Provision 1 Case Study

Code of Ethics

My assigned case study is Provision 1. It is about a female, homeless veteran named Ms. Rogers with a history of alcoholism and PTSD. She staggers into the ER one night with a complaint of abdominal pain. It is noted that the homeless shelters are currently full. The weather is cold and rainy. The resident does not want to do a full work up on the patient as they think she just wants a warm bed for the night and food to eat. The story does not detail if the patient has any more medical history than what is listed above.

According to Provision 1, “The principle of respect for persons extends to all individuals with whom the nurse interacts. The nurse maintains compassionate and caring relationships with colleagues and others

The provision states, “Respect for human dignity requires the recognition of specific patient rights, particularly, the right of self -determination. Self -determination, also known as autonomy, is the philosophical basis for informed consent in health care. Patients have the moral and legal right to determine what will be done with their own person; to be given accurate, complete, and understandable information in a manner that facilitates an informed judgement; to be assisted with weighing the benefits, burdens, and available options in their treatment, including the choice of no treatment; to accept, refuse, or terminate treatment without deceit, undue influence, duress, coercion, or penalty; and to be given necessary support throughout the decision-making and treatment process (nursingworld.org)”. Ms. Rogers cannot even get to this point because of the resident refusal to treat her. There could many things going on with her. She could have pancreatitis, gallbladder issues or many other diagnosis related to her abdominal pain. She won’t know until a physician does a full workup on her. She obviously wants to be seen or else she wouldn’t have come to the ER. She knows something is not right is she is staggering in the hospital. She has rights as a patient to be seen by a physician. I think is the resident doesn’t want to evaluate her then the ER nurse needs report that person and go find another physician to do the job. I would also talk to the house supervisor about the situation so it could be reported to administration. Doctors go into medicine to help all people, not to pick and choose who they want to