Case Study:
In Estate of Travaglini v. Ingalls Health (2009), an 84-year-old patient was admitted to the hospital
with general complaints of “not feeling well.” At the time of his admission, the physician told the admitting nurse that the patient had dysphagia and must be observed whenever he was eating or trying to
swallow liquids. At 10:00 that evening, an aide came to the patient’s room and left a sandwich for him to eat. Shortly afterward, the patient’s roommate heard the patient choking and summoned help.
At autopsy, it was confirmed that he had aspirated the turkey sandwich, and that this was the cause
of the cardiopulmonary arrest that killed the patient. Though liability was found against the aide and
her supervisor, the court also upheld a verdict of $500,000 against the hospital.
Instruction:
this client care scenario is viewed from a legal lens and how the UAP, the supervisor, and the hospital were found negligent. Because ethics and legal principles often overlap, consider the same scenario from an ethical standpoint. Answer the following questions, record your answers on a Word document, and upload it below. Always give credit to your sources.
Define beneficence and non-maleficence. Discuss how they are similar, yet different, and give examples of each.
How were both of these ethical principles not upheld in the given scenario?
Rewrite the scenario of this client with dysphagia to uphold these ethical principles. Consider the rights of delegation. What could the provider, admitting nurse, and the UAP do differently to ‘do good’ while also ‘doing no harm’? What provider orders should be included?
Start your scenario with the same opening sentence: An 84-year-old patient was admitted to the hospital with general complaints of “not feeling well.”
