Reference no: EM133241306

What ethical principles does the committee need to discuss?

Physical Therapy Example

A 76-year-old patient had heart surgery. After surgery, he moved into the hospital- owned inpatient rehabilitation center for eight weeks of physical therapy. He started to improve during the first few weeks, but lately he has been skipping appointments and stays in his room. The patient told the physical therapist that he wants to go home. His physician thinks the gentleman needs to stay for the full eight weeks. The patient needs his physician's signature to check out of the clinic. From notes in the patient's chart, his physician knows the gentleman wants to go home. The physician is intentionally not responding to the patient's telephone calls, because he knows that the gentleman is not strong enough to go home and care for himself. Is the physician making an ethical decision for this patient?

Nursing Example

It is common for nurses to work in various medical specialties within a hospital. One day the nurse may be asked to move from a medical floor to a postsurgical floor because of a shortage of nurses. For this type of move, the nurse is using approximately the same skills for both types of patients. When a nurse is asked to cover a nursing shortage in a pediatric critical care unit, the nurse is presented with an ethical dilemma. Because the nursing code of ethics focuses on patient safety, should the nurse oblige her employer and work her shift in the unfamiliar critical care unit or adhere to patient safety and refuse to work in the critical care unit?

Medical example

A second-year resident is asked by her attending physician to obtain patient con-sent for a surgical procedure to reduce the patient's shoulder pain following a sports injury. After reviewing the patient's chart, the resident realizes that the scheduled procedure is not required to eliminate the shoulder pain. At a recent conference, the resident learned that a simple injection of corticosteroid has been proven to be just as effective for this type of shoulder pain. The resident is not comfortable obtaining the patient's signature on the surgical consent form, because she knows that the procedure is not necessary, is expensive, and requires several hospital days for postoperative recovery. What ethical principles are being violated in this situation?

Hospital Administration example

Healthcare providers in a hospital setting observe situations where they cannot help but think about the cost associated with caring for a terminally ill patient who would be better served in the hospital hospice unit. Caring for terminally ill patients on a medical floor involves spending valuable healthcare dollars that some would argue might better serve other patients with a higher chance of sur-vival. What ethical principle includes this type of argument?

Hospital ethics Committee example

A 36-year-old quadriplegic patient of sound mind requests to be removed from life-support systems during his current hospitalization. He has been a quadriple-gic for 18 years and does not wish to continue to live in this medical condition. He obtained a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order a few years ago. His healthcare practitioners refuse to remove his life-support devices. The patient and the healthcare practitioners refer the case to the hospital ethics committee for resolu-tion. What ethical principles does the committee need to discuss?

Evaluation example

An evaluation team from the state university was hired by the state health office to provide a recommendation on whether the clinic should remain open. The university and the state senator were both from the city where the clinic was located. The evaluation team was aware of these political challenges, but they decided they would accept the project. During the first month, the clinic admin-istrator arranges personal interviews with a few select clinic board members as a way to assist the evaluation team with making connections. A few weeks later, the clinic financial officer offered to supply billing data. During the second month, the evaluation team was told by several employees that the number of patients seen at the clinic was lower than what was recorded in the electronic medical records and that the submission of fraudulent insurance claims was a common practice. However, these staff members also stated their fear of being unemployed if the clinic closed. The evaluation project was getting complex and teeming with a variety of ethical issues. Although it is not the job of evaluators to become investigative detectives, they do need to be aware of underlying legal and political issues. What ethical principles apply to this situation? How should the evaluation team proceed?