Reference no: EM133277252

Question - In the mid-1980s, the administrator of a residential care facility in California received a letter from a nearby university hospital, where his elderly residents typically went for medical attention. The letter reminded him that five of his residents recently had surgery at the hospital.

It also informed him that the medical staff suspected that some of the blood used in their transfusions may have been tainted with the HIV virus. While making it clear that the probabilities of infection were low, the letter asked him to call the hospital immediately and arrange further testing for these five. That letter, he recalled, presented him with a stark and direct question:

What should he tell, and to whom should he tell it?

Given the public and professional ignorance about AIDS-this was, remember, the mid-1980s, when the disease was little understood and legal regulations offered him no clear guidance.

He felt certain that, if he told his staff, their fear would be so great that they would refuse to enter the rooms of those five, making it impossible to deliver even minimal care to them.

But suppose he did not tell the staff and one of them contracted AIDS: Surely, he would be culpable. As it happened, none of the five ultimately tested positive. But that crucial fact was unknown at the time. What was he to do? He knew it was right to honor the individual rights of each of those five residents-the privacy of their medical histories, the expectation of high-quality care at his facility, their dignity as individuals. It was right, in other words, to say

1. Outline the meaning of the term 'Ethical Dilemma'

2. Explain the ethical dilemma(s) that the Administrator in the case study faces.

3. If you were the manager, what would your decision be? Justify your answer using an ethical theory.

4. In the decision-making process, explain what, if any, steps you would take to arrive at an ethical decision.