patients during the night to ensure that staff were able to take an extra long break. Listening to this gave me an awful pit of moral distress in the bottom of my stomach. I did not challenge this person on the ethical soundness of this practice, nor did anyone else at the table who heard it. I did need to discuss this with someone after as it left me with a feeling of sadness and disappointment at the accepted practice of some nurses. If we are using practices that we would not be comfortable sharing with patients, families, health care leadership and the general public then why is it okay to continue using these practices?