In this paper, I am complying all of the skills I have learned throughout this course and applying them to a case study using a caring response from Putrilo and Dougherty’s six-step decision-making process for ethical dilemmas. An ethical dilemma is___________. In Case Study 1, a woman needs a surgery to correct an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The risk of surviving the surgery is 50%, yet the woman is concerned about the potential scar which would result from the surgery and it negatively affecting her career as an erotic dancer. Timeliness is vital because if the aneurysm busts before the surgery can be performed, the patient will die. Despite impending death, the woman still refuses surgery. Her physicians question her metal capacity and her …show more content…
Her mother didn’t believe her and she was blamed for breaking up the family. Her mother was an alcoholic as well. My friend did drugs and ran away from home in middle school. She had a lot of turmoil at home and thought that was her only option. She worked as a prostitute for several years. No person grows up and dreams of pole dancing for a living, they usually feel that it is their only option or only safe option to earn a living. If my friend ended up doing erotic dancing, that might be the safer career option for her. My point is that there are a multitude of reasons why a person would feel that this line of work is their only option and unable to leave. As many generalities as there are about the “law student” working her way through college, there are just as many “sexually/ physically abused and drug addicted” women who work in strip clubs. Both hold some truths, though the latter is more typical. If the patient had a substance abuse addiction, an abusive partner, children she was responsible for, a large gambling debt, no support system, no family, or her family didn’t know about her profession, all of these are reasons why a person would feel trapped and unable to leave her profession despite the risk of death. However, if the patient is suffering from any past trauma (post-traumatic stress disorder), current trauma (physical/ mental/ sexual abuse), …show more content…
We have a duty to protect our patients, my best guess is that this patient’s fear of losing her job is an outward response to an underlying situation. It is our duty to ensure she lives and is given ample support to leave that situation (rehab, clean living housing, counseling with a licensed therapist, access to support to finish her GED or college degree if she had pursued that). The patient is concerned about one possible outcome from the surgery, a scar that will affect her job. However, another possible outcome is that she doesn’t survive the surgery, that her aneurysm busts and she dies, it busts while at work and she is fired, or she survives the surgery and is able to find a new profession. You can use a Teleology approach, but you have no idea which outcome will occur. Whatever that outcome is, if the patient doesn’t live, it’s irrelevant. The principle of do no harm, nonmaleficence, and to do good, beneficence, would motivate you to not let the patient leave the hospital and encourage her to accept the surgery. You always want to respect the patient’s autonomy, but she does need to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to see if she is under coercion to return to her work or if she has the mental capacity to give or withdraw
At times in a person’s life, they might come across a few situations that leave them with a major decision between two or more options that challenge what they believe or what they might think is wrong or right. These are known as ethical dilemmas. Be it seeing a friend steal something and choosing between being honest and speaking up or letting it go. It can also be getting paid more than you earned and deciding if you’re going to be greedy and keep the money or return it. We run into these situations in our lives, some bigger and more influential on our destiny’s while others are small with no real consequences.
For anyone who has ever worked in healthcare, or simply for someone who has watched a popular hit television show such as Grey’s Anatomy, General Hospital, House or ER know that there can be times when a doctor or health care provider is placed in extremely difficult situations. Often times, those situations are something that we watch from the sidelines and hope for the best in the patient’s interest. However, what happens when you place yourself inside the doctors, nurses, or any other of the medical provider’s shoes? What if you were placed in charge of a patient who had an ethically challenging situation? What you would you do then? That is precisely what Lisa Belkin accomplishes in her book “First Do No Harm”. Belkin takes the reader on
Healthcare creates unique dilemmas that must consider the common good of every patient. Medical professionals, on a frequent basis, face situations that require complicated, and at times, difficult decision-making. The medical matters they decide on are often sensitive and critical in regards to patient needs and care. In the Case of Marguerite M and the Angiogram, the medical team in both cases were faced with the critical question of which patient gets the necessary medical care when resources are limited. In like manner, when one patient receives the appropriate care at the expense of another, medical professionals face the possibility of liability and litigation. These medical circumstances place a burden on the healthcare professionals to think and act in the best interest of the patient while still considering the ethical and legal issues they may confront as a result of their choices and actions. Medical ethics and law are always evolving as rapid advances in all areas of healthcare take place.
Today, there are so many legal dilemmas dominating trial for the courts to make a sound legal decision on whose right in a complicated situation. Despite the outcome of the case, the disagreement usually has a profound effect on the healthcare organization, and the industry as a whole. Many cases are arguments centered around if the issue is a legal or moral principle. Regardless what the situation maybe, the final decision is left to the courts to differentiate between the legality issues at hand opposed to justifying a case based on moral rules. According to Pozgar (2012), an ethical dilemma arises in situations where a choice must be made between unpleasant alternative. It can occur whenever a choice involves giving up something good and suffering something bad, no matter what course of action is taken (p. 367). In this paper, I will discuss cases that arose in the healthcare industry that have been tried and brought to justice by the United States court system.
Since ethical dilemmas are not always easily answered through the use of The Code of Ethics, ethical decision-making models are effective tools that can assist nurses in dealing with ethical issues. Ethical decision-making models provide a framework for working through difficult choices. They seek to define the limits of what is morally acceptable and help clarify the guidelines for making those difficult decisions. Ethical decision making models assist nurses in analyzing situations by focusing on understanding the patient needs, need for responsiveness to circumstantial considerations, and recognizing the uniqueness of each situation.
Under the code of ethics for nurses this moral issue is also conflicting because you’re first and foremost obligation is to the patient. Now you also have your institution ethical code conduct that you also has to abide by. Provision 5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth (ANA, 2001, p.18). In this case the nurse owes it to herself in making the right moral decision to preserve integrity and safety of patient and
In the profession of Dental Hygiene, ethical dilemmas are nearly impossible to avoid, and most hygienists at some point in their professional life will have to face and answer ethical questions. Some ethical conflicts the dental hygienist may encounter can be quite complex and an obvious answer may not be readily available. In the article Ethical Decision Making, Phyllis Beemsterboer suggests an ethical decision-making model can aide the dental hygienist in making appropriate decisions when confronted with an ethical situation, and that the six-step model can serve dental hygienists in making the most advantageous ethical decision (2010).
Brain Aneurysms What is a brain aneurysm? One could define a brain aneurysm as a bulging, weak area in the wall of an artery that supplies blood to the brain. Over time, weak areas in the walls bulge out, causing the blood vessel walls to become weaker as the aneurysm grows (Simon). In most human beings, a brain aneurysm can go undetected for years, even possibly one's entire life. Some people however are not so lucky, in some instances, the aneurysm can rupture or explode, causing a hemorrhagic stroke, which is known as the type of stroke that causes bleeding in the brain.
Case #2 is a perfect example of a case that causes one to question which ethical principles are most important and to whom those principles should be applied. Case #2 involves Jane Trause who has had a history of drug use and is currently pregnant. Upon being admitted into labor and delivery, it quickly becomes evident to medical staff that the fetus is medically unstable and needs to be delivered immediately. However, it is determined by the medical staff that the baby will not survive a natural delivery and that the only way the baby will be born alive is by a C-section. Jane and her husband Doug adamantly refuse to allow a C-section and remind the staff that they have a right to refuse treatment. The residents of the hospital must decide if they can morally respect Jane’s autonomy and allow her to deliver naturally, while putting the fetus’ life in jeopardy or if they will override Jane’s wishes and perform the C-section without her permission to ensure a safe delivery.
A framework for ethical decision making was developed and is utilized to provide a guide for ease of use. This Ethical Framework is a product of dialogue and debate of Manuel Velasquez, ...
Various factors are associated with the development of ethical dilemmas, including advances in medical technology, increased life expectancy, the high cost of healthcare in an environment of limited resources, lack of time to provide care and conflicting values and cultures among patients, nurses and other healthcare professionals. All of which, including the growth of the nursing profession, have brought an increase in the nurses’ participation in human rights and life and death decision-making situations (Kim et al.,
Imagine having the responsibility to choose the “right course of action” in a situation that presents with many different “right actions”. Nurses are faced with this responsibility often; and most times it is not an easy decision process. This situation is known as an ethical dilemma (CNA, 2008). Ethical dilemmas arise in a situation when there are equally compelling reasons for and against two or more possible courses of action, and where choosing one course of action means that something else is relinquished or let go (CNA, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to use the Canadian Nurses Association Code of Ethics (2008), and consider how my own personal morals and values can help guide me through solving ethical dilemmas and also how I, as a future nurse can deal with the negative effects that may arise after an ethical decision is made. Strengthening your moral agency and moral courage as a nurse is also important in the ethical decision making process in order to successfully solve and continue to be able
The first definition of ethical in the dictionary is “pertaining to, or dealing with morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct.” The first definition Dilemma is defined as “a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives.” Using these two definitions, an ethical dilemma can be defined as when a person has to choose a decision that goes against one’s morals. One alternative may have a negative impact on one’s life or another person’s life. Another alternative may be an excellent choice for one person but may have negative impacts as well. Therefore, an ethical dilemma often puts ones morals and values into question. This paper will review a case study of euthanasia,
An ethical dilemma is only examined in a situation which has the following conditions; the first condition takes place in a situation, when an individual has to make a decision on which course of action is best. The second condition is there must be more than one course of action to choose from. The third action is no matter what course of action is taken, certain ethical principles are conceded. In other terms, there is no perfect result. When defining what forms an ethical dilemma, it is important to make a division between ethics, morals, values, laws and policies.
The Level of Ethical Analysis: Sometimes one will run into the issue of not finding an acceptable moral to apply